Choosing a domain in tech as a student
Full Stack Development or Data Science or Cybersecurity or...
Every day on LinkedIn, I get vague DMs from students about choosing a domain in tech. Should they start doing Machine Learning from Day 1? Which programming language to learn first? How to keep up with their peers who have explored everything?
These are just some of the plethora of questions I get. In today’s edition of MichiSpotlight, I would try to put together my thoughts about domain exploration in tech and how to figure out the best fit for yourself.
But before that, don’t forget to subscribe to MichiSpotlight and share this newsletter edition with your friends who are struggling to find their right career fit.
Also, we have a youtube channel now for everyone who doesn’t like reading a lot. I’m currently in the process of converting my newsletters into proper videos. Still, we also have live streams scheduled regularly discussing some burning questions that students have while pursuing a career in tech.
MichiSpotlight also has a discord community now. If you need any help regarding anything tech-related, feel free to shoot your questions on the server. You can also network with various other developers from around the world via this platform. Do leverage it :)
Upcoming Live Sessions:
Hacking Hackathons ft. Sreekaran Sreenath (Aug 15 @ 8:30 PM IST)
Past Live Sessions:
Honest Off-Campus Placements ft. Manthan Gupta
We’ll be having more such sessions soon. If you are interested in talking about career exploration in certain domains in tech, we would love to have you on board. Do reply under this tweet or DM me on any social media platform.
Let’s get started:
College is the right time to explore your future goals and possible domains that you’d want to work in. Due to the pandemic, you have plenty of time right now, and things are a little easy with online exams.
Here are some of the things you can be mindful of during your exploration.
Don’t ask for roadmaps.
If someone you know (maybe a senior or a friend) is currently at a point in their career where you want yourself to be someday, don’t ask them for a roadmap.
You can try to understand their journey, learn from the things they did wrong, and get inspired by what they did right, but don’t try to replicate their footsteps.
Tip #1: Evaluate where you stand.
Life experiences are different for everyone. Some start coding at the age of 12, and some start right before the placements season begins. Try to evaluate where you stand first and then figure out how to move forward from there.
As beginners, most of us tend to underestimate ourselves. But try to keep an open mind, always have confidence in yourself and your skills, no matter how difficult the problem.
Ask yourself why you want to be a part of the tech ecosystem?
~> Is it the improved job prospects?
~> Is it because you can innovate with the plethora of technologies at your disposal?
~> ...or any other reason?
Depending on the answer to the previous question, you need to take your first few steps before you start thinking about everything out there and get utterly overwhelmed.
Don’t try to do/learn everything at once. If you are learning web development, allow your brain to fully understand the basics and grasp all the foundational knowledge needed to build your skills further.
Tip#2: Better late than never.
If you’re asking people questions like, “Is it too late to pursue X domain?” then it all comes down to whether you really want to pursue this or not?
Being late doesn’t imply that you can’t even try.
You may have to put more effort than those who started early, but if that is why you’re not even trying, you are not dedicated enough.
Being early doesn’t always mean that you’re going to be good at it. Each domain in tech - be it UX Design or Machine Learning - requires a good logical understanding of the subject matter. It won’t matter how late you started if you grasp the concepts easily.
Everyone has a different learning curve and life experiences, don’t compare your chapter 1 with somebody else’s chapter 10.
Tip#3: Understand your strengths and weaknesses.
When I was in my first year, I tried a lot of things. I tried to learn android mobile app development but found it ridiculously complicated. I honestly thought that mobile app development was not for me, but then I discovered this cross-platform framework called Flutter which I found very easy to learn and build applications with.
Now, there are a few key takeaways here.
Don’t give up on something just because it is difficult to learn. Because once you fully understand something, it could be straightforward for you to implement your knowledge.
Many factors like - your current understanding of the subject matter, the kind of resources you referred to, projects you built, tutorials you followed while learning the subject matter - play a role in how easily you understand a concept.
After a point, after putting significant effort in learning and/or while working in the domain, if you still don’t enjoy your work and don’t feel like you’re fulfilling your potential, then it’s time to move on to something different.
It’s important to understand the reason why something did/didn’t work for you.
I felt that app development is not something that allows me to tap into my full potential. My skills as a developer accounted for only 50% of my entire skillset.
I also wanted to explore the other 50%, like my fluent communication and writing skills, strong observation skills that help me look for small inconsistencies in the UX of any product I was using, and so many more.
I wanted to live up to my potential, and that’s when I stumbled upon product management. I’m still figuring out what I want to do in life (I’m in my final year of college), so it’s okay if you haven’t found your perfect fit yet, keep persevering.
Tip#4: Recognize what’s important to you.
Sometimes while determining our career path, we need to recognize what’s truly important to us.
I have a friend whose family is currently suffering from a grave financial situation. For him, the important thing has the ability to provide his family with proper financial support once he has graduated.
For me, I want to explore the path that brings me the enjoyment of working, the satisfaction of being able to tap into my full potential, and having the freedom of creativity.
While choosing a path for yourself, you need to understand what is more important to you. It will help you stay on track when an incompatible career choice comes your way.
Now that you understand how to explore the different domains in tech, you can also go through MichiSpotlight’s Internship Ready Guide.
Get Internship Ready with MichiSpotlight
Don’t forget to give these editions a read:
1) Preparing for internships, skilling up:
Equip yourself: Become a better developer
Expand your creativity: I guess I’ve been working so hard. I forgot what it’s like to be hardly working.
Build projects: Getting started with project-based learning
Contribute to opensource: git init to open-source
Decide what to put in your resume: What to put in my resume?
Make your resume more impactful: How to build a snazzy resume
2) While applying to Internships:
Application process: So you think you can be an intern?
Optimizing your LinkedIn profile: Here’s a song by LinkedIn park
If you’re not able to secure good internships: 5 Alternatives to Tech Internships
3) After getting accepted: 5 ways to make the most out of internships
4) When things are getting difficult:
Leverage procrastination: Procrastination might be good for you
Dealing with burnout: Shaant Cool Ommm
Manage your productivity: I’m too good at multitasking.
Opportunities Round-Up
by Rishabh Sharma
Morgan Stanley
Batch: 2022 passouts
Role: Full-Time Analyst
TCS NQT Ninja Registration
Batch: 2022 passouts
Role: Software - Ninja
https://www.tcs.com/careers/TCSNinjaHiringYoP2022
Hike
Batch: 2021/2020/2019
Role: Software Developer
HackerEarth
Batch: 2022/2023/2024 passouts
Role: Problem Setter - DS & Algo ( Internship )
https://hackerearthjobs.recruiterbox.com/jobs/fk0ftkc/
Cognizant
Batch: 2022 passouts
Role: Softare Engineer
https://app.joinsuperset.com/company/cognizant/genc-next.html
Innovacer
Batch: 2021/2020 passouts
Role: Software developer
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSei-EzcAlJM4KMVJaNOyyhBZGt8h9QVwW1oin-8Dxw78g_YaA/viewform
Wiley Software Engineer
Batch: 2019/2020/2021
Software Developer intern https://www.freshersworld.com/jobs/software-developer-jobs-in-bangalore-mumbai-pune-wiley-india-private-limited-1270969
Sony
Batch: 2021 Batch
Backend Development Intern
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/2657293677/
Collins Aerospace
Batch: 2021 Batch
Software Engineer https://dare2compete.com/job/software-engineer-collins-aerospace-188918?lb=HGdnrNt#tab-detail
Radix Intern/Full-Time Software Engineer
Batch: 2022/2021 Batch
Trainee / Freshers Software/ IT Engineer https://portal.turbohire.co/publicjobs/i9CXAFJlcaplFaWNyfMB4P1okzEP6SJfrjZH0DPDOyEDIXTb5DWOr1%2Fk796njTrX/?utm_source=Walk+in+31st+July
Oracle
Batch: 2022/2023 Batch
Student / Intern /all roles https://eeho.fa.us2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/job/114212/?utm_medium=jobshare
Tech Mahindra SAP developer
Batch: 2019 to 2021 Batch
SAP ABAP Developer https://www.naukri.com/job-listings-sap-abap-developer-tech-mahindra-ltd-hyderabad-secunderabad-pune-0-to-2-years-210721003290
Western Digital
Batch: 2022/2023 passouts
Role: SDE Internship
MSCI
Batch: 2023/2022/2021 passouts
Role: Data Science Internship
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/2662090739/
Cadence
Batch: 2021 passouts
Role: SDE Internship
PwC
Batch: 2021/2020
Role: Software Associate
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6826433717016309760/
DE Shaw DESIS Ascend Educare 2021
Batch: 2022/2023/Female Only
Role: Mentorship Program
https://www.deshaw.com/forms/OERCQTZFNjEtQUIyQi00ODkwLTlBODktMkU2MDQ1NzQwRUE4
Adobe India Women-in-Technology Scholarship
Batch Eligible: 2023 female pass-outs!
Benefits: Fund toward tuition fees/Summer Internship of 2022
https://adoberesearch.ctlprojects.com/adobe-india-women-in-technology-scholarship/
Accenture Innovation Challenge
Batch: All
Role: interview opportunity
https://accenture-innovation-challenge-2021.hackerearth.com/
Amazon
Batch: 2022
Role: Data Engineer Intern
https://www.amazon.jobs/en-gb/jobs/1649144/data-engineer-internship
Cisco
Batch: 2022/2023
Role: Software Engineer/ Technology and Quality
Cisco
Batch: 2022/2023
Role: Software Engineer / Product Operation Internship
Gojek
Batch: 2022/2023.2024
Role: Product Security Intern
https://www.gojek.io/careers/view/intern---product-security?id=7a890261-7ac8-48e6-a4ee-1083e4a0bf07
Siemens
Batch: 2021
Role: Trainee
https://jobs.siemens.com/jobs/261170?lang=en-us
Valuebound
Batch: 2021
Role: Software Engineer Trainee
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaEfpZ3keqwy5PBPcDAwH-kqmBogl-AdbhkOAXknThSHZTfA/viewform
Doxel
Role: Backend Engineer Intern
https://jobs.lever.co/doxel/c5ce950e-b68f-4139-8afc-d694c4175821/apply
Booble AI
Role: C++ Developer
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/2658699616/
That’s all, folks!
Thank you for reading till the end. I hope you enjoyed this piece. If you have any doubts, reach out to me in the comments below or reply to this email (if you received it in your inbox). Let me know your feedback!