Finding the perfect role is hard at any career stage, but it’s exceptionally difficult at the starting line.
Early career professionals are facing a more difficult course than years past, with entry-level jobs down by 35 percent, according to CNBC. And as AI technology improves, this number could grow.
What this means for jobseekers is an increasingly competitive field where tech talent must work even harder to stand out from the pack and get their foot in the door. That’s why Built In spoke with five engineering leaders who shared what it takes to land a coveted early career role at a leading tech company.
Through Cox’s major divisions — Cox Communications, Cox Automotive and Cox Farms — employees make an impact in the communications and automotive industries, as well as in new ventures in agriculture, cleantech, digital media and more.
What makes your company a good choice for an early-career engineer?
You often hear that switching companies is the best way to advance your career and increase your pay and there’s a degree of validity to that. But for me, the real reason I moved around early in my career was about growth. I kept finding myself in roles where I quickly became the go-to expert, which sounds great, but as a junior or mid-level developer, that can limit your ability to learn and shape your career.
When I joined Cox almost nine years ago as a senior engineer, the difference was immediate. I was surrounded by incredibly bright, talented developers. For the first time in a long time, I had people to learn from, to challenge my thinking and to validate my ideas. This environment has helped me grow tremendously.
And because this is such a large company, there’s no shortage of opportunities to fill your blind spots through internal mobility and building connections. It’s a place that truly invests in growing talent from within. Honestly, I wish I had found my way here sooner. But my previous experiences gave me the perspective to appreciate what makes this company such a phenomenal place at any stage of your career.
Describe your engineering team culture. Does your team have specific traditions or practices that stand out to you as special or unique?
One of the things that stands out most to me is the caliber of people on our teams. Everyone is super bright. That means we have a lot of great ideas and approaches to debate as a team when solving problems. For junior engineers, those conversations are incredible learning opportunities. They get to hear how experienced engineers think through decisions and that’s invaluable.
Our team values flexibility. While process matters, we can influence how we work by partnering with product stakeholders and solution delivery to shape what fits best. Mentorship is another cornerstone of our culture. We intentionally build teams with a mix of senior and junior talent, creating space for guidance and growth. Senior engineers genuinely want to mentor and there are opportunities both within and outside the team to learn and develop.
As for traditions, one example from my team is a spring outing at a park overlooking the Chattahoochee river. We have a cookout to enjoy the weather and spend time connecting with each other outside of work; it’s a relaxed, personal tradition everyone looks forward to. Leaders across different teams and regions have established their own team bonding traditions.
How can a prospective engineer stand out from the pack when applying to your company?
I think about it in three stages: finding the front door, opening it and then finding success once you’re inside. To get noticed, proactivity matters. Show up at career fairs, make an impression and stay in touch with recruiters. Networking and referrals help, too.
But the bigger opportunity is completing an internship with us. Your internship is basically an extended interview: You’re assessing the company and we’re assessing you. If you have a successful internship, you’ll likely have a shot at a full-time role.
Once you’re interviewing, confidence and authenticity go a long way. I’m not looking for an expert, but I want to see that you know how to learn. Advocate for yourself: don’t just say what your team did; explain your role. And be honest about your skills. If it’s on your resume, expect questions about it.
Finally, passion matters. Share personal projects and what you’re doing to grow outside of school. That eagerness to learn signals you’ll thrive here. Once you’re in, success comes down to discipline and strategies for continuous learning.
Intelsat and SES joined forces, uniting 100 years of combined innovation and leadership to create a space solutions company.
What makes your company a good choice for an early-career engineer?
At SES India, early-career engineers gain hands-on experience building real-world products in the satellite space, not just writing code. You’ll work cross-functionally with global teams, get visibility beyond your role and be mentored by experienced leaders — all within a high-trust, innovation-driven environment. Every individual will get the opportunity to learn new skills and showcase their talents. Most of the SES groups are operating in SES India, allowing the engineers to understand the different products, processes and tools.
Describe your engineering team culture. Does your team have specific traditions or practices that stand out to you as special or unique?
Our engineering culture is built on ownership, clarity and collaboration. We work in a matrixed global setup, so communication and trust are core to how we deliver. Every engineer — from entry-level to senior — is encouraged to challenge ideas, own outcomes and continuously improve how we build and operate.
What makes us unique is our focus on cross-functional learning. Engineers regularly partner with operations, QA and product teams — not just within their squad. We empower engineers to make decisions and challenge the status quo. This builds systems thinking early and fosters empathy for customer outcomes.
How can a prospective engineer stand out from the pack when applying to your company?
To stand out at SES India, show a genuine curiosity about our domain, whether it’s satellite systems, aviation or cloud infrastructure. We value engineers who demonstrate ownership — people who take initiative, not just complete tasks. Highlight any cross-functional experience, clear communication skills and a willingness to learn from feedback. We look for a growth mindset combined with real-world impact (big or small).
Toro TMS is on a mission to deliver technology that drives lasting improvements for the trucking industry.
What makes your company a good choice for an early-career engineer?
Toro is deeply committed to growing talent for the long term. As we scale, there are countless opportunities to take on leadership responsibilities and we prioritize promoting from within. We are generally a very senior, experienced team. If you join Toro with ambition, drive and motivation, we will give you the opportunities and mentorship you need to grow on a steep trajectory. I’m a great example of someone who joined Toro as an early-career engineer with about four years of experience and with strong performance and growth, I’ve earned several promotions, most recently to engineering manager.
Describe your engineering team culture. Does your team have specific traditions or practices that stand out to you as special or unique?
Our engineering culture is highly collaborative. We don’t follow a rigid “waterfall” approach where product managers set priorities, designers hand off mockups and engineers simply execute. Instead, engineers are involved throughout the entire lifecycle of a project. Together, we decide what to build, brainstorm how it should look and function and then bring it to life as a team. It’s a fun, creative environment where ideas can come from anyone and the best ideas, no matter the department, rise to the top.
We describe ourselves as a “best-practice” engineering team. That means we are shipping to production many times per day, testing our applications in an automated way and proactively monitoring our app’s performance. We take our craft seriously and we want to deliver the best possible experience to our customers as fast as possible.
How can a prospective engineer stand out from the pack when applying to your company?
For early-career engineers, the ability to learn quickly is huge. If you can show examples of technologies you’ve picked up in past roles or side projects (especially new languages or frameworks) that demonstrates adaptability and sets you apart. During interviews, we look for a solid understanding of programming fundamentals: being able to write simple code and explain how it works without relying on AI tools. We see AI as a powerful multiplier for engineers, but only if they have strong fundamentals.
We also want our engineers to bring a broad spectrum of skills to the table, not just coding skills. We expect our engineers to have high customer empathy, be product-minded and have a spirit of entrepreneurialism and high ownership. If you can demonstrate any skills or experience in these areas in your application, it will go a long way.
Toast provides a single platform of SaaS products and financial technology solutions to help restaurants and retailers run smoothly.
What makes your company a good choice for an early-career engineer?
Toast is a great choice for early-career engineers because we work on problems that genuinely matter to restaurants and to the business. You don’t just learn how to be an engineer here; you learn how to pick the right problems to solve. We give interns and new grads real work, pair them with some of our best engineers and expect them to grow fast. Mentoring an intern is considered an honor at Toast — we only pair interns with our strongest people.
One of our former interns is now the tech lead for one of our most critical systems. They grew by owning problems, staying curious and pushing through obstacles — living our values of ownership, purpose and hunger to learn.
Describe your engineering team culture. Does your team have specific traditions or practices that stand out to you as special or unique?
Our culture is focused, cooperative and self-improving. We avoid internal competition; we fix what’s broken and we stay close to customers — you see our product everywhere and we share real stories and feedback constantly, including at all-company sessions with actual restaurant operators. We work in Triads (product, design, engineering), so you feel part of a mission, not just a function.
How can a prospective engineer stand out from the pack when applying to your company?
To stand out, show that you’re hungry to learn and driven by impact — that you see engineering as noble, difficult, world-shaping work. Avoid acting like your goal is to just “do the task.” The people who thrive here learn from everyone around them and want to help build the future.
HERE Technologies is a location data and technology company that created the first digital map over 35 years ago. Today, HERE works with the automotive industry, transport and logistics, mobility, manufacturing, retail and the public sector.
What makes your company a good choice for an early-career engineer?
With the current AI revolution powered by big data, the best environment for an early career engineer to get their hands dirty is an environment like HERE Technologies where there is access to diverse kinds of real-world datasets; from automotive sensors to map data to routing and navigation, as well as places POI datasets with historic data covering over 100 countries in the past 5 years and fresh real-time data covering over 80 countries. It is a real-world data haven and a perfect environment for curious minds and innovators and builders to shine.
In addition to this, HERE has amazing engineering leaders and various learning and mentorship programs for young engineers that allows them to learn and develop cutting-edge technical skills and they have the freedom to take ownership early in their career and drive new initiatives.
Describe your engineering team culture. Does your team have specific traditions or practices that stand out to you as special or unique?
Yes. There are various learning and development programs within the company, from training courses to regular hackathons, innovation programs and inventor programs that help groom and drive younger engineers to innovate, build and make a real-world impact.
How can a prospective engineer stand out from the pack when applying to your company?
What we like to see are young engineers with high agency and a proven track record that they don’t only learn the latest tech stacks, but that they take initiative to do things differently and can show how curiosity has led them to solve unique problems and build valuable solutions in the past.
