# Success Checklist

This guide provides a broad-ranging checklist to work towards a successful career as a software engineer.

Whether you are a Freshman or a Senior, there is always plenty of things you can do right now to improve your chances of success in the technology industry.

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Note that no one is an expert at everything and no one will be able to complete 100% of the items below. It’s okay and normal that you won’t know everything, and that you won’t complete this entire checklist.
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Take things one step at a time. Try to focus your learning and time around particular goals. There’s an enormous amount to learn and do, and it’s really easy to get overwhelmed. Think of this as a guide towards getting your first/next technical internship and then first full-time role after graduation.

**Top-level goals:**

* Create an effective resume and LinkedIn to prepare for your job search
* Acquire technical internship interview readiness for phone screens and on-site interviews
* Acquire confidence developing in one industry tech stack beyond what’s taught in classes
* Work in at least one software internship position by summer of Junior year
* Strengthen your professional network with more engineers and motivated peers

**Key action items:**

* Develop an understanding of what being a software engineer involves
* Complete a first course (SE101 or SE102) of our [software fundamentals course series](https://codepath.org/classes/interviewprep)
* Complete one or more of our special topics courses (iOS, Android, Cybersecurity, etc)
* Complete a second course (SE102 or SE103) of our [software fundamentals course](https://codepath.org/classes/interviewprep) series
* Participate in our virtual career fairs which connects students directly to companies
* Apply for as as many technical positions as you possibly can (*Sophomore/Junior*)

**Or complete additional action items:**

* Further studying for technical interviewing, either by yourself or with peers leveraging online resources
* Find at least one mentor you can check-in with periodically that can provide you support 
* Personally mentor at least one student earlier in their career than you to strengthen your own understanding
* Help lead a class as a TechFellow on at least one course they completed or provide technical support to other students
* Work in a 2nd technical internship before graduation
* Contribute to your first open-source project
* Launch a side project (web app or mobile) that some number of people other than yourself actually use
* Attend local hackathons or coding events to collaborate on code and meet new students/engineers