Table of contents

This table of contents lists each page in the order of the sidebar, with the headings inside it. It is built from the pages, so it always matches the site.

Advice

Quick setup

• 1. Build one project you can defend
• 2. Write one page a screener can read in seconds
• 3. Ask for a referral, then apply early
• 4. Reevaluate after 20 quiet applications
• 5. Know every line of your resume
• 6. Match the calendar
• 7. Keep learning after the offer
• Where the rule of 20 came from

Projects

• Why projects count
• Pick one you can defend
• Present it
• Software or hardware
• The steps in order

Software

• Why write software that touches hardware
• Embedded firmware
• Test automation and lab scripts
• FPGA and HDL
• Show it on GitHub
• Put it on the resume

Hardware

• Bench skills come first
• Hardware builds that count
• Starting on a student budget
• Teams and undergraduate research
• Test or technician roles as a way in

Career paths

• Embedded and firmware
• Power
• Analog and mixed-signal
• RF and communications
• Controls

Portfolio

• What a reviewer does with the link
• One page per project
• Who needs one
• Five student portfolios
• Hosting for free
• Build it with an AI tool
• LinkedIn
• Post the work as you go
• Keep it current

Resume

• How a resume gets read
• Layout
• Section order
• Header
• Education
• Bullets
• Projects
• Experience
• Skills
• Tailor it to the posting
• Alex's finished page
• Checklist
• Build your resume

Walkthrough

• Start with an inventory
• The first draft
• The finished page
• When experience takes over
• What to do this week

Cleanup

• The file
• The header
• Education
• Projects and experience
• Skills
• The whole page
• The checklist

Workshop

• Before the session
• Agenda
• Facilitator script
• Block 1, how a resume gets read
• Block 2, layout and template setup
• Block 3, bullet rewrite drill
• Block 4, section order and header
• Block 5, peer review in pairs
• Block 6, wrap-up
• Handouts
• Resume fields sheet
• XYZ bullet fill-in
• Bullet rewrite worksheet
• Peer-review sheet
• Project inventory for students with no experience
• This week
• Adjust for your room
• First-year students with no projects
• Seniors with internships
• Students who do not use LaTeX
• Common questions in the room
• Where this workshop stops

Getting hired

• Get a referral first
• When online applications go quiet
• Tools that apply for you
• Cold outreach and career fairs
• Where to look
• The application loop

Networking

• Why a referral is worth the effort
• The informational interview
• Asking for the referral
• Career fairs
• LinkedIn

Job market

• More applications per posting
• Fewer postings for new graduates
• Still, the degree holds
• What students see
• What to do about it
• Why reevaluate at 20

How to interview

• What the process looks like now
• How to prepare
• Your projects, line by line
• Fundamentals from the ground up
• A note on embedded interviews
• Coding problems out loud
• Behavioral stories
• The project talk
• Take-home tests
• Mock interviews
• Treat it as a conversation
• On the day
• After each round
• Further reading
• Prep sheet

First internship

• No experience yet
• Recruiting calendar
• If this summer falls through
• Paths from zero to a first internship
• Narrow cases
• Checklist

First full-time role

• Recruiting timeline
• Return offers
• New-grad programs and direct hire
• Where new-grad roles are posted
• Evaluating an offer
• If nothing lands by graduation

Forever learning

• Read the part's documents
• Take free courses
• Join IEEE
• The FE exam and the PE license
• Employer tuition help
• Keep building and keep notes

Getting into graduate study

• Pick the degree before the school
• Build the foundation
• Get research experience early
• Take graduate courses as an undergraduate
• Find research fit and an advisor
• Funded or not, and how assistantships and fellowships work
• The application: statement and letters
• Study while you work
• Checklist

Graduate study

• What the degree adds to pay
• Which fields expect one
• How students pay
• The GRE

Professional societies

• IEEE
• IEEE-HKN and Tau Beta Pi
• SWE, NSBE, and SHPE
• SPIE, Optica, and ACM
• On the resume

Author's story

• Where the advice comes from

Help

• Communities

AI use

• Where a tool helps
• Finding postings
• Checking a draft
• Writing it yourself
• Where students stand
• Rehearsing interviews
• Rules for using a tool

Company list

Job boards

• Start with the company's own page
• Use LinkedIn to find, not to apply
• Handshake while you are a student
• Curated lists for the daily check
• Federal work
• Boards that waste your time
• How many postings are real
• What students report
• Pay data for an offer

Resources

• Job lists on GitHub
• Resumes
• Courses and references
• Pay
• Company lists

Sources

Roadmap

Contributing

• Suggest an idea or a fix
• Edit a page
• Conduct

Sitemap

Table of contents

Table of figures

Table of tables