🥳 Landing you First Software Engineering Job 101 (You vs AI)

The Great story of landing your first software engineering job isn’t one you'll keep to yourself. It’s a defining moment—one you’ll retell for decades, maybe even pass down (haha, it's that important!). This story of yours deserves our full and immediate attention.

In this talk, I’ll share my path to my first major fintech role—graduating with a Computer Science degree at the height of AI layoffs, when the path forward was anything but clear.

I did not have the luxury of leaving it to chance so naturally, I tried EVERYTHING. Not * casually.* But deliberately - treating the job hunt like:

• a system to be studied, tested, and refined.

Somewhere between joining every meetup I could find and handing out resumes at every tech conferences, something clicked:

• You don’t just live your “great story”—you write it in real time.

What This Talk Is (And Isn’t):

I won’t ask you to grind through LeetCode-style questions—you’re probably already doing that.

Instead, we’ll focus on what actually moves the needle across three fronts:

• Building real value and capacity
• Crafting a clear personal narrative
• Engaging with the world with curiosity

We’ll move past the obsession with the “perfect resume”
and focus on building a portfolio and a story that connect.

Because today, it’s not just about skill. It’s about how clearly you can communicate: - what you’ve built
- what you’ve learned
- and why it matters

No fluff. No recycled advice. Just what works—and how to start shaping the story you’re already in.

Let's work on it together. See you there!

• Beginner
• Development
• Startups
• Careers