Most Indian software engineers who graduate go on to work for service-based companies. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with working for a service-based company. However, for the vast majority of the following reasons, many employees want to switch to a product-based company:
- Much higher salary
- Great work environment
- Greater ownership
- Professional Growth
While the majority of product-based organizations easily pay quadruple of that, freshers at service-based firms typically make between 3-5 lakhs per year. Large IT product-based companies and elite startups charge 4-5 times as much. Of course, most developers and engineers want to work for companies that generate products.
But getting it is not simple. It is also not particularly challenging. If done regularly, the right amount of hard work in the right direction can make it simple.
How should one get ready for product-based businesses?
#1 Learning and Practice coding Online
Learn to code, putting a lot of attention on the foundations. Java or C++ have suggested languages. At the point when, given a high-level solution, you can code it without much thought, you should strive to get so accustomed to programming.
How we typically code in college classes or at work is considerably different from how we code online. Practice a few simple questions on an online coding platform to feel more comfortable.
#2 Master Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
Almost all product-based businesses employ OOP, which is a crucial programming paradigm. You can prepare by solidly grasping OOP concepts and doing some practical work.
#3 Learn Data structures and Algorithms (DSA) concepts
One of the most significant areas of study in data structures and algorithms is DSA foundations.
You should become proficient at figuring out a solution’s complexity in time and space. This stage is frequently skipped, which makes it challenging for people to optimize their solutions.
Recursion is a notion utilized in many algorithms and with practically all main data structures; thus, it’s also a good idea to understand how to conceive and write that way. The following subject after recursion is Divide and Conquer, which you should study. Use recursion and divide-and-conquer to your advantage by practicing questions. You can master DSA by joining the best DSA course online, and get certified by IBM.
#4 Master Basic DSA
Spend most of your time studying and applying for DSA.
By putting these notions into practice and becoming more comfortable with them, try to:
- Linked List, Stack, Queue, Binary Tree, and Array
- Search, sort, hash, and 2 pointers
Never memorize anything. Do not read the coverage-increasing solutions. Create a foundation and work to find solutions on your own.
#5 Improve Your Skills + Develop Projects
Learn to design software if you aren’t already doing it for your current role. You’ll also carry this out while working. Good projects can give you an edge while hiring managers’ interviews and help shortlist your resume.
Create outstanding projects to help you further your education and stand out on your resume. You do not want to build projects that appear on everyone’s résumé.
Mobile and full-stack web development are also possibilities. I suggest utilizing full-stack development to reduce time and because there is a huge demand for full-stack developers for open roles.
#6 Create a professional resume and LinkedIn profile
You can start submitting applications to startups and mid-sized businesses if you’ve studied, practiced, and created a few development projects using basic DSA. Ensure that your LinkedIn profile and CV are constructed properly if you want to receive calls from these companies.
#7 Intermediate DSA Training and Practice
You should also be skilled at intermediate DSA to work for the top tech businesses.
Advanced DSA topics:
- Backtracking
- Greedy
- Dynamic Programming
- Graph for Strings,
- Tries, and Bit Manipulation
These are very challenging subjects. If you succeed, it will be simple for you to join one of the top tech businesses.
#8 Learn Theory
Learn DBMS, OS, and other foundational CS subjects and networks. These are significant topics that may be discussed in every interview—study intermediate SQL in addition to DBMS.
#9 Learn how to use SQL and machine coding.
Start getting ready for other interviews as soon as you’ve finished with DSA, OOP, core CS, and projects. To quickly pass the machine coding rounds at Uber, Flipkart, Swiggy, Udaan, etc. Practice 5-7 machine coding questions promptly.
Make sure to practice SQL as well. Hiring managers or other interviewers may ask you to create some SQL queries.
#10 Interview Practice
It is best to practice in an environment that resembles an actual interview when you are almost ready to conduct interviews.
- Timed exams: During the interview, you will have 30 to 45 minutes to answer questions. To become accustomed to completing tasks quickly, practicing a substantial number of questions through timed exams is preferable.
- Whiteboard or paper code: In most circumstances, you won’t have access to a computer during onsite interviews. You have to write code on paper or on a whiteboard.
- Peer-to-peer practice interviews: Before attending a real interview, practice interviews can help you identify and correct frequent problems. You can do peer-to-peer mock interviews on Pramp, InterviewBit, or by finding a helpful buddy.
#11 Start Applying For Jobs
Alongside the previous step, start applying. Search for recommendations on LinkedIn or among your network. You can also search for jobs on well-known employment portals or firm career pages. Finding the email addresses of recruiters (in the case of large corporations) or founders (in the case of startups) and sending a cold email with your application to them is another successful strategy.
Hope these tips can help you get a job at a product-based company. If you want to fast-track your career with hands-on training, check out the DSA and DSA & system design course right away!