I'm a CS PhD student that will be defending in ~6 months. Wondering when I should start applying for jobs? I'm planning to apply to Google, Facebook, MSF, Amazon ...etc Also how to manage multiple offers situation? i.e., what is a realistic number of offers I can get simultaneously
Kind of late. Many students already have offer 6 months before graduation. Also, get offers first before dreaming about multiple offer situation.
Should have started looking 6-12 months ago
Thank you guys for the advice. Ex-students at my research group started their search late (~3 months before their defense) and I wasn't sure if it is wise to follow their steps...
CS PhD here. I started looking for job in January for a September start date. Big companies are open to later start dates. Do make sure (1) you're prepared before you interview - I messed up my first few interviews thinking that I'd be able to just wing it (2) you're timing the on-sites to sign offers together - I missed out on many good opportunities because I rushed to interview with a small set of companies. (3) you're getting referrals in as many companies you will apply to
thanks for the advice. Wondering how long recruiters were willing to keep offers valid?
FAANG and FAANG-like companies tend to keep the offers open for a few months and up to a year as long as you show interest. Mid-sized and smaller companies tend to give anywhere between a few weeks to 2 months after giving out the offer. Scheduling the interview with a well communicated "when I'd like to make a decision date" to the recruiters can help you align the interviews better. Also, some universities have rules around what's the earliest companies can force you to decide on an offer or else they ban the companies from attending the career fair so e.g. MIT guarantees 4 weeks.
As a follow-up, is it advisable to accept an offer 6 months in advance, continue to interview with other companies and potentially reject the first company whose offer you accepted?
That’s very bad practice, don’t accept an offer until you really intend to start there.
Do it now. For big companies, they hire for your graduation time, whenever that is.