Interview/Application Tips for UW Blueprint and the Tech Industry!

Job hunting for co-op students is a uniquely special time. From cramming a midterm, to cramming WaterlooWorks applications, to cramming for club applications, to cramming for interviews, we’re constantly stressing about something.

At Blueprint, our members are no stranger to the constant barrage of work. So, we’ve compiled a list of tips for UW Blueprint applications and tech industry job applications — we suffered so you don’t have to!

Illustration by unDraw

UW Blueprint Tips

1. Show your passion for blueprint and social causes! We love hearing why you want to join Blueprint / what social causes you’re passionate about
2. Be prepared to share some past experiences about technical challenges you’ve faced and be able to expand on them. We want to hear about your experiences and how you’ve reacted to them.
3. Understand the role that you’re applying for! What responsibilities does your role include? You can use this information to tailor your responses to showcase you have the skills that your role requires.

General Tech Industry Tips

1. Ask your interviewers questions! The interview is just as much for you as it is for the company to get to know you. Take some time to craft questions that are company specific and highlight what you’re curious about — it’s impressive to the interviewers too
2. Be on top of opportunities and applications and keep an eye out early for companies you’re interested in. A good amount of companies start recruiting as early as 8 months prior to hiring (Ex. recruiting for May 2025 starting in August 2024)
3. For a technical interview, active communication is crucial and goes hand in hand with implementing a solution. Asking relevant questions, explaining implementations and decision tradeoffs, thinking of edge cases and articulating your thought process clearly, are often overlooked aspects when solving a coding problem. When preparing and practicing technical problems, make sure to also practice explaining or voicing your thought process, whether by arranging mock interviews or setting up interview-like conditions for yourself (time limits, voice out loud) when solving a problem.

Wishing you all good luck when applications open!

Special thank you to Bowen, Juthika, and Yinan for contributing their knowledge to this article! Illustrations are from unDraw.

UW Blueprint is a student run club that provides top-tier tech for non-profit organizations. Founded at the University of Waterloo in 2015, we could not have provided strong partnerships with NPO’s without the dedication, passion, and time of our members. This blog features content from various Blueprint members, from all areas of experience within our organization.