Standing out in the Tech market for new graduate students

2024 is still a tough year for new grads

2024 has been a challenging year for new graduate students trying to break into the tech job market. The industry is still recovering from the layoffs triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and is now facing further disruptions due to AI-driven automation.

Currently, I am pursuing my Master's in France, where an internship is a requirement for graduation. My biggest challenge was that I didn’t speak French and had never worked for foreign companies outside of Vietnam. This led to numerous rejections. However, I eventually stood out as a candidate and secured an internship within two months by strategically building my profile. Looking back, what really made the difference in my interviews was my ability to showcase my past projects and demonstrate how my experience matched exactly what they were looking for.

Building projects

For any position, some experience is always required—even for new graduates. My advice to students is to gain experience early, even while studying. But how can students land jobs without prior work experience? The answer is side projects.

Employers care less about grades and more about what you can contribute to their company. For example, when I was 20 years old, I landed my first tech job by showcasing an e-commerce website I built using vanilla HTML and CSS. Initially, I created the website just for learning purposes, but it became a key talking point during my interview.

Later, I decided to pursue AI and joined VinAI as an AI Engineer Resident. It was a highly competitive program with over 300 applicants. What helped me stand out was my participation in a self-driving car competition. This hands-on experience showcased my skills and matched the program's focus, giving me an edge over other candidates. Without this hands-on experience, I would have faced more LeetCode questions—something I try to avoid.

The key takeaway is that employers value your contributions—even if they’re from personal or side projects, not necessarily workplace experience. Most great programmers I know have their own projects they work on in their free time, driven purely by curiosity and passion.

Becoming a fit

Corporate jobs don't always offer opportunities to work on cutting-edge technologies. However, when a new technology emerges—like Large Language Models (LLMs) or Generative AI—it creates a unique chance. The early stages of such technologies often blur the line between junior and senior professionals, as those who enter early can gain significant advantages. This was the case for me when I wanted to break into the LLM field in France, despite having no prior experience with NLP or Transformers.

Rather than simply telling interviewers that I lacked experience but was willing to learn, I decided to take a more proactive approach. Inspired by a friend, Viet Anh, who secured a remote LLM job in the US despite his previous work being unrelated to LLMs. He impressed the interviewers with his fun, open-source projects. For me, I spent a week building a French language learning app powered by GPT. Though a small project, it effectively demonstrated my understanding of LLM concepts and my ability to contribute to the field.

Be honest

One critical piece of advice: be honest. Interviewers are often older and more experienced than you. They can tell when someone is trying to exaggerate or bluff their way through an interview. If you don’t know something, admit it. This builds trust, which is invaluable.

In my last interview, I was upfront about my challenges, including the fact that I had just arrived in France and didn't speak French. I told them that I had faced many rejections due to this but believed we could work together successfully in English. After three interview rounds to evaluate my communication skills, they gave me the opportunity.

Interestingly, the French learning app I built was also a way to show my ambition. It demonstrated not only my technical skills but also my willingness to integrate into a French-speaking environment.

Summary

To stand out in the tech job market, you need to understand what employers are looking for and demonstrate that you have those qualities. The best way to do this is through tangible evidence—projects. If you don't have a portfolio yet, start building one now. Choose projects that align with your interests and passions, as this will keep you motivated and help you learn more effectively. If you find yourself struggling to come up with project ideas or lacking the motivation to build things, it might be worth reconsidering if tech is the right path for you. With modern AI tools like ClaudeAI and Cursor making coding more effortless, there's no reason not to start building things. When I created my French learning app in just a week, AI assistance generated over 90% of the code. The barriers to entry have never been lower—all you need is the initiative to begin.

Talk is cheap. Show me the code.

- Linus Torvalds