I need your advice. I worked hard to avoid being lost and yet I'm lost

I know that some of you here might get triggered by the way I'm claiming things; the point here is that I'm a fresh grad, and I need someone to learn from (internship) so that I can move from my room pc to real-world stuff. Also, please note that I'm not using AI because I want to learn, and AI stuff can be learned in one night. I have proved that I have what it takes. Also, I might be completely wrong, so please tell me what you think.

I'm a computer Science 2025 graduate. In university I was an active member of the ICPC club; I spent 2 years solving data structure & algorithms problems. I reached specialist on codeforces literally after 2 years of grinding.

Anyway, after graduation I took the Odin Project open-source full-stack curriculum. It took me 8 months of discipline because this curriculum is different; I have a solid foundation and experience that almost no junior has in HTML, CSS, and JS. While grinding the Odin Project, I was watching courses from the Frontend Masters website constantly, learning and applying (15 courses from frontend masters alone).

it took me hundreds of hours of coding with my bare hands without AI just to migrate my projects to typescript, and back then I was thinking that everything would pay off. I learned from frontend masters; I read React, MDN, and node.js docs for hundreds of hours. I spent so much time on React internals, and I know how it works. I read 2 math books because I replaced my social media and gaming with reading books, and I read a book called the linux command line.

I watched a great 40-hour SQL course and read 2 great SQL learning resources solving all tasks, and I was solving LeetCode SQL problems whenever I had free time (recursive CTEs, window functions, views, CTEs, etc.). All these concepts and more are just second nature for me now, and I apply them. in my projects whenever I found that a query was complex for the ORM, I would go to writing a raw query, and I was able to analyze the complexity of each query I wrote.

I'm just scratching the surface here of what I did during the last year. I learn by reading docs and applying; for example, when I wanted to migrate to React Query, I spent 2 weeks watching courses and reading react query docs. then I started migrating my projects to React Query, and it literally took me a great amount of time to write because I was thinking that I was doing something right. I will be an exceptional junior software engineer who really knows his tools.

right now I'm lost; I've sent over 200 applications since Feb and haven't heard back from anyone. I prepared and prepared, and not even a single question was asked. It doesn't matter how good you are; getting an interview is all about connections. and not just any connection; I already have many friends, you need strategic friends like HR. I have a very good resume. I believe it literally shows that I really understand what I'm talking about. it's one page, like everyone claims it should be; it's written by me and not with AI, and it literally doesn't have any of the AI-irritating words that I believe real software engineers hate to see.

here is my resume; it's one page. I believe it's strong, concise, and to the point. Tell me if I'm delusional and it's a bad resume: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y55ypuxWGhrMmDOZb77TLwWTQgACg5Y-/view?usp=sharing

I also want to say that I would never post a post like this if it wasn't for me applying and writing custom cover letters, emails, and linkedin messages. nothing works; the problem is everyone claims they are good, so no matter what you do, unless you really draw some attention by making something that hundreds of people will use, no one is going to notice you or give you an interview chance.

what should I do next?

Posted Jun 17, 2026, 1:21 PM UTC

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