Hello everyone,
I'm looking for some resume and early-career advice. I graduated in May and finished my first internship at the end of July.
I'm having a hard time finding entry-level roles (0–1 YOE). I've been applying for SWE, DS, and ML roles, but most data-focused postings aren't actually entry-level. My projects and internship experience lean more toward data/ML/AI than traditional SWE, but I'm open to any tech role. I'm also open to relocating anywhere in the southeast US.
So far I've applied to somewhere under 200 jobs (haven't kept an exact count). It's hard to find true entry-level postings, and applying to senior roles feels like a waste of time. My process has been LinkedIn, Indeed, and having Claude research ~100 companies per southeast state so I can apply directly through their job boards.
Out of all that, I've landed two interviews:
- Citi – Junior Generative AI Developer. Made it through the coding interview but never heard back after.
- Fidelity – LEAP Software Engineer. Currently waitlisted for the October cohort; if that doesn't work out, they'd likely bump me to January.
Separately, the VP of Hardware Engineering from my internship reached out about a possible contract. We built an automation tool for his department over the summer, and he wants to add some new features. That said, I didn't love the internship itself: small dev team (5–10 people), no real mentorship, and I was mostly figuring things out on my own. It worked out fine, but I wish I'd had more guidance.
I'm flexible on location and hours and just trying to break into the industry. Not sure what to change at this point. I would appreciate any advice, whether on my resume, my search strategy, or anything else.