EPISODE SUMMARY
In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Stephanie Su, Software Engineer Intern at Meta. In this conversation Stephanie discusses her job search journey from dealing with application rejection, to how she prepared for her interviews to getting the job offer from Meta, her dream company. She hopes her career story will inspire other students and professionals looking to land their dream job to keep going even when things seem daunting.
QUOTES
- “Throughout the year, while I was working on these analytical type projects, I was updating my resume wherever possible, trying to make it sound as technical as I could. And most of the resume advice that I've gotten has been through LinkedIn. I've been using LinkedIn for several years now. So I have a general sense of the most common resume tips. I found a lot of great guides online that helped me build my resume. In hindsight, I probably should have gotten older people to look over it. So that was one thing I would change about the process. But that's the main way I created my resume.”- Stephanie Su
- “So one valuable lesson I learned last year is that with each rejection you get, it's easier to move on from them. So while I did receive a lot of rejections, I just looked at the email, like, okay, great, let's move on. I wasn't particularly attached to one company too much, because I wasn't even selected for the interviewing process. So it's not like I invested more than five minutes of effort.” - Stephanie Su
- “I think networking is incredibly important. And it is something that should be done year round. So if you have the offer already, just keep it going, because it's much easier to start where you left off versus having to go through the entire process again.” - Stephanie Su
TIMESTAMPS
- [0:43] Meet Stephanie
- [2:34] Why Meta was the right choice for Stephanie for her 1st internship in university
- [4:57] How did Stephanie decide that Software Engineering was the right career path for her
- [6:01] Advice for working professionals that want to pivot and get into Software Engineering
- [9:43] Obstacles Stephanie had to overcome for companies to take her serious as she was still a freshman when companies prefer to hire juniors or seniors
- [13:26] Stephanie’s job search strategy
- [15:09] Overcoming rejection throughout the job search
- [17:27] Stephanie’s interview experience at Meta
- [29:20] Learning lessons Stephanie gained from this job search experience and what advice she would give to other job seekers
- [32:08] How to reach out to recruiters at your target companies
- [33:38] How Stephanie started building her personal brand on LinkedIn
- [35:37] How being rejected at her dream schools during the university application process mentally prepared her for rejection during her job search
- [36:28] What’s next for Stephanie in her career
- [38:13] Additional job search resources that Stephanie recommends to help professionals with their job search if they are struggling or feeling stuck
- [40:19] One challenge that Stephanie had to overcome in her career to get to where she is today
- [42:29] Contacting Stephanie
- [43:13] Outro
RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS
