This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sreeja Apparaju, a 24-year-old machine learning engineer at Snap living in New York. Business Insider has verified Apparaju’s employment history with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When I decided to pivot from finance to tech in the fall of 2022, a couple of things were working against me.
I was less than a year from graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, with a double major in computer science and economics, and some large tech companies had announced major layoffs before the end of the year. That made me nervous about the demand for new hires.
I also didn’t have any tech internships to fall back on. The prior summer, I’d interned as an analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York, but I realized that finance didn’t feel like the right path; I was more excited about the kind of work happening in tech.
It felt like unfortunate timing to be searching for tech roles — but at least I didn’t have to job hunt alone.
My friends and I supported each other
Given these challenges, I was fortunate to have the support of a close circle of four friends who were applying to many of the same software engineering roles. When one of us heard from a recruiter or HR professional, we’d share their contact information with the group.
That’s how I connected with a Palantir recruiter. Within a week of applying, I received an online assessment and was scheduled for an interview. I didn’t end up getting the job, but I’m confident that getting on the recruiter’s radar helped boost my chances.
In job searching, there can be a culture of keeping to yourself because you want to be ahead of others. In my experience, though, sharing what we knew and helping each other out made the process easier — and faster — for all five of us.
Every win for my friends felt like a personal win, and it was the motivation I needed to keep pushing for a job offer. One landed a role at Amazon, and another joined Salesforce. However, by the end of 2022, I was still looking.
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I used my network — and found creative ways to expand it
In early January 2023, I came across an opening at Snap Inc. — the company behind Snapchat — for a software engineering role. Snap had already been on my radar as a company I thought could be a good fit. The cousin of one of my friends in my job search circle worked there, and I immediately reached out to them, obtained their referral, and submitted my application within a couple of days of the role being posted.
However, February came around, and I still hadn’t heard back from Snap. I decided to take action; I got on LinkedIn and searched for a recruiter at the company who specialized in hiring new graduates.
My goal was to reach out via email rather than a LinkedIn message. Since I didn’t have a LinkedIn Premium account, I was limited in the number of characters I could use — and I worried that sending a short message would come across as superficial.
I eventually found someone who appeared to be the recruiter, but their email wasn’t listed anywhere. However, I did have the email of my referral contact, so I decided to guess the recruiter’s email address based on the same email format — a strategy that had worked for me in the past. If I guessed incorrectly, I’d get an error message, and then I’d try a different version.
I could have asked my referral for the recruiter’s email, but I was already deeply grateful for their time and referral, and I felt uncomfortable asking for more.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for me to send an email that appeared to go through. It included my résumé and an expression of interest in the role.
Read more about people who’ve found themselves at a corporate crossroads
I went through multiple interview rounds
Within a few days, I received a response from the recruiter and was given an online assessment to complete. Shortly after, I did my first interview — a one-hour technical and behavioral interview with an engineer.
That was followed by a final interview round, which included four one-hour technical interviews, a 30-minute Q&A session, and a 30-minute break between the third and fourth rounds — about five hours total in a single day.
By March, I had received and accepted an offer for the software engineering role. I started at Snap in August 2023 and am now a machine learning engineer.
One thing I like about Snap is that it’s smaller than companies like Meta or Google, which means I’m given a lot of agency and independence on the projects I work on.
My advice for other job seekers
My top pieces of advice for other job seekers are:
Connect with recruiters and HR professionals at companies you’re interested in.Spend adequate time preparing for interviews; mock interviews can be especially helpful.Remember that it’s possible to land roles that may not seem like an obvious fit based on your past experience.
I’m really glad I listened to my gut and decided to pivot to tech when I started to sense during my finance internship that it wasn’t the right path for me, rather than continuing down the same road.
Additionally, I’d recommend leaning on others, whether that’s friends or your broader network. Given the tough job market, I’ve found that many people are willing to help if you reach out to them.
