Nguyen Nhat Quang, born in 2002, majored in computer science at Rice University in the US. Four months before graduation, Quang received an offer from Microsoft for a software engineer position.

Quang said the US job market is very tough, especially for international students. He had sent 600 job applications before getting an offer from Microsoft.

The former student at the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted started seeking internship opportunities early in his university journey. However, Quang said that securing internships in the US as a freshman was quite challenging. So, he decided to join the school’s club of software engineers called Rice Apps.

"Fortunately, the club had the best students in the faculty. I learned to work scientifically and devoted myself fully to tasks," Quang recalled. Some seniors in the club were working for large companies, so Quang learned how to manage professional projects.

One of Quang's proudest achievements in his first year at the school was participation in a project to develop a website for students to register credits. The project improved the user interface and tools, enabling students to create four-year study plans, view information about each class, and read evaluations from previous students.

During this time, Quang focused on coding. In his second and third years, he became a project leader and eventually became president of Rice Apps. The club provided a valuable environment for gaining experience before finding internship opportunities at companies.

When he entered the second year at university, he vowed to obtain an internship at a company. He submitted 150-200 applications, searching information on LinkedIn, Handshake, job fairs, and companies’ websites. The internship positions were for software engineers.

Fortunately, a former president of the club where Quang was a member was working for Facebook. Recognizing Quang's potential and efforts, the former president introduced Quang to Facebook.

He applied in August and was invited to an interview in late November.

In general, internship candidates have to attend two interview rounds focusing on algorithms and data structures. Armed with foundational computer science knowledge from his first year at Rice University and self-taught programming skills, Quang received a three-month internship offer from Facebook.

Working at a large company for the first time, Quang felt "dazed" by the professionalism, independence, and research capabilities of his colleagues. 

"There were days when the entire team had to continuously meet and collaborate with other departments to develop certain features. However, this also helped me improve my communication and teamwork skills," Quang said.

After his internship at Facebook, Quang identified his strengths and weaknesses. With more experience, in the summer of his third year, he applied for jobs at major tech companies. He submitted over 200 applications and received interview requests from 10 companies, including the tech giant Nvidia.

Quang noted that while Facebook focused on problem-solving capability, Nvidia was interested in how candidates handled situations and the projects they had worked on. After passing a rigorous selection process, including a 60-minute programming round, Quang secured a four-month internship at Nvidia.

As a software engineering intern at Nvidia, Quang worked on software that simulates the environment for self-propelled vehicles. He worked about 12 hours daily, and learned new programming languages such as C++.

Quang found that tech companies want well-rounded students with relevant job experience and leadership abilities. He decided that he must fulfill all assigned tasks well to have an opportunity to secure a job when the internship period ended.

However, at that time, many big tech firms were laying off large numbers of tech engineers, including Nvidia. Quang was informed that the team at Nvidia did not have any new recruitment plan.

"It was an extremely stressful time for me," Quang recalled.

Starting in July 2023 and the following seven months, Quang submitted over 600 applications. He received responses from 37 companies and got job offers from four, including TikTok and Microsoft, after undergoing numerous stringent interview rounds.

Quang ultimately chose Microsoft because he valued it as a company with a strong foundation and opportunities for learning and growth. In addition to salary, he can also get support for an H1-B visa and airfare.

Thuy Nga