exposing ALL my secrets that landed me Big Tech interviews (and internships)

exposing ALL my secrets that landed me Big Tech interviews (and internships) Google Microsoft Meta Apple TikTok salesforce INTUIT Capital One (bc i dont gatekeep) Congratulations! On your offer to be a Microsoft Intern Microsoft Hi Ella, We are excited to confirm you are receiving an internship offer from Microsoft. Congratulations! THE TRUTH getting an interview is THE HARDEST PART once ur in, your chances go wayyy up here are the things i actually did that most people skip these aren't complicated. they require you to do more than just apply and hope... Find your university recruiter on LinkedIn Big tech companies have recruiters who cover specific schools. Search the company name on LinkedIn and add terms like "university recruiter," "early career," or "campus recruiting." Microsoft university recruiter People (real example btw) --> Getting your resume in front of that person beats a cold apply every time Look for someone with a lot of mutuals. That's usually your person. University Recruiter @ Microsoft Atlanta, Georgia, United States Conta 500+ connections I an 24 other mutual connections Apply to programs that partner with tech companies Professional development programs like MLT have formal partnerships with big tech companies. These companies recruit heavily from them because the candidates are already vetted through the application process. Ella Gonzales Being in a program like this gets you in front of recruiters at companies like Apple, Google, and others in a way that a cold apply never will. TR You also get interview prep, and community on top of it. Apply within the first hour it drops Early applicants have a way higher chance of getting seen. I tracked when companies usually post by looking at LinkedIn posts from employees and old Reddit threads. Internship Job Boards 2026 File Edit View Insert Format Tools Extensions Help Add-ons Tab 1 Internship Job Boards Yo... How to use this doc: Start Here (Best for Most People) Check them daily during recruiting season Apply as soon as roles appear (same day if possible) Software Engineerin... Product/Data/Anal... Finance/Quant/Bu... Marketing/Design/... Start Here (Best for Most People) Covers multiple majors and roles. Updated constantly. I made a doc w the BEST job boards that post roles superrrr early (I'll link at the end) I worked backwards to have my resume ready before the posting even went live. You can also use the Wayback Machine or Google to find old job descriptions for the same role so you can add the keywords before anyone else even applies. Apply to company summits and exploratory programs I applied to Google's LSLS Summit. it basically auto-pipelined me into their SWE intern interview process I didn't have to apply the normal way at all. schedule your Google interviews Inbox x Summits, hackathons, and exploratory programs are lowkey the best but quiet way in. Look for these at companies you want and apply early. (Programs to look up: Jane Street INSIGHT, Inside HRT, Salesforce Futureforce Tech Launchpad, EY Expedition, etc) Copy what worked for people from your school Find people from your school who landed the exact role you want. Look at what orgs they were in, what positions they held, and what their resume looked like. Then do the same things. No creativity needed here. Just pattern match what's already working and repeat it. (USE THEM AS YOUR ROADMAP) Put keywords from the job description into your resume Everyone says this and many still dont do it bc they're lazy lol The more your resume matches the job description, the better your chances, especially with ATS filters. Pull the exact words they use and work them into your resume naturally. It takes 20 minutes but it matters a lot. Use your friend's friends to get referrals Research shows most jobs come through second-degree connections, not first. I got interviews at competitive roles because a friend connected me to someone already in it, and that referral was basically required to get an interview. Here's the message I'd send: "Hey [name]! My name is [your name]. [Mutual friend] said you'd be a great person to reach out to since you're in [program]. I'm interested in applying and would love to chat." (adjust to the situation as always, just use this as a starting point) I made a list of the most updated job boards so you can apply the second a role drops. Timing is EVERYTHING!! link to the doc is in my bio! If you are someone who wants to break into tech - I post content about that every day so follow along if that's your goal :)