How to get a job off-campus. [Guide]
Hello Everyone, I am a 4th year from SRM. Technically Alumuni cuz i got my provisional certificate, and i am done with this place. This Post is not to boast, or to promise something. I just want to give my juniors some advice and talk about my experiences in the hopes that other gain some help from them. If you have any doubts, just make a comment, and i will try my best to respond.
Now, lets talk about off-campus. Off-campus is byfar the most difficult thing to do. It requires passion, commitment and sheer will to pull off. Now, i am not saying its impossible, all people in my friend group got an off-campus placement, but it is NOT EASY.
STEP 1: Passion
- You need to genuinely have a passion for something. It does not have to be special, but you genuinely need to enjoy doing what you do for the love of the game
- If you think you can get an Off-campus placement just because you want a job, its going to be significantly more difficult
- With that passion, somes the drive to learn and improve. You need the skills. There is no doubt about that. DSA is a nice bonus, but you really need to know what ur developing/researching. You need to understand and have genuine skill at it. This is something they look for Off-Campus
-> In my case, i had a passion for AR/VR. I knew from day 1 that SRM was not giving me a placement in this field. SO, from my 2nd semester onwards, i sat down and learnt Unity. I learnt about 3D graphics, physics engines, Interaction design principles. Etc.
STEP 2: Projects
- With the skills that you develop, you need to make a lot of projects. Projects are the only proof that your claim of having skill is true. People need solid proof that you are worthy of even talking to.
- Projects help you learn, you can go on a journey of project based learning, i did that.
- You need projects that showcase a variety of different subskills within your field of choice.
STEP 3: Networking
- This is by far the most important part. With the Skills and projects you have, you can actually go and talk to people. You can talk about the things you learnt, the things you are making right now, and the things you plan to learn/make in the future. This lets people understand you, building an image of someone who can be considered knowledgable
- IT IS VERY IMPORTANT, that you go to conferences/meetups/workshops, etc. This is how you meet people physically, ther is a higher chance of people remembering you if they spoke to you in person.
- Networking comes in different flavours and methods. Pick and chose what you can and cannot do.
- Cold mails. Always give it a shot. Dont be disheartened if you dont get responses. Even 1 response is infinitely more than 0. I installed a mail tracker so i know if people opened my emails, and whether they left it on read.
-> In my case, i used to DM people in linkedin and ask them for advice abt skill, get on their good side, show them my resume as a form of "here is what i know", and then ask abt internship opportunities later.
-> I went to IGDC (Indian Game Developers Conference), and spoke to a lot of people/companies there. I collected a lot of business cards. I then emailed them later, saying we met at IGDC. Just establishing some form of connection gives cold mails a significant chance of being read and responded to.
-> A friend of mine was very active on twitter. He poster a lot of his project, shitting on software and his thoughts about how things should be made. Over the span of 6 months, he gained followers from really big companies in his space. And eventually got a scouting offer from a very large MNC.
My Experiences:
- I started learning my stack in my 2nd semester. Worked my ass off
- I got my 1st internship from Linkedin applying. (a miracle) [Left due to academic reasons]
- I got my 2nd internship by randomly DMing people in Linkedin abt advice, then asked for a position [left due to the team getting shut down]
- I got my 3rd internship cuz a senior of mine from the same club was asking around for people in my niche field. [Left cuz i got bored of the work there]
- I got my 4th internship by cold mailing a company i met at IGDC
-> I got converted at this company and hold a full-time position.
=> Anyone can build the technical skill with enough effort. It is equally important to do networking as well. Events, conferences, meetup, Constant cold mailing, Linkedin DMs, Twitter, Friends, Seniors. Everything is fair game as long as you reach your final goal.
Even now, after getting full time, i got a very rare opportunity to participate as a student volunteer in the Worlds Biggest conference for my field. I plan to meet a lot of people there, and broaden my horizons even more.
If you have any doubts, feel free to leave a comment. Based on responses, i may add more details if necessary.
Edit 1:
Here is a small bit about cold mailing, as per requested in the comments.
There are 2 steps to cold mailing.
- Getting the Email
- Writing the Email.
When getting the email, there can be a variety of sources. You can get emails by searching them up, you can get them via a blog, or a appreciation site, if you can find their portfolio, etc. I have collected emails in some weird ways. Got some via business cards, sometimes i was reading all the past posts of HR in the company, sometimes i would try to guess their email. On multiple occasions i would replace the "customer@example.com" with "hr", and hope for the best. You have to just get an email somehow. Career pages just dont work,
Okay, Good. You got an email. Now what? Well, its time to write an email. Now, most people give you a template. I cant give you that, i will give you an idea of structure, so you can write the email (using ai or whatever). Now, do keep in note that cold mailing is not easy, it takes time, and there will be a lot of mails with no response. I tend to install a mail tracker, its an extension that tells me if that email has ever been opened. Somtimes the closure of knowing if the email is opened or not is enough.
Regarding the email body, the structure is simple.
[ Introduction]
It does not have to be large or complex. Just who are you.
"My name is _____, and I am a final-year Computer Science student at SRM University. With a strong interest in building a career in XR, I have been following _____ on many platforms for quite a while."
[The Connection]
This part is very important. If you get DMd by a random person, you would not give it much thought. BUT, if you get DMd by someone saying they know your friend, you would be willing to listen a bit more. ESSENTIALLY, you need to declare what connection you have with them. They feel more inclined to read the email. The closer the connection, the better. Even saying that a senior recommended i email you, works.
"Back in 2022, I met _____ in IGDC, and i was truely impressed by what they were showcasing. Since then, i have been waiting for the perfect moment to contact you"
"During the Meetup a few days ago, i found the project you were working on for ____ really cool. I was wondering if we could talk about me contributing to it."
[Skills]
This section is rather simple. It just needs some fluff explaining what you know, what things you have built, etc. This is just email filler, so dont be too detailed, just enough so they got the basic idea
[Conclusion]
This has the be very small. Just make sure to mention your portfolio and resume.
"Please find my resume attached, and my portfolio[link]. I would be delighted to discuss how I can contribute to your team and learn from the innovative work at ______.
"Please find my resume attached, and my portfolio[link]. I would be delighted to discuss how I can learn and contribute to your team at * Lab"
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to a positive response."
And thats it. This is the basic overview of Cold Mailing. Dont be discouraged, its just a part of the process. Expect to send 100s of mails before getting an offer. Just emailing is enough, it lets you build the intuitive skill to write them. Try Linkedin DMing employees of the company, hearing what they say is also a good idea.