Week 1
Getting Started
I Built a Skill That Applies to Jobs for Me
"I built a Claude Code skill that applies to internships for me. Here's how it works."
- 6-phase system: onboard, resume parse, dashboard, answer cache, voice-matched essays, Playwright submit
- Write an answer once — auto-filled on every future app
- Writes in YOUR voice, not AI slop
- Never submits without your confirmation
The Interview Pipeline Nobody Explains
"You applied. Now what? Here's every step from submit to offer."
- Full pipeline: resume screen, OA, phone, behavioral, technical, team match
- 90% of people die at step 1 (the resume screen)
- What each round actually tests
- How freshman interviews differ from junior ones
The Resume That Gets Callbacks
"Your resume is getting auto-rejected. Here's why."
- You need ONE big hook (target school, Olympiad, research, prior internship)
- If you don't have one yet: hackathons, competitions, open source
- Projects alone won't save you — everyone has projects
- Format rules: one page, no color, consistent structure
RESUME
resources.dannygardner.me/resume
Side Projects That Actually Matter
"90% of student projects are invisible to recruiters."
- Bad: todo app, weather app, portfolio (everyone has these)
- Good: solves a real problem, has users, shows scale
- Use AI tools to build faster + more ambitious
- Hackathons are cheat codes for getting noticed
PROJECTS
resources.dannygardner.me/projects
The Tools I Actually Use Daily
"My entire dev setup as a CS freshman."
- Claude Code — full coding agent in your terminal
- Cursor / Copilot — inline autocomplete
- v0, bolt.new — instant UI prototyping
- Vercel, GitHub, Playwright — the full stack
TOOLS
resources.dannygardner.me/tools
Week 2
Going Deeper
LeetCode Strategy (Not Just Grinding)
"You don't need 500 LeetCode problems. You need 15 patterns."
- Freshman interviews: arrays, strings, hashmaps, basic recursion
- You don't need 500 LC problems — you need patterns
- Key patterns: two pointer, sliding window, BFS/DFS, binary search
- Neetcode 150 > random grinding
LEETCODE
resources.dannygardner.me/leetcode
Networking Without Being Cringe
"I got a referral from a cold DM. Here's exactly what I said."
- Cold DMs that actually get replies (with templates)
- How to ask for a referral without being weird
- LinkedIn profile optimization for students
- Coffee chats — what to ask, how to follow up
NETWORK
resources.dannygardner.me/network
GitHub Profile That Impresses
"Recruiters look at your GitHub for 30 seconds. Make it count."
- Profile README that tells your story
- Pin your best 6 repos (not school assignments)
- Green squares matter less than what you ship
- READMEs with screenshots, demo links, tech stack
GITHUB
resources.dannygardner.me/github
The Freshman Advantage
"These programs close after sophomore year. Don't miss them."
- Programs that ONLY accept freshmen/sophomores
- Microsoft Explore, NVIDIA Ignite, and more
- Application timelines — when to apply for what
- Your one shot before everyone else can apply
How this works: Each day Claude generates carousel slides, screenshots them as PNGs, and emails them to me. I record ~60 seconds talking over the slides and post as a reel + carousel. Comment the keyword on any post and I'll DM you the resource link.