So, my son just graduated at the start of the summer with a dual degree in Math and Computer Science. He would like to find an entry level job in software engineering. Does anyone have any advice to give him?

Unless he ticks two or (ideally) more of the following:

- graduated summa cum laude

- from a top university (MIT, Stanford, CMU, Cornell, Berkeley)

- lives and breathes tech, writes code for fun in his personal time, iron-clad determination to succeed

- has strong personal projects that show off his top-notch technical skills

he should seriously consider doing something else. The tech field is pretty much over for new grads and it's going to get harder and harder.

Look for startups connected to the university he graduated from.

n=1, but I graduated with a not so hot GPA so going into the market just before covid wasn't fun. Ended up doing "contracting" (still had a W2) with a really nice agency to get my foot in the proverbial door and eventually started working full-time as a software engineer, albeit in more of a support role. Working as a contractor wasn't too glamorous though (I could definitely say the same about the pay) as it was mostly writing and running automated test, but figured I had to start somewhere.

Is he going to start working FAANG making $300k? It'd be nice if he does, but it's best to keep expectations in check.

try places like salt lake city, Charlotte NC

Look for Federal contracting firms, they’re much less picky and a job is a job at the end of the day. Of course this will likely require relocation, abstaining from drugs and other touchy things.

Most all of my unemployed friends post-graduation, those C’s get degrees kids, those who just couldn’t find an internship, that’s where they ended up, working for Booz Allen Hamilton or CACI or SRC.

Rapidly pivot to AI engineering

build personal projects incorporating AI (custom mcp servers, LLM integrations, etc), and reach out to people directly on LinkedIn who might be hiring.