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Online Resources for Software Engineering


Understanding and excelling in the software industry can be a difficult. Luckily, there is an abundance of online resources at your disposal with general information and interview practice.


Here are some guides to the software engineering industry:

Find more information about top recruiters in the industry and their opportunities for students here:

There are numerous online and print resources that are available to help you prepare for interviews. Furthermore, Harvard and MIT CS theory classes teach you core concepts that appear in technical interviews. Here are a few resources that students have found helpful:


 

These are some of the ways Harvard students studied and prepared for their interviews:


Practice smart.

“At the end of the day, it's practice. The more time you spend practicing coding questions on LeetCode, the more likely you'll get something similar to what you've done in an interview setting before.”

Software Development Engineer Intern at Amazon, Harvard Class of 2021


“Get the concepts, don't spend all day on LeetCode memorizing answers. And if you're going to get LeetCode premium, split it with multiple people.”

- Intern at multiple startups, Harvard Class of 2021


“I found that most of my actual technical preparation was grinding LeetCode. For me, Cracking the Coding Interview wasn't as helpful because it doesn't "force" you to solve the problems, whereas many online platforms do. The key is to do the problems thoroughly rather than quickly; understanding one solution really well will serve you a lot better than trying to bang out 100 problems a day."

- APM at Lyft, Harvard Class of 2020



Start early and stay organized.

“Prepare for interviews during the summertime. Applications begin almost immediately when school starts, in September/October. Interviews will also begin in late September and so you definitely want to start the school year mostly prepared. The recruiting process is stressful, depending on how many companies you apply to. There is a lot of logistics involved, many emails, and you definitely want to stay organized throughout the process! (Think spreadsheets).”

- Software Development Engineer Intern at Amazon, Harvard Class of 2021


Engage with CS through personal projects and/or teaching opportunities.​

“I’d not underestimate the importance of the non-coding sections of SWE interviews, including questions about your technical background and “fit” questions. Make sure that you can talk in-depth about past programming experiences and any challenges you faced. If you’re considering recruiting for SWE, I’d consider starting a personal project on your GitHub. Working on personal projects is a great way to see if you’re passionate about software development. You can also reference these experiences during an interview or on your resume.”

- Software Development Engineer Intern at Amazon, Harvard Class of 2022


“Outside projects absolutely make you stand out. Every time a recruiter talks about a stellar applicant they mention a project that interested them. However, they are absolutely not necessary. I had outside projects that weren't on github so I basically only mentioned them in interviews, but it didn't seem like they made a huge difference. And the fact that I made it to the interview stage without having big outside projects should so that they're not 100% necessary. Other things that make you stand out, is being a TA for a CS class, tutoring in CS work, and being able to be both a normal sociable human being and a CS student.”

- Intern at Facebook and Microsoft, Harvard Class of 2020


“Having teaching experience definitely helped me excel in my interviews, so try to pull from any sort of speaking experience if applicable.”

- Software Engineering Intern at Dropbox, Harvard Class of 2021



Run through interviews with friends.

“It's really important to be able to explain your thought process clearly, as if you were collaborating on the problem with the interviewer. Practice here is key; doing mock interviews with friends is very helpful; clubs like WiCS will also be hosting several mock interviews throughout the year."

- Software Engineering Intern at Dropbox, Harvard Class of 2021


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