Application and interview tips for quant positions

Hi!

I'm currently a financial engineering graduate student with a concentration in financial risk engineering. I started applying for full-time jobs already as many students have a job offer in hand when they graduate. I'm a little confused as to how to approach the right job position. I see many of my friends struggling with this as they apply to 40-50 companies everyday with a response rate of 200:1.

I'm skilled in python and R programming languages and interested in quantitative roles be it pricing, volatility modeling or risk analysis. A major drawback in my resume is that I lack work experience as I pursued CFA for 2 years giving my full time to it without working .I did end up passing first and second level. I do have academic project experience as I worked on some interesting and relevant projects. I come across many job descriptions that I like but they ask for 3-5 years of work experience. I wanted to ask the community how to approach such applications, what's the best way to optimize the resume and how to prepare for interviews. what kind of questions do employers ask. I'm a little lost so I would really appreciate any help and guidance here. Thank you so much! :)