New Grad Job Search for Software Engineers

This post is a quick guide for new grads looking to break into the software engineering industry.

Disclaimer: I've been in industry for five years, so I could be out of touch. I understand it's significantly harder to break into the industry now than it was when I was a new grad. However, I will also explain why I believe it's more difficult these days.

Another disclaimer: I may have heavy bias towards US companies, and specifically the Bay Area. I'm sure there are other countries and regions that have similar opportunities, but I'm not familiar with them.

Tips for New Grads

I will jump right into it. My tips are both anecdotal and also based on what I have observed successful new grads do.

Network

I can't stress this enough. This is the one thing you can do that requires little mental bandwidth. Linkedin is the most important tool you have for your job search, and everyone expects you to have one. You can send 100 connection requests per week. Max those out. Every week, send 70 requests to software engineers in industry, and 30 requests to recruiters in industry.

Use Linkedin advanced search, sort by "People", and search for keyword "Software Engineer" or "Technical Recruiter". You can add company filters and alumni filters (if you want them from the same school).

I am not saying you should go and spam everyone, but it surely helps to build that connection count - you may want to leverage it later. I have over 6000 connections by doing this early.

If you're feeling lazy, just ask ChatGPT to write a Chrome script which you can paste in dev tools to click every "Connect" button on the search results and keep paging down.

If you want to, send a message to everyone you connect with. Be direct, ask questions or ask for a referral. Don't open right away with asking for a call, it's usually offputting. Be natural and don't sound like a robot or a salesperson.

Leetcode

This is bare minimum for the industry nowadays. Use Neetcode and specifically the Neetcode 250 list. You must be good at Leetcode. I know it's a pain, but this literally helps ease your mind with > 70% of all technical interviews. I also argue that if you love this industry, it should be a fun challenge to do these anyways.

Understand the core concepts, understand how to apply the patterns to any problem. Talk through your solutions line by line as you write them.

In the age of AI, we will either 1) Continue using Leetcode and move to in-person interviews again or 2) Ditch Leetcode and move to project-based / creatived interviews with AI tools allowed. I argue that Leetcode is just intensive brain-training that will help with both.

Resume

Have great projects. Use ChatGPT or any AI tool to fix your bullets and technical details to fit a job description that you like. If you don't know a tool or framework; learn it, and make a project out of it. Make impressive projects that you know deeply. Don't just copy and paste from a tutorial, ask ChatGPT to give you some ideas, and go and learn what you are actually building in the event that someone asks you about it.

Right now in 2025, people are looking for New Grads who can ramp up quickly and especially in AI. Move with the trends, and make projects that are in demand.

STAR Format

For the interviews, prepare stories that you can use to answer behavioral questions. Use the STAR format. S = Situation, T = Task, A = Action, R = Result. Here's a good guide from MIT: https://capd.mit.edu/resources/the-star-method-for-behavioral-interviews/

Internships Help

If you have time before you graduate, get an internship. It's a great way to get your foot in the door, and allows you to start building that Experience section. I can't stress this enough. Apply apply apply. It doesn't matter where you intern, any internship is better than no internship. I started my career with a California Government internship, and I was able to learn about software development, working with a team, and working with a product. This helped with my job at IBM, and IBM helped for my next job at Amazon, and Amazon helped for my next job at Roblox.

Don't be afraid to take the long way. It's not realistic to expect to get a job at a top company right out of college. You need to build up your experience, and you need to build up your network.

My first internship was like $20/hr. Did I have fomo seeing interns get paid $50/hr? Sure, but I was able to learn a lot, and I was able to build my network. If you play your cards right, $20/hr can become $200/hr in 5 years. Invest in yourself.

Why It's Harder Now

Let me be blunt: the market has fundamentally shifted since I graduated, and the data backs this up.

The Numbers Are Brutal

Computer science now has the seventh highest unemployment rate among undergraduate majors at 6.1%, compared to the national average of 3.9%. For recent college graduates aged 22-27, unemployment sits at 5.8% as of 2025, nearly double the general population's rate.

But here's the kicker: entry-level hiring has collapsed. Big Tech companies now hire new graduates for just 7% of their positions, down from 15% pre-pandemic. That's a 50% decline. At startups, new grads account for under 6% of hires, down from 30%.

AI Changed the Game (But Not How You Think)

Everyone talks about AI taking jobs, but the reality is more nuanced. AI didn't replace software engineers - it eliminated the stepping stones that got you there.

Companies used to hire junior developers to do routine tasks like writing basic CRUD operations, fixing simple bugs, and maintaining legacy code. Now 50-55% of early-career workloads are AI-augmented, meaning those entry-level tasks just... don't exist anymore.

As one UC Berkeley professor put it: "Why hire an undergraduate when AI is cheaper and quicker?"

This created a chicken-and-egg problem. You need experience to get hired, but you can't get experience because there are no entry-level positions that teach you the fundamentals.

The 2020-2021 Mirage

500,000+ tech layoffs between 2022-2024. Companies realized they over-hired and now they're being extremely selective. The average age of technical hires has increased by three years since 2021.

Why Salaries Haven't Crashed

You might think "If there's oversaturation, why haven't salaries dropped?" Great question. Compensation remains robust at $132K median comp for new grads.

According to levels.fyi, I still see:

The answer: market segmentation. Top companies aren't hiring the average CS graduate. They want the top 5-10% who can contribute immediately in AI-augmented environments. They'd rather hire fewer, more capable people than train junior developers.

It's like luxury goods - Ferrari doesn't lower prices when the economy is bad, they just sell fewer cars to the same wealthy customers.

What This Means for You

If you're reading this as a new grad, don't despair. The Bureau of Labor Statistics still projects 18% growth in software development through 2033. But these roles will look fundamentally different.

The days of guaranteed employment simply by having a CS degree are over. You need to be strategic, specialized, and honestly - a bit lucky with timing.

But here's the upside: if you can navigate this market successfully, you're going to be incredibly well-positioned. The engineers who make it through this filter are going to be the ones who define the next decade of technology.