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GoLinks at the UCI Career Fair

From UCI to GoLinks

A startup founder's journey

Sean Thomas Burke
Head of Engineering at GoLinks

Overview

  • 🎓 My Journey - From UCI student to startup founder
  • 🚀 GoLinks - The product and company
  • 📈 Industry Trends - AI, technology and market changes
  • 💼 How to Get a Job - Perspectives from a Hiring Manager
  • 🎯 Key Takeaways - Actions you can take today
  • Q&A - Questions and answers

My Journey

UC Irvine 2008-2013

Academic & Organizations

  • 🎓 Double Major:
    • ⚡ Electrical Engineering
    • 💼 Business Information Management
  • 🏛️ Engineering Student Council
  • ΣΝ Sigma Nu
  • 🏠 Resident Advisor in Middle Earth
  • 💼 MAISS (Management Information Science Society)
  • 💻 HACK@UCI
  • 🔨 Participated in hackathons and enjoyed building
Sean Burke giving commencement speech at UCI
2013 Commencement speech at UCI

Life after Graduation

  • ❌ Failed interviews (Microsoft, Facebook, Broadcom, Skyworks and many others)
  • 🤔 The choice: Western Digital vs. Graduate School
  • 🎓 Graduated UCSD Master's in Computer Science 2014
  • ❌ More failed interviews: rejected from Redfin, Twitter, Google, SpaceX, Thumbtack, Pinterest, etc.
  • ✅ Finally passed an interview at LinkedIn
Sean Burke graduating and car breaking down
Car breaking down literally on the day of graduation

LinkedIn 2015-2019

  • 📚 Learned industry skills
  • ⚛️ Backbone.js, Ember.js, Big Tech
  • 📱 Push for Mobile First LinkedIn in 2015
  • 💰 Worked on the LinkedIn Ads Team
  • 📈 Company grew from 1,000 to 10,000 people
  • 🤝 Made life long connections
  • 🚀 Strong foundation for running an engineering team
LinkedIn onboarding day animation
First day at LinkedIn, with another Anteater

The GoLinks Story

  • 🎯 Mission: To connect employees with the information they need to be productive and successful at any place, at any time

3 Products

GoLinks Logo 🔗
GoLinks: Link Directory
Memorable short links for instant access
GoSearch Logo 🔍
GoSearch Enterprise Search
AI-powered search across all company data
GoProfiles Logo 👥
GoProfiles Employee Profiles
AI employee directory and recognition platform
OpenAI Logo
Anthropic Logo
Asana Logo
Abnormal Security Logo
Marqeta Logo

Common Web Tech Stacks

Popular Frontend Frameworks

  • ⚛️ React (Most popular)
  • 🖼️ Vue.js
  • 🅰️ Angular
  • ⚡ Svelte (up and coming)

Backend Technologies

  • ☕ Node.js
  • 🐍 Python
  • 🐹 Go
  • 🐘 PHP

Cloud Technologies

  • ☁️ AWS
  • ☁️ GCP
  • ☁️ Azure

Companies Using PHP

  • 📘 Facebook
  • 📷 Instagram
  • 🛍️ Etsy
  • 📝 Tumblr
  • 💬 Slack
  • 📚 Wikipedia
  • 🌐 Yahoo
  • 🛒 Shopify

Research Tool

Learn the stacks of companies you want to work for: stackshare.io

GoSearch Architecture

Systems

  • 🔍 Google Search for company data
  • 📊 Indexer: Extract, Transform, Load (ETL)
  • 📈 Search Ranking:
    • ⏰ Recency & Frequency
    • 🧠 Semantic Search
    • 📊 TF-IDF
    • 🎯 BM25
    • ↕️ Reranking
  • 🕸️ Knowledge Graphs, Graph Databases
  • 🔢 Vector Databases
  • 🔍 Data Connectors
GoSearch Indexer Architecture
GoSearch Indexer Architecture

GoSearch AI Data Flow

AI Architecture Concepts

  • 🪟 Context Windows
  • 🧩 Document Chunking
  • 💾 Prompt Caching
  • 🤖 LLM Integration
  • 🔄 Retrieval Augmented Gen (RAG)
  • 🗃️ Multi-Modal Integrations
  • 📜 Model Context Protocol (MCP)

AI Features

  • 📝 AI Document summarization
  • 🎯 AI Summarized Answers
  • 💬 AI Chat
  • 🔗 AI Agents
GoSearch AI Data Flow Diagram
GoSearch AI Architecture and Data Flow

Industry Changes & Impact

Current Industry Trends

  • 💻 Interviews are changing, coding interviews evolving
  • 🏢 In Person vs fully remote work
  • 🤖 AI usage within companies
  • 📉 Less engineers to do the same amount of work
  • 🗣️ "All code will be written by AI in 2026"

Good or Bad for New Grads?

  • 📈 More expectations - not just frontend or backend, Fullstack
  • ⬆️ With less Engineers required, the bar will rise
  • 🏆 Those willing to learn and adapt will win
  • 🤖 Playing field is leveled, junior engineers can learn and do more
  • 🎓 With brand new AI concepts, anyone can spend time to become an expert
  • 👨‍🏫 Coding ≠ Engineering, Engineers will still be needed

Historical Parallels: iOS App Store vs AI Revolution

📱 iOS App Store (2008)

  • 📱 iPhone released in 2007
  • 🍎 iOS App Store released in 2008
  • 💰 Enabled individual developers to start a business
  • 👨‍💻 Created a new job: iOS Engineer
  • 🏢 Adopted rapidly in the industry
  • ⚡ Those who adapted early had massive advantages

🤖 AI Revolution (2022)

  • 🤖 OpenAI started in 2018
  • 🧠 ChatGPT released in 2022
  • 💡 Enabling anyone to build complex solutions
  • 👨‍💻 Created a new job: AI Engineer
  • 🏢 Adopting rapidly in the industry
  • ⚡ Those adapting early have massive advantages

Interview Funnel Reality

The Reality

  • 🎯 Only 1 in 370 applicants gets selected
  • 📊 Most filtering happens at the resume stage
  • 💪 Persistence and preparation are key
  • 🔄 Each rejection is practice for the next opportunity
2,594 Applicants 100%
313 Screened 12.1%
210 Invited to Quiz 8.1%
30 Passed Quiz 1.2%
20 Projects 0.8%
7 Selected 0.27%
Success Rate: 0.27%
Competition: 370:1 ratio

Modern Interview Process Is Changing

GoLinks Interview Stages

  • 📋 Resume screening and initial review
  • 💻 Technical assessments (HackerRank) No AI allowed
  • 🎮 Project-based challenges (e.g., Wordle clone) AI Allowed
  • 🔄 Live coding or adaptation exercises, AI Allowed

What to Expect & How to Prepare

  • 💻 Companies might still do Leetcode tests
  • 🖊️ Could be whiteboard coding in person
  • 🤖 May or may not allow AI - prepare for both scenarios
  • ❓ Always ask the recruiter about their AI policy
  • 📝 Always ask for feedback after each stage
  • 🎯 Practice explaining your thought process clearly
  • 🔄 Be ready to adapt and iterate on solutions

Understanding How Business Works

A unique approach

  • 🏢 Every business requires 3 things:
    • 📦 Product
    • 💰 Sales
    • 📢 Marketing
  • 🤖 Engineers traditionally fall into Product
  • 🔄 Adapting to evolving roles
  • 🤝 Product Departments might not need as many engineers
  • 🤖 Opportunities as Sales Engineer, Marketing Engineer, AI Engineer, Data Engineer, Growth Engineer
  • 🎯 Focusing on industry-relevant skills: roadmap.sh
  • 🚀 Good to learn if you want to start your own business
The three pillars of business and their intersections

How to Get a Job

Resume Filters

Common Resume/Portfolio Mistakes

  • 💻 No Github on Resume
  • 🌎 No Linkedin on Resume
  • 📁 No projects on Github
  • 🌐 No personal portfolio
  • 🚫 Github isn't filled out
  • 🚫 Linkedin isn't filled out
  • 📸 No profile picture

What Recruiters and Hiring Managers Look for

  • 📖 A Personal Portfolio
  • 💼 A completed LinkedIn profile
  • 💻 A completed Github profile
  • 🟩 Green squares on Github
  • 📖 A story about you on your portfolio
  • 🤖 AI Filters are a thing, and help sort through thousands of resumes
Sean's GitHub Portfolio
GitHub is a software engineer's resume

Network!

How to Build Your Network

  • 🎓 Get to know your classmates
  • 🏛️ Make connections in student orgs
  • 🎪 Go to meetup events
  • 🏢 Go to career fairs early
  • 📞 Follow up with connections
  • 🎓 Alumni meetups
  • ⏰ It's never too late to network
  • 💻 Go to Hack@UCI to build, but also meet people
  • 💼 Connect with me on LinkedIn, send me a message

The Power of Relationships

  • 🤝 UCI connections → Co-founders at GoLinks
  • 🎓 UCI alumni network → Job opportunities
  • 🌎 Connections are made in the real world
Sean's Professional LinkedIn Network Map
The power of professional networking on LinkedIn

Tell Your Story

Building Your Brand

  • 📖 Create a compelling personal narrative
  • 🏆 Highlight key achievements and projects
  • 📈 Show growth and learning journey
  • ❤️ Demonstrate passion for technology

Digital Presence

  • 💻 GitHub portfolio with contributions
  • 🌍 Open source participation
  • 🔗 Complete profile with links
  • 💼 LinkedIn optimization with professional imagery
  • 🌐 Personal website/portfolio
  • 📝 Technical blog sharing your learning journey
  • 🎓 Showcase class projects
Sean's portfolio showcasing his story
Portfolio showcasing a personal story

Creator vs Consumer - The 80/20 Rule

20%
Creators
80% Consumers | 20% Creators
Being a creator versus a consumer exposes you to more opportunities

❌ Consumer Mindset

  • ⏳ Wait for content to come to them
  • 💼 Wait for jobs to come to them
  • 📧 Wait to hear back from applications
  • 🔍 Wait to be discovered
  • 🚫 Stagnant

✅ Creator Mindset

  • 📝 Make Content (Blogs, Videos, Apps)
  • 🤝 Make connections
  • 🎯 Get involved
  • 🌍 Share creations
  • 📈 Continuously grow

Being a Creator - Real Examples

Our Journey as Creators

  • 👨‍💻 Jorge and I built the Sigma Nu Website
  • 🏆 Attended and competed in many hackathons
  • 🔨 Always built something to present
  • 🌱 Each project was a learning opportunity
  • 🚀 Built momentum through consistent creation
  • 💡 Disciplined in always launching something
  • 🤝 Connected with other creators and builders
"Every opportunity is a chance to become a creator"
Founders at hackathon building and presenting
GoLinks founders at hackathons - always building and presenting

This Presentation was an Opportunity to Learn and Create

Founders at a hackathon building then presenting
Presenting at a hackathon, even though event organizer said No

What do I build?

Start with Your Interests!

What problem do I have right now?

Sean's Examples

"The best projects come from solving your own problems"
Night Vision Baby Monitor

Conclusion

Key Takeaways

Remember These Points

  • 📚 Be prepared, don't wait!
  • 🔨 Be more of a creator and less of a consumer
  • 📈 Understand Industry Trends
  • 💪 Rejection is part of the process, yes it sucks
  • 🤝 Relationships matter - build your network in person
  • 📈 Always build your brand and skills
  • 🧠 Adapt to industry trends
3 co-founders and wives all from UC Irvine
The GoLinks co-founders and wives - all UCI alumni!

Resources & Tools

Levels.fyi - Salary & Career Insights

  • 🎓 Founded by UCI Alumni Zaheer Mohiuddin
  • 📈 Career progression paths, levels, and compensation
  • 📚 Interview preparation resources

WorkHap.com - Job Search Platform

  • 🎓 Founded by UCI Alumni Sho Dewan
  • 🎯 Job search strategies
  • 📝 Interview preparation tips

education.github.com/pack - Free Tools for Students

  • 🎒 Free access to developer tools and services for students

cursor.com/students - AI-Powered Code Editor

  • 🤖 Free AI-powered code editor for students
  • 💻 Built-in AI assistance for coding and learning

Y Combinator Internships - Startup Internship Opportunities

  • 🚀 Internship opportunities at Y Combinator startups
UCI Alumni event at LinkedIn
UCI Alumni networking event at LinkedIn
QR Code for GitHub Student Pack
Free developer tools and resources for students

Thank you!

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