"Holy *t, Facebook!?"
It was my reaction when I found out that a friend at a high school in Gurbir Dhulla had been offered a post of software engineer on Facebook
Following the completion of the third of the four internships taken during the year from school, Gurbir received a proposal. By the end of the 16s, he had a complete proposal for all the places he was working in. How did he do that? I sat down with him to try and understand him
Yes, of course. So my first coopsor was after the second year. I tried very hard, and I got a job on the BlackBerry. I worked there for four months, went back to school, and then I realized that I needed to get myself set up separately from everyone else. So I decided to take a year out of school and a 4-month internship at the line
There are so many opportunities specially designed for engineers of the first year
The first task was in the Hootsuite, the launch of social media management from Vancouver. I worked there for four months, and then I moved to Seattle and worked for four months at Amazon. After that, I moved to New York and worked for four months on Facebook and then returned home in Toronto to work at Amazon for four months
I didn' t even know about the cooperation after the first year. Looking back, I think I should have. Now that I'm in this field, I realize there are so many opportunities that have been specially designed for engineers of the first year. And the sooner you start, the more you will have the advantage over other people in your program. You should start as early as possible
No, actually, no. Only in Vancouver (Hootsuite). Around the same time, I got an Amazon interview, and they offered me a job. So I got this, and then I decided four to four months in a row. Every four months, when I started a new assignment, I also started looking for the next job. It was hard, but it's a lot of jobs. You just have to keep trying and work hard, and you'll find something for sure
Every new place you go, you have to imagine. Make these steady connections
The fact is that 95 percent of the people who do boarding schools think, "Oh, I know this new thing!" In fact, that's not true. Ninety-five percent of people are going to do the same thing as they already know. That is the reality. So what you have to do -- the way you do the best of it -- is to focus on creating new connections. That's the most important thing. Every new place you go, you have to imagine. Make these long connections. This will help you in the future
So, if you know anyone else, it's all coming back to the connections that you've already connected -- almost guaranteed that they're going to take a look at your résumé and give you a telephone screening
No, I just applied it directly. It was during my internship in Vancouver, and I haven't made a lot of connections yet. It's funny, I just applied and got a call that's not very common. But it reinforces the fact that these companies have very effective and fair employment processes
It's definitely not a "demand" to have a connection in any company to get an interview, but if there is someone who can reference you and assign you to your technical skills and work, he may go a long way
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He plays a huge, huge role. That's one thing I'm telling everyone. There are still companies that hire highly technical specialists, but these days are becoming increasingly rare. Many companies are looking for people who have written their own culture
You can technically teach, but you can't teach a person how to speak or communicate
Let me tell you, you're going to the interview somewhere, and your future manager is conducting an interview with you and another person. You must understand: another person may not be technically sound, his algorithm may not be as effective as yours, but the manager thinks, "what candidate would like to have a beer afterwards?" Because he's going to spend the next two or three years with this man
You can technically teach, but you can't teach a person how to speak or communicate. This is what happens naturally. So many managers think that when they can't make a decision, "I like this candidate better, because I feel I can spend every night with him." That's what it comes to
I've done a good job. I satisfied all the expectations they had for me and others. Some things that worked for me: first of all, I completely fulfilled my project. It was a very successful project. COO Facebook, Cheryl Sandberg, will look at my project, and she really impressed him. (It was an allocation of my internship.) I ran the project from the beginning to the end, and it was actually open to the public shortly after I left
We also meet frequently with other members of the team, and I would be sure that I would give you useful suggestions. I'd tell them I thought it might be the best way to do something. I took the initiative. Such leadership qualities are what they look like. If you can work independently, if you can manage your own project, if you take the initiative and show your leadership skills. These are the things they're looking for
This guy who makes connections talks to everybody. This is the way you've been most of the internship
I feel like my biggest mistake was during the BlackBerry internship. It may have been my first colleague, and that's why, but I didn' t feel that my team members were very hospitable. So I just kept myself in my own way, didn' t make a lot of connections. But it was my fault because it's my responsibility to get in touch with them and make them feel more comfortable
The point is that you just have to be more social and get out of there. This guy who makes connections talks to everybody. This is the way you've been most of the internship. You've only been there for four months, so you really want to get out and enjoy it. It's only four months. Not much can be terribly wrong, haha
* Views expressed in respect of the author, and not necessarily for the "Student life" or their partners
Rakesh Mistry is a software developer from Brampton who does not claim to be from Toronto. He is quite confident that he can forward the entire script for the Monorail series from Simpons out of memory