On a chilly fall night, in a large room in Wilson Hall, with boxes of piping-hot pizza and brightly colored Google swag bags stacked tall on tables lining the walls, nearly 100 future engineers and budding computer scientists gathered for the Building Your Technical Career event.

The evening capped a two-day offering from the Google Student Developer Club, or GDSC, which also included a competitive 300-person hackathon, designed to connect students in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, with helpful networking opportunities and professional advice. At the Building Your Technical Career event, Google experts presented students with education strategies, timelines for internships and career tips.

The students had questions.

What types of projects impress employers? What kind of information is important to put on a resume? When is the best time to apply for jobs and internships?

But above all: How can a student stand out in a competitive job market?

Karim Fatehi, an engineering manager for Google who led the presentation, stood at the front of the room and thought for a second.

“Showcase your passion,” he told the students. “Clubs, hackathons and personal projects make a big difference in a world where everyone has completed the required courses.”

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