In this video, I’m breaking down how I (eventually) got my first software engineer internship after applying to 117 different companies, and I brought my friend Chris (also at UC Berkeley) to share what actually matters. The biggest mindset shift: stop obsessing over the “perfect” programming language. Companies care way more about whether you can solve problems and build things. Pick one language you’re comfortable with, focus on data structures and algorithms, and spend your energy on execution—because on the job you can Google syntax in three seconds. We also talk about why being overly picky early on is a trap. Beggars can’t be choosers—get options first, then be selective. Rejection is normal when acceptance rates are insanely low, so treat it like a numbers game until you get momentum (it gets easier after you have experience). Finally, we go deep on interview prep: LeetCode, Cracking the Coding Interview, mock interviews, and practicing realistically instead of passively reading slides. My goal is to help you build a simple, repeatable process: a clean one-page resume, apply a lot, get interviews, and prep in the same standardized way interviews are designed.