New graduate
Once you research your last year, you will start thinking about jobs once you graduate and go through new graduate (new grad) recruitment. While this is very similar to internship recruitment, there are subtle differences to the new grad process - you’ll have more interview rounds, possibly in a different format. Furthermore, this might also be the year you consider other industries or a new role and would have to learn how recruiting works for that specific role.
What to consider with companies/offers
When going through new grad recruitment, it is better to be more selective with the companies you apply for and subsequently the offers you negotiate. As an intern, you know that it is a short position with a fixed end date, but a new grad role doesn’t have an end date. The new grad offer will also look different and contain information about stocks, retirement plans, the various insurance benefits. Take your time to review all these details and choose the offer that works best for your needs.
Job/Grad school
This is a personal decision that you will also need to make around the same time as new grad recruitment. If you know you’d like to stay in academia, you will need to start working on graduate school applications. If you’re unsure, I recommend meeting some grad students and new grads in the industry for coffee chats to see which of the two better appeals to you. You can also reach out to your professors and research advisors for some advice as they have worked with you and can offer some thoughts.
How to recruit for New Grad
New Grad recruitment can feel more stressful than internship recruitment as this is more permanent and if you’re an international student, could impact your visa status. Try your best to take it one day at a time and keep yourself open to all options! You should consider other industries like consulting and apply to their positions too if you have an interest in working there.
Super Day tips
One common interview method for new grads is a Super Day. This is typically a day-long event at a single company where you will go through 3-8 rounds of interviews with various people in the company. For SWE roles, this would typically be 1-2 technical interviews and 2-5 behavioural interviews. For consulting roles, there would be 1-2 case interviews followed by 1-2 behavioural interviews.
Super Day behavioural interviews could either be a standard 30-minute interview or be 5 15-minute speed-networking style interviews. Your recruiter will let you know of the format and could suggest some preparation materials. As this is a day-long process, it is important to remain hopeful and not let 1 bad interview impact the others. When you go through a Super Day, the interviewers will get together at the end of the day and then decide who was the best candidate, so if you performed well in 4/5 interviews, you still have a very good chance. As the interviewers will come together to discuss your candidacy you should share different stories/experiences in each interview so that the interviews have a broad range of experiences to assess and hence, can advocate better on your behalf.
Super Days also have networking lunches. Use this opportunity to learn more about your interviewers and their journeys as you may not have a chance to do so in the interviews.