Your resume is not a list of everything you've done — it's a targeted argument that you can do the job. For CS students with limited work experience, your projects are your experience. A well-documented GitHub repo and a real project in your portfolio will outperform a generic resume every time.

• Keep it one page until you have 5+ years of experience
• Every bullet should start with a strong action verb (built, designed, reduced, automated)
• Include a GitHub link — and make sure it has actual commits, not just empty repos
• Your projects section matters more than your GPA to most tech companies

Your GitHub profile is your live portfolio. Recruiters look at it. Make it count. You don't need to contribute to major open source projects — having clean, well-documented repos of your own work is enough. Pin your best 4–6 projects, write good READMEs, and commit consistently.

• A good README has: what the project does, how to run it, and a screenshot or GIF
• Contributing to any open source project — even fixing a typo — shows real-world collaboration
• Don't leave course assignments as private repos forever — clean them up and make them public

Start earlier than you think you need to. Many summer internships close in October–December — if you're applying in March, you've already missed most big company deadlines. Sophomore year is not too early to apply.

• Big tech internships (Google, Meta, Microsoft) open in August–October for the following summer
• Smaller companies recruit on a rolling basis — apply year-round
• Apply to more than you think you need — a 5–10% response rate is normal
• Rowan's Career Advancement Center does free resume reviews and mock interviews

The full-time CS job market is competitive right now. Your best asset is a portfolio of shipped things. If you've been building projects throughout college, you're ahead of most. Don't only apply to FAANG — mid-size companies, startups, and local NJ/Philly tech companies are real opportunities.

• Start applying 6–9 months before graduation for new grad roles
• Your Rowan network matters — alumni at companies can refer you past resume screening
• A job offer is the start of a negotiation, not the end — always negotiate
• Use Levels.fyi to research realistic comp ranges before any offer conversation

Technical interviews test a specific skill that takes deliberate practice — solving problems out loud under pressure. It doesn't come naturally. The students who do well are the ones who practiced consistently, not the ones who crammed the night before.

• Start with easy LeetCode problems, get comfortable before moving to medium
• Practice talking through your approach before you write code — interviewers care about reasoning
• Know your data structures cold: arrays, hashmaps, trees, stacks, queues, graphs
• For behavioral questions, use the STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result)
• Every project you've done is a behavioral question waiting to happen — know them well

Most CS jobs are filled through referrals before they're publicly posted. Networking isn't schmoozing — it's just talking to people in your field. You don't need to be outgoing. You need to be intentional.

• Your LinkedIn headline should say what you do and what you're looking for, not just "student"
• Connect with every professional you meet — a cold connection now is a warm referral later
• Rowan alumni are particularly responsive to current students — use that
• Post your projects. Seriously. Recruiters find people this way.