LEARN Something
- stackshare.io: Explore top companies’ tech stacks, trending tools, and browse jobs based on tech stacks. PRO TIP: Reverse engineer your job search. Check out your target company and build your skills (and resume) to align with their stacks/environment. This will give you an upper hand against your competition in the job market.
- Udemy (Free for UC Irvine Students): Expansive selection of courses on Cloud Computing, GenAI, Project Management, Leadership & Management and Personal Development; skills that help you stand out as an applicant.
- Codecademy: Check out their Machine Learning, Data Science, Design Thinking courses, among many
- Learn.Microsoft: Take a course on Azure (AI-900, AI-102), GenAI, UX/Design Thinking, or follow a plan based on a Career Path (e.g. AI Engineer, Data Analyst, Data Engineer, Data Scientist, Developer, Solutions Architect, etc.).
- Leetcode: We all know by now we can never do enough Leetcode practice.
- Grind75: Short on time? Customize LeetCode study plans according to your needs.
- Scrimba: Free, self-paced courses that helps you learn frontend skills like Tailwind CSS, Javascript, CSS Animations.
- Daily UI, Sharpen Design, Fake Clients, and UX Challenges: Practice UI/UX concepts and sharpen your design skills.
- Attend a MeetUp or a Tech Conference: Tight budget? Look for events later in the year and become a volunteer!
- Interview Preparation: Practice interviewing on Big Interview or learn about Portfolio Reviews or App Critiques on Exponent. Review companies’ interview process questions and watch mock interviews on interviewing.io.
- Familiarize yourself with Interview Guides from Industry Leaders or your Target Companies: Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google (MAANG) and many companies have “how we hire” guides or interview resources for applicants (e.g., Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Spotify, Uber, Apple, Pinterest, Salesforce). Pick 2-3 to study from. Write out 5-7 stories from your experience using STAR method. Match your stories to what skills/competencies these companies are looking for.
BUILD Something
- Build a Portfolio: Showcase your work and strengthen your professional brand.
- MHCID: Collect your artifacts (wireframes, prototypes, case studies). Build portfolio on Behance or Adobe
- MDS: Highlight your data visualizations, notebooks, and machine learning projects Kaggle or GitHub.
- MCS/MSWE: Build and maintain a GitHub profile featuring well-documented projects and clean code.
- Join a Hackathon on devpost.com: From UX and product design challenges to engineering and data competitions, build something real, grow your network, win prizes, and add a tangible project to your portfolio.
- Build a project on DevProjects: There are mobile apps, web dev, automation and tools projects and there is an option to solicit the help from a mentor (at a cost) if you feel stuck, need pointers, or talk over your code.
- 10 Best Computer Science Projects to Hone/Implement Your Skills: This hackr.io guide offers project ideas with different levels of expertise on topics such as app dev, algorithm design, database management, AI/ML, etc.
- Practical Machine Learning Projects: Walk through 8 hands-on ML projects using real datasets. Covering topics like deep learning, artificial neural networks, and data preprocessing, it’s a great way to apply theory through practice!
CONTRIBUTE Something
