Campus Recruiting Event

Flatiron offers alumni a chance to participate in recruiting events. Employee relationship specialists gather employers who are interested in hiring entry-level developers. I was lucky enough to be part of Houston’s very first one.

The event seriously exceeded expectations. I wasn’t sure how many connections Flatiron had in Houston since it’s a new campus. There was a good variety of all sorts of companies. Houston has many more opportunities than I imagined.

We got to meet directly with some very high-level personnel. I was not expecting that at all for entry-level positions. All the interviewers were very kind and really cared about what sort of person you are personality-wise and potential-wise. The notes about each interviewer were super helpful and prepared me for each one.

It was super good practice. Each company had their own interview style. The mock cultural and tech interviews definitely helped me prepare for some left field questions. It would also benefit students to study general computer science, especially algorithms and time complexity. The technical whiteboard questions were especially fun and much less intimidating than imagined. The interviewers helped guiding where needed.

I’m really happy to be part of the first recruiting event so soon after my official job search start. Entry-level positions are hard to search for. Getting responses from applications can be much harder. Getting an actual interview is the hardest.

This was a very good opportunity. Half the work was already done, since the employers are looking for entry level programmers. The other half would be on my end.

I was able to get a bunch of contacts and experience with the interview process. As an online student, I also got to meet the on campus students for the first time. It’s nice to know that there are other people who are all going through the same things.

I like interviewing and had fun learning about each company. My biggest takeaway was be very open. Job descriptions, titles, and companies might not be anything like what you would expect. All the employers were in a growth phase, so there are many ways your role could evolve. They really wanted to know where your abilities would best fit.

The week after the Flatiron career event, I attended a startup job fair. The practice at the career event helped me talk to many different companies and hone my elevator pitch. Someday, it might be passable.

Cheers, Chely