Hello everyone! I’m a student currently in my sophomore year learning cloud-native technologies and trying to prepare myself for future roles or internships in this ecosystem. I’d really appreciate any advice on: What types of open source contributions actually help stand out to hiring managers? Does the interview involve DSA questions/ how a typical interview would be like ?

I'm certainly no expert, but I can offer you my very anecdotal experience/advice/thoughts: ~The most influential open source contributions are the ones that excite you. If you are working on something you are passionate about, you will be able to discuss it better in an interview. ~Questions and interview structure seems to vary more by company than by position. I would recommend being prepared to answer DSA questions and solve DSA problems. It won't be useful in every interview, but it will be for enough of them that you would be limiting your options rather significantly by not preparing for it to some extent. Again, others in the chat are likely much more qualified to offer guidance, but this might be a start. Best of luck! 🙂

Thanks @Sarah Majors

I second Sarah when it comes to follow topic/s that excite YOU, motivate YOU, attract YOU to do something about it or to just learn more of it. If you just don't know where to start (we've all been there btw), start with basic DSA problems and solutions (youtube is full with them). But as soon you understand a bit of the basics, please take a moment, pause, reflect on what you've just learned, and go back to ask yourself "what motivates me?" - "what is the kind of problems I see in the real world?" - now take the minimal version of a problem (e.g.: sorting out traffic lights in an intersection in your city) and plan the simplest solution you can think of, no technologies involved, just pen and paper and a diagram design. Then take that simple solution to your minimal problem and model the solution using a programming languague of your choice. Then take that simple solution to your minimal problem and model the solution using functional programming. Then take that simple solution to your minimal problem and model the solution using an API. Then take that simple solution to your minimal problem and model the solution using simple cloud resources like AWS Lambda, API Gateways. Then take the step above and using some declarative infrastructure code (Terraform, Opentofu, Pulumi) try to provision the same components and delete them and provisioing them again. Then have a look at your previous solution and think how can you automate it as much as possible? from provisioning, configuration until you have your solution up and running A set of topics YOU are interested to work with are your best allies for your career growth and interviews as well, no one will be able to stop you from growing and the right people will see your motivations right from the beginning and they will want you on their company/team for sure : ) All the best ! 🍻

@Juan Roldán Thanks for your tips ! Typically, what do hiring managers expect from a fresher ?

I'd say: proactivity, willing to acknowledge when you don't know something but also willing to research about it after, github projects that showcase your abilities to make ideas into something real (without having to invent nextflix from scracth), how well can you give and receive feedback, any experiences coordinating groups of people