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Industry Guide

Tech IndustryCareer Guide

Everything you need to land your dream job in tech. From FAANG to startups, learn about roles, salaries, interview prep, and insider tips for 2025.

$120K+
Median Tech Salary
25%
Job Growth Rate
500K+
Open Positions
4-6
Interview Rounds

Popular Tech Roles for New Grads

Explore the most in-demand tech positions, their salary ranges, and required skills.

Software Engineer

$85,000 - $150,000

Design, develop, and maintain software applications and systems.

25% (Much faster than average)
Key Skills:
PythonJavaJavaScriptData Structures
Top Employers:
Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft

Data Scientist

$95,000 - $160,000

Analyze complex data to help companies make better decisions.

35% (Much faster than average)
Key Skills:
PythonRSQLMachine Learning
Top Employers:
Airbnb, Uber, LinkedIn, Spotify

Product Manager

$100,000 - $180,000

Lead product development from conception to launch.

10% (Faster than average)
Key Skills:
Product StrategyUser ResearchData AnalysisRoadmapping
Top Employers:
Google, Meta, Salesforce, Atlassian

UX Designer

$75,000 - $130,000

Create intuitive and engaging user experiences for digital products.

13% (Faster than average)
Key Skills:
FigmaUser ResearchPrototypingWireframing
Top Employers:
Apple, Airbnb, Spotify, Pinterest

Cloud Engineer

$90,000 - $155,000

Design and manage cloud infrastructure and services.

15% (Much faster than average)
Key Skills:
AWSAzureGCPKubernetes
Top Employers:
Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Snowflake

Cybersecurity Analyst

$80,000 - $140,000

Protect organizations from cyber threats and security breaches.

33% (Much faster than average)
Key Skills:
Network SecurityPenetration TestingSIEMIncident Response
Top Employers:
CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Splunk

Tech Interview Types

Understand the different interview formats you'll encounter and how to prepare for each.

Coding Interview

45-60 minutes

Solve algorithmic problems on a whiteboard or shared coding environment.

Preparation Tips:
Practice on LeetCode, HackerRank, and CodeSignal daily
Master data structures: arrays, trees, graphs, hash tables
Learn common algorithms: sorting, searching, dynamic programming
Think out loud and communicate your approach
Start with brute force, then optimize

System Design

45-60 minutes

Design large-scale distributed systems (for senior roles or some companies).

Preparation Tips:
Understand scalability concepts: load balancing, caching, sharding
Practice designing common systems: URL shortener, Twitter, Netflix
Learn about databases: SQL vs NoSQL, CAP theorem
Consider trade-offs and justify your decisions
Use the RESHADED framework for structured answers

Behavioral Interview

30-45 minutes

Discuss past experiences and how you handle workplace situations.

Preparation Tips:
Prepare 8-10 STAR stories covering different competencies
Research company values and align your stories
Be specific with metrics and outcomes
Show growth mindset and learning from failures
Ask thoughtful questions about team and culture

Technical Deep Dive

45-60 minutes

Discuss your past projects and technical decisions in depth.

Preparation Tips:
Know your resume projects inside and out
Be ready to explain technical trade-offs you made
Discuss what you would do differently
Show passion for technology and continuous learning
Prepare to whiteboard architecture diagrams

Tech Resume Bullet Examples

Copy and customize these proven resume bullets for your tech applications.

Software Engineering

Developed a microservices architecture using Node.js and Docker, reducing deployment time by 60% and improving system reliability to 99.9% uptime

Implemented a real-time data pipeline using Apache Kafka, processing 1M+ events daily with sub-second latency

Led migration from monolithic to microservices architecture, reducing codebase complexity by 40% and enabling independent team deployments

Built RESTful APIs serving 10K+ daily active users with 99.5% uptime and <200ms average response time

Optimized database queries reducing page load time from 3s to 400ms, improving user retention by 25%

Data Science

Built machine learning model predicting customer churn with 92% accuracy, enabling proactive retention campaigns saving $2M annually

Developed NLP pipeline processing 50K+ customer reviews daily, extracting sentiment and key themes for product insights

Created interactive Tableau dashboard tracking KPIs across 5 business units, adopted by 200+ stakeholders

Implemented A/B testing framework that increased experiment velocity by 3x and improved statistical rigor

Reduced data processing time by 75% through Apache Spark optimization, enabling real-time analytics

Product Management

Led cross-functional team of 8 engineers and 2 designers to launch mobile app feature, achieving 50K+ downloads in first month

Defined product roadmap for B2B SaaS platform, prioritizing features that increased ARR by $1.5M

Conducted 50+ user interviews and synthesized findings into actionable product requirements, reducing feature iteration cycles by 40%

Managed end-to-end product lifecycle for payment integration, reducing checkout abandonment by 35%

Collaborated with engineering to reduce technical debt by 30% while maintaining feature velocity

Top Tech Companies to Target

Research these companies and tailor your applications to their culture and values.

Google

FAANG
180,000+ employees
"Innovation-focused, data-driven"

Meta

FAANG
70,000+ employees
"Move fast, impact billions"

Amazon

FAANG
1,500,000+ employees
"Customer obsession, ownership"

Apple

FAANG
160,000+ employees
"Design excellence, secrecy"

Microsoft

FAANG
220,000+ employees
"Growth mindset, inclusion"

Netflix

FAANG
12,000+ employees
"Freedom & responsibility"

Stripe

Unicorn
8,000+ employees
"Increase GDP of internet"

Airbnb

Unicorn
6,000+ employees
"Belong anywhere"

Ready to Launch Your Tech Career?

Start with our comprehensive guides to build a winning resume and ace your tech interviews.