Applications, referrals and campus drives

Google accepts up to three job applications from one person in any rolling 30 days, and it fills most of its openings on a rolling basisrolling basis: A way of hiring in which applications are reviewed as they arrive and a role closes once it is filled, instead of waiting for a fixed deadline., until someone is hired. Chances to be read are few and come early, so where you apply and what you send decide more than how many forms you fill in. This lesson compares four ways in: an employer’s careers site, a referralreferral: A recommendation in which someone who works at an employer puts a candidate forward, ideally with what they know first-hand about the candidate's work. from someone who works there, a drive run by a college’s placement office, and contests that some employers hold. You will rewrite a resume so that each bullet proves a qualification the job states, work out when your next application can go in, write a referral request that a busy person can act on, and drop the habits that waste chances.

Four ways in, and the one that fits you

The four ways in differ in who reads your application first, what each asks of you and how many chances it gives. An employer’s own careers site is open to anyone: you choose a role, read the qualifications it states and apply on the employer’s own domain. Google’s hiring page caps this at three applications in any rolling 30 days and asks candidates to narrow their choice to jobs that truly match, while Microsoft’s careers site lets you apply to several jobs at once through its Job Cart. Applying there is also your first protection against fake jobs. The US Federal Trade Commission tells job seekers to start with safe and reliable sources and to look up the company or the person hiring them, and notes that honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job.

A referral is a recommendation from someone who works at the employer. PostHog’s public handbook spells out what it buys: “Referring someone means we’ll review them carefully. It doesn’t guarantee they’ll get an interview.” The same handbook calls a referral strong when the referrer has worked directly with the candidate and can speak to their abilities, and it counts a resume forwarded without context as insufficient. So a referral is worth asking for only from someone who knows your work.

Contests are held by some employers for students, under rules of their own. TCS CodeVita Season 14 accepts science and engineering students of any recognised institute in the world who expect to complete their course in 2027, 2028, 2029 or 2030, and it allows only C, C++, Java and Python. Its page offers a global rank certificate to top coders and says nothing about interviews, so read what a contest says it leads to before you plan around it.

Which ways in fit you depends on three facts about you. Answer them in the table: it marks the ways in that fit and says why the others do not.

You can use two at once: the careers site for every role you choose, and a referral wherever someone knows your work. A student whose cell runs a season adds its drives, and reads its rules before applying anywhere else.

Each resume starts from the job’s stated qualifications

Google’s advice on resumes is direct: keep an old resume beside you for ideas, but start each one from a blank document, written for that one job. Line your experience up with the job description, make sure you meet the minimum qualificationsminimum qualifications: The requirements a job posting says every applicant must meet. Preferred qualifications make an application stronger but are not required. and that the resume shows it, and be specific about outcomes, leaning on its formula “accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z].” PostHog’s handbook goes further and reads an application that was not tailored to the role as a sign that the candidate is not that excited about working there.

Here is the method on one invented job, an early-career payments role at Larkspur Pay. It states three minimum qualifications (a computer science degree, code in Java, Go or Python, and work with SQL databases) and two preferred ones (REST APIs and automated tests). Step through Asha’s resume as she rewrites it from her generic version:

The rewrite added no skill she lacks. It put a number and a means behind work she had already done, and it pointed every bullet at an ask. The program below checks the same thing. You tell it which qualifications each bullet proves, and it lists the qualifications with no evidence, the bullets without a number and the bullets longer than 30 words, about two lines of a one-column resume. Press Edit, put your own job and bullets in place of these, and run it:

"""Trace each resume bullet to the qualifications a job states, then list the gaps."""

# An invented early-career job at an invented company, Larkspur Pay.
# MQ = minimum qualification, PQ = preferred qualification.
QUALIFICATIONS = {
    "MQ1": "Degree in computer science or a related field",
    "MQ2": "Writes code in Java, Go or Python",
    "MQ3": "Has worked with SQL databases",
    "PQ1": "Has built or tested REST APIs",
    "PQ2": "Writes automated tests",
}

# Each bullet with the qualifications its writer says it proves.
GENERIC = [
    ("Worked on many projects using various technologies.", []),
    ("Good knowledge of Java, Python, C, C++, HTML, CSS and JavaScript.", ["MQ2"]),
    ("Took part in a hackathon and learned a lot about teamwork.", []),
    (
        "Did an internship at a startup where I helped the backend team with "
        "many different tasks, fixed bugs in their system and also wrote some "
        "of the documentation for the rest of the engineering team.",
        [],
    ),
]
TAILORED = [
    (
        "Built a canteen-ordering REST API in Java with 9 endpoints and a "
        "PostgreSQL schema, used by 1,200 students placing about 4,000 orders "
        "a week.",
        ["MQ2", "MQ3", "PQ1"],
    ),
    (
        "Cut a report query from 9 s to 0.4 s in a 10-week internship by "
        "adding two indexes and rewriting one join.",
        ["MQ3"],
    ),
    (
        "Wrote 140 unit and API tests with pytest, raising the line coverage "
        "of the intern project from 38 % to 81 %.",
        ["MQ2", "PQ2"],
    ),
    ("B.Tech. in computer science, CGPA 8.2 out of 10.", ["MQ1"]),
]

MAX_WORDS = 30  # about two lines of a one-column resume


def report(name: str, bullets: list[tuple[str, list[str]]]) -> None:
    print(name)
    proved = 0
    for qid, text in QUALIFICATIONS.items():
        proof = [str(i) for i, (_, ids) in enumerate(bullets, start=1) if qid in ids]
        if proof:
            proved += 1
        label = "bullet " if len(proof) == 1 else "bullets "
        evidence = label + ", ".join(proof) if proof else "NO EVIDENCE"
        print(f"  {qid} {text}: {evidence}")
    for i, (text, _) in enumerate(bullets, start=1):
        problems = []
        if not any(ch.isdigit() for ch in text):
            problems.append("no number")
        words = len(text.split())
        if words > MAX_WORDS:
            problems.append(f"{words} words")
        print(f"  bullet {i}: {', '.join(problems) or 'ok'}")
    print(f"  proves {proved} of {len(QUALIFICATIONS)} stated qualifications")


report("Generic resume", GENERIC)
report("Tailored resume", TAILORED)

Generic resume
  MQ1 Degree in computer science or a related field: NO EVIDENCE
  MQ2 Writes code in Java, Go or Python: bullet 2
  MQ3 Has worked with SQL databases: NO EVIDENCE
  PQ1 Has built or tested REST APIs: NO EVIDENCE
  PQ2 Writes automated tests: NO EVIDENCE
  bullet 1: no number
  bullet 2: no number
  bullet 3: no number
  bullet 4: no number, 35 words
  proves 1 of 5 stated qualifications
Tailored resume
  MQ1 Degree in computer science or a related field: bullet 4
  MQ2 Writes code in Java, Go or Python: bullets 1, 3
  MQ3 Has worked with SQL databases: bullets 1, 2
  PQ1 Has built or tested REST APIs: bullet 1
  PQ2 Writes automated tests: bullet 3
  bullet 1: ok
  bullet 2: ok
  bullet 3: ok
  bullet 4: ok
  proves 5 of 5 stated qualifications

The generic resume proves one of the five qualifications, none of its four bullets carries a number and the last one runs to 35 words. The tailored resume proves all five with four bullets, because the API bullet alone covers three asks. The program reads no meaning: it trusts the labels you give it, so the work it makes you do, deciding what each bullet proves, is the part that matters.

A cover letter, where you send one, follows the same rule: Google suggests tailoring it to the job and backing it up with data, although it does not require one.

Three applications in 30 days: choose, then apply early

A cap changes the arithmetic of applying. Under Google’s rule, any 30 days in a row may hold at most three of your applications, so each one keeps its place for 30 days, and a weak fit sent today can block a strong one posted next week. Google recommends narrowing your choices to a few jobs that truly match your skills, experience and interests, instead of applying to anything that resembles your ideal job. Because most of its openings take applications on a rolling basis until they are filled, it also encourages applying sooner rather than later, and it asks people who were not selected to wait at least a year before they apply again for the same type of role.

Walk through one month of Asha’s search under that cap, from her first application to the day her fourth can go in:

One rule sets every date: an application sent on day a counts until day a + 29, so a fourth waits until the oldest of the three stops counting. Choosing well is what makes the cap cheap. Had Asha skipped the weaker day-10 role, the better match would have gone in on day 25, eight days sooner.

A referral request a busy person can act on

A referral costs the referrer time and a little of their standing, so the request has to make both easy to give. Ask someone who has seen your work, and ask before you apply: PostHog’s scheme, for one, generally does not count a referral for someone who has already applied. Then put everything in one message. Follow one request from that message to the recruiter’s review:

Here is the difference on one request, before and after editing. Before: “Hi, hope you are well! Can you refer me to your company? I am looking for a job. My resume is attached.” It names no role, gives the referrer nothing to check and leaves them all the work.

After: “Hi Priya, Larkspur Pay has an early-career backend role on its payments team (link). Three lines on fit: I built the canteen-ordering API we worked on together, in Java with PostgreSQL, used by 1,200 students; in my internship I cut a report query from 9 s to 0.4 s; and I wrote 140 pytest tests for that project. My resume is attached. If you think I fit, would you refer me? If not, no problem at all, and thank you for reading.”

The edited message names and links the role, ties each line to a stated qualification, reminds Priya what she saw for herself and leaves an easy way to say no. A busy person can check it in a minute and forward it with a sentence of their own.

Habits that spend chances for nothing

Six habits waste applications without adding anything. Each one below costs a place under a cap, a referrer’s goodwill or a slot in a season, and each has a cheaper alternative:

The first habit is the most expensive under a cap. At three applications in any 30 days, a dozen near matches take 90 days to send even at the fastest pace the cap allows, while three strong matches go in on one day.

Practise: when can the next application go in?

The exercise turns the cap into code: given the days of your past applications, return the earliest day on which one more stays within the cap. Its sample tests run in your browser and include the timeline’s edge cases: an application exactly 30 days old, several sent on one day and a different cap.

"""The earliest day for your next application under a rolling cap."""


def next_application_day(applied, today, limit=3, window=30):
    """The earliest day, from today on, on which one more application stays within the cap.

    applied: the days of past applications, in any order, each on or before today.
    An application made on day a still counts on day d while d - a < window.

    >>> next_application_day([3, 10, 21], 25)
    33
    """
    # Write your solution here.
    return today

from apply_day import next_application_day


def test_nothing_sent_yet():
    """with no applications sent, you can apply today"""
    assert next_application_day([], 12) == 12


def test_under_the_cap():
    """two applications count, so a third can go today"""
    assert next_application_day([4, 20], 25) == 25


def test_cap_reached():
    """days 3, 10 and 21 fill the cap until the day-3 application stops counting, on day 33"""
    assert next_application_day([3, 10, 21], 25) == 33


def test_order_does_not_matter():
    """the days may be listed in any order"""
    assert next_application_day([21, 3, 10], 25) == 33


def test_old_applications_stop_counting():
    """an application sent exactly 30 days ago no longer counts"""
    assert next_application_day([0, 10, 20], 30) == 30


def test_next_slot_after_using_one():
    """after a fourth application on day 33, the next slot opens when day 10 stops counting"""
    assert next_application_day([3, 10, 21, 33], 34) == 40


def test_same_day_applications():
    """three applications sent on one day stop counting on the same day"""
    assert next_application_day([10, 10, 10], 15) == 40


def test_another_cap_and_window():
    """a cap of two applications in any seven days"""
    assert next_application_day([1, 5], 6, limit=2, window=7) == 8

The self-check below covers all five ideas of the lesson. It opens where your answers have been weakest so far and moves on as they come out right:

Interview questions

Recruiters and interviewers may begin with how you found the role and who referred you, and then test the evidence behind your resume:

Key takeaways

• Apply through the employer’s own careers site: it is a safe and reliable source, and the place where a role’s stated qualifications are written down.
• Ask for a referral only from someone who knows your work, before you apply, with the job link, your resume and three lines of fit.
• Start each resume from a blank page for one job, give each stated qualification a bullet with a measured result, and cut what proves none of them.
• Under a cap such as three applications in any 30 days, each application holds a place for 30 days, so choose strong matches and send them early.
• Campus drives follow the cell’s policy and the employer’s eligibility form: read both before the season, and convert your CGPA by your own university’s rule.