๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ๐ , ๐๐จ๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐ก, ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐
I attended the Grace Hopper Celebration in both 2023 and 2025.
In 2023, I had an onsite interview with Bank of America.
In 2025, I received interviews from Bloomberg, DoorDash, and Cloudflare.
With GHC 2026 coming up, here are six things I learned from attending GHC twice:
๐. ๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐.
Companies actively search the resume database and may reach out before the conference even starts.
Replit, for example, has already started reaching out to candidates this year.
Do not wait until the conference begins.
๐. ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฒ ๐, ๐ ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ๐ .
If your goal is to get interviews directly from GHC, Bloomberg should be one of your first stops.
๐. ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ๐ , ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐.
Some companies I would prioritize include:
โข Bank of America
โข USAA
โข Cloudflare
โข DoorDash
โข Intuit
Donโt spend 40 minutes waiting at a booth just because the company has a famous name.
Your goal is not to collect swag.
Your goal is to create interview opportunities.
๐. ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ก ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฒ.
Before entering the expo hall, you should already be ready to answer:
โข Why this company?
โข Why this position?
โข Why should we hire you?
โข What can you contribute to the team?
Saying โIโm looking for a software engineering roleโ is easy to forget.
Showing that you understand what the company is building makes a much stronger impression.
๐. ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐, ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐.
This is probably the biggest lesson I learned.
Cloudflare is the best example.
On the last day of GHC, I talked to around five different people at the Cloudflare booth before I finally received an interview opportunity.
If I had stopped after the first conversation, I would never have gotten that interview.
But different recruiters and engineers may represent different teams, locations, or hiring needs.
Persistence matters.
๐. ๐
๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ญ.
Add them on LinkedIn.
Send a short message reminding them:
โข Where you met
โข What you talked about
โข Which role you are interested in
GHC only lasts a few days.
The connections you build there can last much longer.
The biggest lesson I learned from attending GHC twice:
๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐.
That approach helped me get interview opportunities with Bank of America, Bloomberg, DoorDash, and Cloudflare.
Hope this helps anyone preparing for GHC 2026. ๐
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