Advice For Someone Going In First Year of CS College

If you have recently enrolled in college in a Computer Science course like B.Tech, BCA or MCA then this post is for you. Software is an ever growing field with the potential of super high paying jobs which only a few other fields can match. Given that you are just starting with your college, you have lots of time at hand to shape up your career and increase your chances at bagging a job offer at good tech companies at the end of your college course. 

I will elaborate on the major things that you should take care of during your college time.

• Coding should be your bread and butter. You should master one OOPs programming language. No need to learn multiple programming languages, just one is enough. You should have such mastery over that language, that you should be able to quickly translate your logic into code. If you are not sure which language to start with, pick C++. If it feels overwhelming to learn C++, then go with python. Spend the first 3 months of college just learning to code in the chosen programming language.

• Data Structures and Algorithms will help you crack more interviews than learning any fancy tech stack or framework. Technologies come and go, you never know what will become obsolete when you complete your college. There is no point in learning a tech stack unless you have some practical use for it. Even good tech companies do not ask framework related questions in their interviews. Instead they focus on your problem solving ability. This ability is measured by how good you are at Data Structures and Algorithms. So focus on being super good at DSA.

• Do not ignore your college courses, especially the ones related to Computer Science. Courses like Networks, OS, DBMS are super important. Good companies expect you to have knowledge of fundamental CS courses. If you just study these courses during college time, you would end up saving a lot of time later during interview preparation.

• Last but a very important skill that you should develop is your ability to network with people. Build good relationships with your peers, college seniors, professors and so on. You never know who will be working 10 years down the line. There is a thing called job referral, which can get you interviews at big tech companies like Google and so on. A good network helps you get these job referrals. After certain years in the software industry, it is your network that helps you grow more than your coding skills. So focus on building genuine honest relationships with people around you.