Sahil Gaba was about to graduate with a grasp’s diploma in mechanical engineering when he realized the attraction of pc science.
He seen that associates who had switched to the pc science area had been having a comparatively straightforward time touchdown jobs — so he determined to strive it, too.
“One summer season I spent a great three, 4 months studying programming,” Gaba, who grew up in India, instructed Enterprise Insider.
“I used to be fairly optimistic. I went to the job market, tried to get some jobs, however nonetheless could not get any of these massive tech firms,” he stated.
He lastly landed a software program engineering function at a small fintech firm in Chicago, however felt he wasn’t studying probably the most up-to-date software program abilities with them.
“I had that itch of working in massive tech,” Gaba stated. So he spent his evenings studying newer applied sciences and honing his interview abilities.
Catching an enormous break
It paid off. After two years on the firm in Chicago and lots of of rejections later, he bought his first job in massive tech: a software program engineering function at Amazon.
Inside 18 months of beginning at Amazon, he landed gives from Meta, Uber, and Google inside a couple of weeks of one another. He accepted a task with Google with a beginning wage of about $300,000 a 12 months. He was 29 years outdated on the time.
Here is the résumé he used to land jobs at Meta, Uber, and Google:
Sahil Gaba
What he would change on his résumé in the present day
The résumé above landed Gaba job gives with three tech giants. Even so, Gaba says there are some things he would tweak on it in the present day.
Lead with expertise, not abilities: Gaba stated he created this résumé earlier than touchdown his first massive tech job at Amazon. “At the moment, as a result of my work expertise was not that robust, I put my abilities on the high,” he stated. It will have made extra sense to steer with work expertise, he stated. “I’d nonetheless need to embody my abilities, however only for the key phrases functions.”
Give attention to the brand new: Gaba stated he would scale back the emphasis on achievements from faculty. “The honors and awards, they’re very outdated,” he stated. “I really feel like if you happen to’ve not gotten something in latest occasions, you may as nicely skip them.” Related logic applies to sections reminiscent of “coursework.”
Simplicity of language: In relation to touting achievements, Gaba stated he would now prioritize making the language straightforward to know. “To start with, I’d attempt to add cool acronyms in there — you’ll be able to alienate your recruiter or hiring supervisor in a short time by doing that.”
Nonetheless, there are some issues he would maintain the identical.
De-emphasizing schooling: “I’ve labored fairly exhausting for all these levels, however I do know that within the context of the job that I am on the lookout for, these levels usually are not that vital,” Gaba stated. He put his schooling on the precise aspect of the web page, since most individuals are inclined to learn left to proper, and would due to this fact see the extra related part first.
Hobbies: Gaba stated he would additionally retain the part referred to as “pursuits” as a result of it makes for a great icebreaker in interviews: “In case you discover one thing that overlaps, it begins a dialogue and it results in a heat begin.”
Gaba at present works in Google’s Seattle workplace as a software program engineer.
BI verified his employment historical past and his pay historical past.
Bought a narrative to share about your private résumé journey? E mail this reporter at shubhangigoel@insider.com.
