halfbreedmixedcel
mixedcel + shortcel + framecel
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If you're not Canadian or if you're over the age of 17 this guide is not for you.
This is a guide on how to become a SWE in Canada.
First, some terms you should know:
SWE := Software Engineer
LC := LeetCode
OA := Online Assessment
FAANG/MANGO := Big tech
UW, UBC, UofT := look it up retard
NGMI := not gonna make it
supp apps := supplementary applications
ATS := Applicant Tracking System
RO := Return offer
Stage 1: High school
If you are past grade 11 it's over, you're likely NGMI, stop reading.
In your last two years of high school, your goal is to optimize your chances of getting into UW. UofT and UBC are okay too. If you can't get into any of these schools, just go to whatever is cheapest (factor in tuition costs, scholarships, housing, etc). More on this later.
You need to optimize your grades. Ideally, you'll be as close to 100 as possible. Grade 11 is a good time to build good habits and learn how to study, because your grades matter the most in grade 12. There are guides on how to study, my advice is to find a youtube channel that aligns with how you learn.
You will also need extracurriculars for most top programs. Do math contests (CCC, Euclid), and become the president of one club + an executive member of another. Ideally one of these clubs will be academic, and one for social good / personal interests, whatever helps you larp. You likely won't get checked on your club positions so feel free to lie on your supp apps.
You'll have to apply for university programs around November of your grade 12 year. Apply for computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering (in that order of priority) for the following universities: UW, UofT, UBC. Also pick one safety school. A safety school is any school where you're 100% confident you can get in to. Ideally it should be nearby, so you don't waste a shit ton of money on a shitty education.
Be sure to enjoy your final year of high school. It's the last time you'll get to be a child. That being said, be sure to learn the fundamentals of programming (the basics of at least one OOP language, I suggest Python or Java). You'll need to have a head start on your CS education, so now's a good time to start.
Stage 2: Early University
I will assume you got into a decent program. At this point, you have two goals:
1. Stay on top of schoolwork
2. Craft your resume + leetcode skills to secure a club/research position
Many people say that GPA doesn't matter for SWEs so paying attention in school is a waste of time. What they don't realize is that when your interviewer asks you to describe what a race condition is and you freeze up, the interviewer will reject you on the spot. Fuck your elective classes, just do whatever it takes to pass those. Only tryhard in your CS classes. Showing up to and participating in classes is also a good way to make friends and get to know your profs. They will be very useful to you throughout your career.
You need to start working on your resume ASAP. If you're in a co-op program, your advisors will likely help you a bit. However, their advice is super outdated and should be used only as a starting point. Look up "Jake's Resume" and use that format, create an overleaf account and learn some basic LaTeX. It's the most ATS-optimized resume template, and tech recruiters prefer looking at Jakes' resumes because they are very easy to skim through.
Ideally you should have a few non-coursework projects on your resume. You'll need to use this to apply for some club/research positions. Any general developer position in a club is a good start. If you can work on a development project with a professor (like the ones you met through showing up to class), that's even better. Having a professor who can train you will be lifechanging.
You will want to larp and put your club/research experience under the 'Experience' section on your resume. Don't have them as projects. You will need to make your resume as hyper-optimized as possible (use ChatGPT), because 1st and 2nd year internships are extremely brutal. However, apply for as many as you can. Job hunting is truly a numbers game.
Stage 3: Job Hunting
You want to put up as many shots as possible. Apply within 24 hours of a job being posted. I suggest using Hiring Cafe, and bookmarking a nice set of filters and checking that daily. You can also use your co-op job board, but unless you're at UW it will be dogshit. Apply with referrals whenever possible, but what matters most is the volume of applications you send out. Get your resume reviewed often (by a wide range of people, not just your friends) and keep working on your projects.
By the time you start job hunting, you'll want to work on your LC as well. Start off by doing the Neetcode 150, and keep grinding until you can do any LC Med in around 30 minutes. The LC grind is something that should be treated as a marathon, not a race. It can't be learned overnight, and you'll have to remain consistent for most of your university career. If you aren't acing your OAs, you should take that as a sign to keep working on your LC.
One tip I have for job hunting is that off-cycle internships are way easier to get. Off-cycle internships are any co-op terms that are not during the summer. They have way less competition, since they require you to fuck up your course sequencing (unless you're UW). The first internship is always the hardest to get, so it's 100% worth to even sacrifice a whole year from your graduation date to secure the job.
Stage 4: Late University
After you've gotten a few valuable experiences, you need to prepare for your graduation. Your goal is to complete a co-op in your final summer (8 months before graduation) with a company that hands out ROs like candy. These companies are the ones with large, structured co-op programs. Any company that hires 100+ interns per 4 month term will likely exclusively convert interns for their newgrad pipeline. These are usually FAANG companies, but there are often exceptions.
To land a co-op at one of these companies, you should maximize your reach by attending recruiter events and hackathons. This is where going to a shit school would really fuck you over, since large companies won't bother visiting any shit schools. One key hackathon to look out for is Hack The North. Be sure to apply early, since admissions are usually rolling. Companies will set up interview booths here and interview people on the spot. You can get access to HTN-exclusive applicant pools with companies like Amazon, Shopify, RBC, etc. These companies are the ones that hand out a lot of ROs to interns who are graduating soon.
At this point, if you don't secure an internship that gives you an RO, it's worth it to delay your graduation to keep looking. You don't want to enter the newgrad job market without any offers, since it is 10x more brutal than the co-op job market.
Stage 5: Early Career
Unless you ate shit somewhere along the process, you should have a full time newgrad job where you are being compensated decently. However, you're now in a whole new world of layoffs, AI-induced firing, retarded executives, and coworker drama. You won't really get any moments of peace, and you'll probably want to end up like this guy:
I hope this guide was able to help anyone who's interested in becoming a SWE in the future. If this seems like too much work to you (it's an extremely simplified version of the actual process btw), you should stick to being a plumber or electrician.
If you have any questions about the process or requests for any resources, just lmk.
This is a guide on how to become a SWE in Canada.
First, some terms you should know:
SWE := Software Engineer
LC := LeetCode
OA := Online Assessment
FAANG/MANGO := Big tech
UW, UBC, UofT := look it up retard
NGMI := not gonna make it
supp apps := supplementary applications
ATS := Applicant Tracking System
RO := Return offer
Stage 1: High school
If you are past grade 11 it's over, you're likely NGMI, stop reading.
In your last two years of high school, your goal is to optimize your chances of getting into UW. UofT and UBC are okay too. If you can't get into any of these schools, just go to whatever is cheapest (factor in tuition costs, scholarships, housing, etc). More on this later.
You need to optimize your grades. Ideally, you'll be as close to 100 as possible. Grade 11 is a good time to build good habits and learn how to study, because your grades matter the most in grade 12. There are guides on how to study, my advice is to find a youtube channel that aligns with how you learn.
You will also need extracurriculars for most top programs. Do math contests (CCC, Euclid), and become the president of one club + an executive member of another. Ideally one of these clubs will be academic, and one for social good / personal interests, whatever helps you larp. You likely won't get checked on your club positions so feel free to lie on your supp apps.
You'll have to apply for university programs around November of your grade 12 year. Apply for computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering (in that order of priority) for the following universities: UW, UofT, UBC. Also pick one safety school. A safety school is any school where you're 100% confident you can get in to. Ideally it should be nearby, so you don't waste a shit ton of money on a shitty education.
Be sure to enjoy your final year of high school. It's the last time you'll get to be a child. That being said, be sure to learn the fundamentals of programming (the basics of at least one OOP language, I suggest Python or Java). You'll need to have a head start on your CS education, so now's a good time to start.
Stage 2: Early University
I will assume you got into a decent program. At this point, you have two goals:
1. Stay on top of schoolwork
2. Craft your resume + leetcode skills to secure a club/research position
Many people say that GPA doesn't matter for SWEs so paying attention in school is a waste of time. What they don't realize is that when your interviewer asks you to describe what a race condition is and you freeze up, the interviewer will reject you on the spot. Fuck your elective classes, just do whatever it takes to pass those. Only tryhard in your CS classes. Showing up to and participating in classes is also a good way to make friends and get to know your profs. They will be very useful to you throughout your career.
You need to start working on your resume ASAP. If you're in a co-op program, your advisors will likely help you a bit. However, their advice is super outdated and should be used only as a starting point. Look up "Jake's Resume" and use that format, create an overleaf account and learn some basic LaTeX. It's the most ATS-optimized resume template, and tech recruiters prefer looking at Jakes' resumes because they are very easy to skim through.
Ideally you should have a few non-coursework projects on your resume. You'll need to use this to apply for some club/research positions. Any general developer position in a club is a good start. If you can work on a development project with a professor (like the ones you met through showing up to class), that's even better. Having a professor who can train you will be lifechanging.
You will want to larp and put your club/research experience under the 'Experience' section on your resume. Don't have them as projects. You will need to make your resume as hyper-optimized as possible (use ChatGPT), because 1st and 2nd year internships are extremely brutal. However, apply for as many as you can. Job hunting is truly a numbers game.
Stage 3: Job Hunting
You want to put up as many shots as possible. Apply within 24 hours of a job being posted. I suggest using Hiring Cafe, and bookmarking a nice set of filters and checking that daily. You can also use your co-op job board, but unless you're at UW it will be dogshit. Apply with referrals whenever possible, but what matters most is the volume of applications you send out. Get your resume reviewed often (by a wide range of people, not just your friends) and keep working on your projects.
By the time you start job hunting, you'll want to work on your LC as well. Start off by doing the Neetcode 150, and keep grinding until you can do any LC Med in around 30 minutes. The LC grind is something that should be treated as a marathon, not a race. It can't be learned overnight, and you'll have to remain consistent for most of your university career. If you aren't acing your OAs, you should take that as a sign to keep working on your LC.
One tip I have for job hunting is that off-cycle internships are way easier to get. Off-cycle internships are any co-op terms that are not during the summer. They have way less competition, since they require you to fuck up your course sequencing (unless you're UW). The first internship is always the hardest to get, so it's 100% worth to even sacrifice a whole year from your graduation date to secure the job.
Stage 4: Late University
After you've gotten a few valuable experiences, you need to prepare for your graduation. Your goal is to complete a co-op in your final summer (8 months before graduation) with a company that hands out ROs like candy. These companies are the ones with large, structured co-op programs. Any company that hires 100+ interns per 4 month term will likely exclusively convert interns for their newgrad pipeline. These are usually FAANG companies, but there are often exceptions.
To land a co-op at one of these companies, you should maximize your reach by attending recruiter events and hackathons. This is where going to a shit school would really fuck you over, since large companies won't bother visiting any shit schools. One key hackathon to look out for is Hack The North. Be sure to apply early, since admissions are usually rolling. Companies will set up interview booths here and interview people on the spot. You can get access to HTN-exclusive applicant pools with companies like Amazon, Shopify, RBC, etc. These companies are the ones that hand out a lot of ROs to interns who are graduating soon.
At this point, if you don't secure an internship that gives you an RO, it's worth it to delay your graduation to keep looking. You don't want to enter the newgrad job market without any offers, since it is 10x more brutal than the co-op job market.
Stage 5: Early Career
Unless you ate shit somewhere along the process, you should have a full time newgrad job where you are being compensated decently. However, you're now in a whole new world of layoffs, AI-induced firing, retarded executives, and coworker drama. You won't really get any moments of peace, and you'll probably want to end up like this guy:
I hope this guide was able to help anyone who's interested in becoming a SWE in the future. If this seems like too much work to you (it's an extremely simplified version of the actual process btw), you should stick to being a plumber or electrician.
If you have any questions about the process or requests for any resources, just lmk.