📓 Career Services Schedule (full-time)

While it’s vital to learn how to code if you want to be a software developer, finding your first job can be a challenge. Over the years, we’ve identified processes and behaviors that tend to make the difference between a graduate being successful or not. To this end, alongside the coding curriculum you’ll be going through during the program, there is also a career services curriculum. The same expectations and deadlines will apply to both types of assignments. Your advisor will send out an email with the specific dates when different pieces of the career services curriculum will occur, but here is a broad overview of what you can expect.

Week 1: SMART Goal Setting and Career Exploration This week, you’ll set some initial goals for your time at Epicodus and career in tech. You’ll also start to explore the opportunities and options for a career in tech by looking at real job boards and real positions in the industry.

Week 2: Identifying Important Skills, Strengths, and Weaknesses This week, you will spend time identifying your skills, strengths, and weaknesses, and how they align with the skills that are most relevant to the tech industry.

Week 3 - 4: Initial Advisor Meetings During this time, you’ll meet with your advisor to discuss your goals, skill analysis, and the career exploration you did during the first two weeks of class.

Week 4: Telling Your Story You’ll create a short elevator pitch that describes your skills, career transition, and goals. You’ll use this elevator pitch throughout future job application materials like your cover letter, resume, and LinkedIn profile, and in interviews.

Week 7: LinkedIn Profile and Indeed Resume At the end of Week 7, you will have time in class to create or update your LinkedIn profile and your Indeed Resume to set you up for success in the tech industry and your future job search.

Week 8 - 10: LinkedIn Profile Reviews During weeks 8 - 10, you’ll meet with your cohort’s advisor to go over your LinkedIn profile and Indeed Resume.

Week 10: Resume You will have time in class on Thursday afternoon to build or update your resume, and your advisor will be available during this time.

Week 13: Cover Letter You will have time in class on Thursday afternoon to write your cover letter, and your advisor will be available during this time.

Week 14 - 15: Cover Letter and Resume Reviews Much like your LinkedIn profile meeting, your advisor will meet with you to go over your resume and cover letter during this time.

Week 16 - 18: Mock Interviews Sometime during this period, you will be scheduled for your first mock interview. This will include both technical and non-technical questions, and will be a great opportunity to sharpen your interview skills before your internship interviews with actual companies.

Week 17: Job Applications This will be the first week where you will have time to apply for jobs in class. You will write a cover letter and customize your resume for a job posting. Your advisor will be available to help you send out the best possible material!

Week 19: Professional Development Plan This week you’ll create a plan for your job search and continued professional development.

Week 20: Job Applications Continued Now that you will have had some practice, applying for jobs should come a little bit easier. Again, you’ll have time in class on Thursday to apply for jobs.

Week 20 - 22: Professional Development Check-Ins Before you move into your Capstone class and job search, you’ll meet with your advisor to discuss and create a professional development plan for the final section of coursework, your internship, and beyond.

Week 22: Job Applications Continued You will have time in class to apply for jobs this week.

Week 23: Job Fair Meet with companies and recruiters to explore open positions and network with companies for future openings.

Week 23 - 24: Second Mock Interview During these weeks, there will be a second round of mock interviews to help everyone get ready for internships and their job hunt.

Week 24: Job Applications Continued You will have time in class to apply for jobs this week.

Week 25: Internship Rankings You will also be prompted via email to rank your order of preference for internship interviews.

Week 26: Interview Assignments Monday of this week, you will receive a list of companies who you are going to be interviewing with for internships. In lieu of applying for jobs, you will write cover letters and send them out along with a resume, your LinkedIn profile, your Github profile, and your school transcript.

Week 26 - 28: Exit Meetings Before heading off to internships, you’ll meet with your advisor to wrap up your time in the classroom at Epicodus and set up a plan for your job search and post-graduation career services support.

Week 27: Internship Interviews During this week, you’ll interview with internship host companies and submit your final internship rankings by the end of the week.

Week 28: Internship Matchmaking By Wednesday this week, you’ll be matched with a host company for your internship.

Week 29 - 33: Internships For the final five weeks of the program, you’ll work with your host internship company to get real-world development experience.

Post-Graduation: You’ll continue to receive job searching support for up to a year after graduation. We look forward to helping your successful entry into the tech industry!