I graduated in the housing crash which was brutal. The hard part is competing in interviews with people that have more experience when your only lever is that you are cheaper.

Jobs, internships, networking, and software engineering courses are critical. They let you speak like someone with much more experience. You don’t want to come into a questionable market with only raw CS skills. You will learn the CS, that is a given by your degree, so hone the critical people skills and how to work in a team. In a downturn no one wants to hire an unknown, so you need to be able to show that you aren’t green.

Internships with companies that are known to hire their interns are also a very good idea, even if it’s a “boring” company. These can be competitive, you gotta put that effort in.

Another good route in your later college years is also underpaid work assisting grad students or professors doing grant work. It shows you can apply what you learned, no one really wants to do it, it builds professional relationships, and it’s real job experience.