Advice for SWE new grad

I am not sure if this is the right sub to be asking this question.

I'll be joining a company (faang - got pretty lucky) soon, but I feel super underqualified for the job because I am dual-majoring in Math and CS, so I spent a good portion of my undergrad just doing pure math/theoretical CS. I did get a SWE internship at a F500, and the experience was good, but my project wasn't as complex imo.

Any advice on how I could best prep for this new "phase" of my life would be appreciated!!

Things I'm concerned about:

  1. I didn't take any distributed systems course, so wondering if it would affect my performance negatively compared to most people who already took it.
  2. International, so worried about getting laid off - want to work on skills that are highly sought after, and I'm willing to put in the work.
  3. I'm lowkey slow. My whole undergrad was about first principles thinking because none of this works in SWE, looking back at my internship experience

Specifically looking for action items I could do in my last sem. Thank you.

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Posted Feb 25, 2026, 5:53 AM UTC

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