From UCI to GoLinks

A presentation by Sean Thomas Burke, Head of Engineering at GoLinks, delivered as a guest lecture at UC Irvine.

📚 Resources

Job Search & Career

• Levels.fyi - Salary insights, career progression paths, and interview preparation resources (Founded by UCI Alumni Zaheer Mohiuddin)
• WorkHap.com - Job search platform with strategies and interview tips (Founded by UCI Alumni Sho Dewan)
• Y Combinator Internships - Internship opportunities at Y Combinator startups to gain experience in the startup ecosystem
• StackShare.io - Learn the tech stacks of companies you want to work for
• Roadmap.sh - Visual roadmaps to learn industry-relevant skills

Developer Tools & Resources

• GitHub Student Developer Pack - Free access to developer tools and services for students
• Cursor.com/students - Free AI-powered code editor for students
• Revenge of the Junior Developer - Steve Yegge's article on AI's impact on development

GoLinks Products

• GoLinks - Link directory with memorable short links for instant access
• GoSearch - AI-powered enterprise search across all company data
• GoProfiles - AI employee directory and recognition platform

Connect with Sean

• go.golinks.com/seantomburke - Contact information and profile

🎯 Presentation Outline

1. Introduction

• Overview of the presentation
• Personal introduction and background

2. My Journey

• UC Irvine 2008-2013
  • Double Major: Electrical Engineering & Business Information Management
  • Student organizations: Engineering Student Council, Sigma Nu, HACK@UCI
  • Resident Advisor at Middle Earth
• Early Career Struggles
  • Failed interviews at Microsoft, Facebook, and others
  • Graduate school at UCSD (Master's in Computer Science 2014)
  • More rejections before finally landing at LinkedIn
• LinkedIn 2015-2019
  • Learned industry skills (Backbone.js, Ember.js, design systems)
  • Worked on Mobile Web conversion and LinkedIn Ads Team
  • Company growth from 1,000 to 10,000 employees
  • Built foundation for entrepreneurial journey
• GoLinks 2019-Present
  • Founded by 3 UCI friends
  • Accepted into Y Combinator
  • Running a company is like running a student organization

3. GoLinks

• Mission: Connect employees with information they need to be productive
• Products: GoLinks (link directory), GoSearch (enterprise search), GoProfiles (employee directory)
• Company Culture:
  • 38 employees, fully remote
  • Engineering team of 18
  • Values: Focus on users, Be an owner, Grow together, Transparency builds trust, Deliver and delight, Have fun
• Tech Stack:
  • AWS infrastructure
  • React Frontend, PHP Backend
  • MySQL Database, Redis Cache
• Architecture: Search ranking, knowledge graphs, vector databases, AI integration

4. Industry Trends

• AI Revolution:
  • AI-assisted development becoming the norm
  • "Vibe Coding" and its implications
  • New AI concepts emerging weekly
  • Junior developers can write senior-level code with AI
• Industry Changes:
  • Evolving interview processes
  • Remote vs in-person work debates
  • Higher expectations for new grads (full-stack requirements)
  • "All code will be written by AI in 2026" predictions
• Interview Reality:
  • Only 1 in 370 applicants gets selected
  • Most filtering happens at resume stage
  • Modern interviews may allow AI usage
• Essential Skills:
  • Understanding business fundamentals (Product, Sales, Marketing)
  • Adapting to new roles (Sales Engineers, AI Engineers, Data Engineers)

5. How to Get a Job

• Resume Best Practices:
  • Include profile picture (attention to detail)
  • Add GitHub profile with active contributions
  • Create personal portfolio with your story
  • Showcase projects
• Networking:
  • Get to know classmates
  • Join student organizations
  • Attend meetups and career fairs early
  • Connect with alumni
  • Follow up with connections
• Personal Branding:
  • Create compelling narrative
  • Build digital presence (GitHub, LinkedIn, personal website)
  • Share your learning journey
  • Participate in open source
• Creator vs Consumer Mindset:
  • 20% Creators vs 80% Consumers in marketplaces
  • Creators: Make content, connections, get involved, share, grow
  • Consumers: Wait for opportunities, remain stagnant
  • Real examples from hackathon participation

6. Key Takeaways

• Be prepared, don't wait
• Be more of a creator and less of a consumer
• Understand and adapt to industry trends
• Rejection is part of the process
• Build your network through in-person connections
• Always build your brand and skills
• Every opportunity is a chance to learn and create

🛠️ About This Presentation

This presentation was built as a web application using:

• Impress.js for 3D presentation effects
• Cursor IDE with Claude Code (Opus 4)
• Custom visualizations with D3.js and SVG.js
• Fully responsive design optimized for desktop viewing

The presentation itself demonstrates the creator mindset - choosing to build a custom web app rather than using standard presentation software, learning new technologies in the process.

🚀 Running the Presentation

# Open locally
open index.html

# Or use a local web server
python -m http.server 8000
# Then open http://localhost:8000/index.html

Navigate using:

• Spacebar or arrow keys
• Touch gestures on mobile devices

🤝 Connect

Feel free to connect with Sean on LinkedIn and send a message. The UCI network is powerful - use it!

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"Every opportunity is a chance to become a creator"