#1 Tech Influencer Exposes the Brutal Truth About the 2026 Job Market

He got an Amazon internship before he even took data structures. Here's how.

Sajjaad Khader — Georgia Tech BS + MS by age 20, former Amazon and Splunk engineer, and the guy who interviewed Satya Nadella — breaks down exactly how to break into top tech in 2026. From freshman internships to LinkedIn referrals to the future of software engineering interviews, this one is packed.

Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=Sajjaad_TechInfluencer&video=nccemvR4-RE

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I’m Aman Manazir, a career coach and software engineer. I interned at companies like Amazon, Shopify, and HP in college, and the day I graduated I landed a $168,000/year* full-time software engineering job. I help you make it as a computer science student & software engineer and get your dream job offer.

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⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
01:55 Getting Amazon Before Taking DSA
03:29 Can Freshmen Get Internships Today?
04:45 How To Position Yourself To Get Hired
05:58 Find Problems, Solve Them, Post Online
07:50 The Degree Equals Job Lie Is Dead
09:25  The Reapplying Hack That Actually Works
10:05 How Amazon Set Everything Else Up
12:08 Finishing A BS And MS By Age 20
14:25 Should You Delay Graduation For Experience?
18:50 Masters vs Grinding LeetCode Full Time
21:00 The TA Strategy That Pays For Your Masters
25:50 Leading MSA And PSA At Georgia Tech
26:34 Software Engineering Accelerator 
27:27 How To Actually Crush Your Internship 
29:10 How To Ask Smart Questions Without Annoying People
31:55 The Playbook For Getting A Return Offer
33:58 The LinkedIn Networking Strategy That Gets Referrals
37:30 Why LinkedIn Is Non-Negotiable For CS Students
40:22 What Projects Actually Get You Hired
42:47 Hackathons vs Startups vs Generic Projects
44:30 Software Engineers Are Becoming Software Managers
49:05 Free Resource for Software Engineers
49:35 Should You Build AI Or Just Use It?
50:40 How Sajjad Interviewed Satya Nadella
54:20 What Reid Hoffman Said About Young Engineers
56:03 Is San Francisco Actually Worth It?
59:17 Are CS Students Cooked In 2026?
1:01:10 Is Computer Science Still Worth It?
1:03:57 How To Learn To Code From Scratch
1:06:11 How To Actually Learn DSA
1:07:30 Is LeetCode Dead? What Comes Next?
1:09:18 Why Companies Still Use LeetCode
1:10:27 The Future Of Software Engineering Interviews