Key Takeaways:

1) HAVE A PLAN FOR COLLEGE APPLICATIONS! Consider the following: - DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO COMPUTER SCIENCE. Apply for something CS adjacent but not competitive then TRANSFER into CS. Especially for colleges like UC Davis, having - A good EC for college applications is teaching your major as well, as it shows a higher understanding of the subject.

2) CS is used in a LOT of majors and careers, so it’s vital to learn.

3) BUILD LOTS OF PROJECTS. Use a variety of differnt tools, and do stuff you are passionate about.

4) USE LEETCODE. Many jobs look for LeetCode work and it’s very helpful for the learning process.

5) LOOK AT THE DESIRED SKILLS IN THE JOB LISTING OF YOUR CHOICE.

6) FOR INTERNSHIPS, USE JOP APPLICATION SITES AND PERSONAL CONNECTIONS. New, small startups are good places to reach out to as well.

HOT TOOLS TO USE:

  • VERCEL, deployment tool, streamlined!
  • SVELTEKIT, kinda like React, good framework.
  • PERSONAL WEBSITE, it’s like 10$ a year, and very worth it! On top of adding projects, add things that make you seem interesting and not just “another brick in the wall.” I’m going to most likely have a music subpage with all my music on there.
  • TAILWIND CSS, it’s better than normal CSS, so it’s important to learn.

Reflection:

Overall, this presentation was very helpful, and I’m glad I attended it. Walking out of that room, I felt 2x more prepared and knowledgeable about my future in this field, and what I can do to achieve that future. One thing I’m going to start doing is building projects, using a variety of different hot tools to get some experience as to what my field actually wants. I think a good target for this would be working 3-4 hours on the weekend on a side project. I want to work with embbedded systems, so I’m going to look into good starter projects to kick of this weekend. Another important thing I took away from this presentation was the idea of using LeetCode to prepare for future job prospects. I’ve heard the name before, but I never really knew what it was until today. I made an account and I’m going to start the courses tomorrow! This presentation was super informative and I learned a lot from it.