I graduated a little over a decade ago and I'm very happy I work in the software field.
Now let me tell you, you have a major advantage over me when I graduated, because you have a degree in computer science instead of electrical engineering.
When I applied for jobs I had taken a total of 3 computer science classes, I had huge gaps in my knowledge. I had never taken a class in Java, and crammed for a month to have enough knowledge to pass an interview and get a job offer, and I did this all in a city which was not a major tech hub. I'm not trying to brag that I was able to do this all, instead I'm trying to let you know that you likely have a lot more training then you think.
Now the reality was that I couldn't get a job at a big tech company as I couldn't get past the resume screen, instead I had to start out at a consulting company with a lower bar to get hired, but I learned and got experience and I've had a great career since. I've worked for all kinds of companies that you've heard of.
If I could give my younger self some advice it would be this:
1) Know big O notation and complexity inside and out, interviews love asking these types of questions, for example how do you do binary sort etc
2) Have a strong grasp of common data structures, types of Maps, types of Lists
3) Practice recursion, especially if it doesn't come naturally, it doesn't for most people
4) Practice coding problems, really cram, there are lots of good resources out there
5) Apply to lots of jobs, and go to as many interviews as you can, even if you don't think it's the right opportunity, interviewing is a skill that you can get better at
I graduated a little over a decade ago and I'm very happy I work in the software field.
Now let me tell you, you have a major advantage over me when I graduated, because you have a degree in computer science instead of electrical engineering.
When I applied for jobs I had taken a total of 3 computer science classes, I had huge gaps in my knowledge. I had never taken a class in Java, and crammed for a month to have enough knowledge to pass an interview and get a job offer, and I did this all in a city which was not a major tech hub. I'm not trying to brag that I was able to do this all, instead I'm trying to let you know that you likely have a lot more training then you think.
Now the reality was that I couldn't get a job at a big tech company as I couldn't get past the resume screen, instead I had to start out at a consulting company with a lower bar to get hired, but I learned and got experience and I've had a great career since. I've worked for all kinds of companies that you've heard of.
If I could give my younger self some advice it would be this: 1) Know big O notation and complexity inside and out, interviews love asking these types of questions, for example how do you do binary sort etc 2) Have a strong grasp of common data structures, types of Maps, types of Lists 3) Practice recursion, especially if it doesn't come naturally, it doesn't for most people 4) Practice coding problems, really cram, there are lots of good resources out there 5) Apply to lots of jobs, and go to as many interviews as you can, even if you don't think it's the right opportunity, interviewing is a skill that you can get better at