Matei's Response
- He started during high school
- In his country, computer science starts in high school
- Had more to do with opportunity than skill, although skill played an important part
- One class that he took in CS
- A person that came to his classroom and showed a presentation of how their company worked
- Asked someone about Machine Learning and how it works
- Matei went to the whiteboard and pitched it to the class
- The presenter offered him an interview
- Suggestion: not necessary to have an internship as a freshman
- Getting practical experience is important (side projects)
- Finding your niche: there are many fields to CS
- DevOps, frontend, backend, cybersecurity, etc.
- Focus on side projects and finding what you would like
- Second year – start going to career fairs more and seeing what’s there
- If you like work, you don’t have to “work” a single day in your life
Emily's Remark
- She is a 4th year now
- Has worked at big N companies
- As a first year she did not know that people did internships
- She did not even have a written document as a resume
- Spent her first-year summer going bowling, playing league, catching fish, having fun
- If you do not get an internship your first summer, it is fine
- You should be spending your time trying to enjoy your first year of college
- Make friends and connections
- Make sure that you have a good college experience
- Develop soft skills and connections and friends
- Best way to spend first year and summer – enjoy it as much as you can
- Do not stress out if you don’t have one
- Making a friend can be just as good as an internship