My daughter is an MIT graduate and a junior software developer who’s currently unemployed. She has a solid academic foundation, but it’s been hard translating that into job offers in the current market.

I’m trying to understand what actually matters right now from a hiring perspective. Beyond brushing up on core CS, what specific skills should she focus on building? More importantly, what kinds of projects genuinely help at the junior level?

For example: – Are end-to-end projects more valuable than algorithm-heavy ones? – Are there particular domains where a well-executed project sends a strong signal? From your experience as interviewers or hiring managers, what projects actually make you stop and say, “this person is ready”?