*brutally* honest career Q&A | how I got my software job, internship, college & software engineering

* please note, the opinions stated here are my own, not those of my company*

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timestamps
0:00 intro
0:36 context
1:06 high school experience
2:32 college + majors
4:13 internships & work experience
8:43 google internship
11:08 job search
12:22 google interview process & advice
14:52 working @ google & perks
18:15 speed round (coding, acquiring skills, tips, etc.)
22:57 outro

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current sub count: 70,422

[sarahpan]

thank you everyone for submitting questions on my last video & on my IG! I wasn't able to get through as many questions as I wanted to, but will definitely try to answer more of them in my next career chat videos :) if you have any other questions or want to know more about my college experience / advice, also definitely lmk and i'd love to make a video on that as well! hope you're all having a great week 💛

[goodvibesciity]

I'm also a "creative" person who ended up choosing an engineering career for stability and it was really comforting to see someone else with a similar mindset. Not exactly having regret and loving what I have ended up doing, but also still questioning the "what if" with the choice — that was incredibly relatable and thank you for sharing that & everything else in the vid <3

[tracy_cakkes]

The fact that u went to Princeton and now work for google as a swe and said that the math was a lot, makes me feel better about having to actually work at it. I thought I just wasn’t as smart as the other comp sci students so thank you for being so open and honest Subscribed ☺️

[annettepowell]

My son works for Google in San Francisco, he really enjoys it. She is right about not necessarily getting the coding working in the interview process. They are looking for your thought process and how you go about solving the problems. Oddly enough he has done some interviews himself now. The salary and benefits are very good, he has had many attractive offers from other companies since starting at Google.

[JusViridian]

It's so refreshing hearing Sarah keeping it real and genuine, shows a lot of her character.

[kevinwong]

As a software engineer although i don't think math is a REQUIREMENT for being a SWE, a lot of the skills that make someone good at math will translate into being a good SWE, which is being able to 1.) Think abstractly 2.) pattern recognition 3.) problem solving 4.) self teaching. A lot of things in CS are based on math or derived, variables, functions, even in FE with CSS.

[dustinfox]

I'm a software engineer working out of Idaho. My dream for the past 6 years has been to move to NYC. These videos are very inspiring for me as I navigate my job search (hopefully applying to google soon, along with all of the other companies in the area), so thank you!

[crystalkewe]

Thanks sarah for breaking down your interview process at Google. I honestly think this was one of the most honest breakdowns on youtube by-far on the FAANG interview process. I appreciate how you kept emphasizing that the thought process and your approach to solving technical problems is key, then trying to rote memorize leetcode questions to produce functional code solutions (albeit one should try). I definitely believe a lot of software engineers interviewing tend to get this wrong, and end up with the wrong approach when preparing for these tough interviews. Again, this was such an informative video! Thank you!

[Lahlasa]

Parental leave in the USA is so messed up! In Canada, we are entitled to 12-18 months of paid parental leave.

[kayseacamp]

I definitely agree that the team you work with can make a world of difference. I work in insurance (10+ years) and while I don't like the company I work for, my team (and the particular department I work in) makes my job alot easier. Also having great benefits allows me to compartmentalize what I don't like about my company/job.

[emmyferrier]

I was using this as a podcast while editing and it was very therapeutic

[perimortem]

I've learned a little about the SWE interview process from my partner and it's honestly bonkers to me (as a humanities student). The amount of luck that plays into it would give me perpetual anxiety, like if you get two coding questions you could get lucky with one and have it be something you've studied extensively, and then the next could be something you've heard about once in your entire college career! Mad respect to anyone going through that process!! Thanks for answering all the questions!

[mandarinoluv]

I really liked your explanation about what coding is using a cooking recipe as a metaphor! Makes it comprehensible. I just discovered your channel and really like your video's, you seem like an overall nice and genuine person. Love from The Netherlands!

[baobaobao]

Wow princeton! Could you talk more about your experience there and how you got in?

[glixonz]

This video was recommended to me and I'm so happy to have found this channel! I'm a web dev that also does fashion design and art too and ppl like Sarah are the reason I got curious to look into Tech because I seen myself in them. I feel so understood and it's so validating

[fresitafawn]

guys ofc she got a job immeditaley after at a big corp like google, she went to an ivy league school 😭

[emmyferrier]

I made it in the thumbnail 😌😌 thanks for explaining it all 💓💓

[aileenchan]

Trendalytics did a presentation at my old job around 2019. What a small world! And now I am the one studying to become a software engineer. Thank you for sharing your story!

[Sariebeary]

Omg I started at Google around the same time as you, and I can't believe I've been following you all this time and didn't realize :) Female SWEs unite!

[angeladai]

yay another software dev video!! I don’t work with other female Asian devs around my age so it’s nice to watch your videos and feel ✨camaraderie✨ (Not from the US or FAANG company, but still a dev)