Calculate the annual number of new college graduates who submit applications to major tech firms.

The inquiry seeks an approximate estimate of how many recent college graduates apply to major tech firms annually. This represents a Fermi problem, commonly presented in interviews to assess a candidate's logical reasoning, estimation abilities, and overall knowledge. Important factors to consider include: the annual number of technology graduates, the percentage of those who seek positions at large tech companies, and the criteria for defining 'big tech companies.' Approach the problem systematically by breaking your estimates into smaller, manageable components, and make sensible assumptions based on your understanding. Keep in mind that, in these types of questions, the precision of your answer is less critical than the approach you take to arrive at it.

If we estimate that there are roughly 20 million college students in the United States, and around 10% of them are pursuing degrees in technology-related fields like Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and others, that results in approximately 2 million students in tech disciplines. Considering that about 40% of these students graduate each year, this would yield around 800,000 new tech graduates annually. Let’s assume that 50% of these graduates are motivated enough to seek employment at major tech firms. This would imply that around 400,000 new graduates submit applications to big tech companies each year. These numbers are approximate estimates and may fluctuate due to various factors, including the economic situation and shifts in the job market.

To begin with, let's examine the leading technology nations globally. I would estimate that countries like the U.S., India, and China have substantial shares. Now, let’s perform a rough calculation for each of them. Assuming that roughly 1 million students graduate each year in technology-related fields from these countries, that would total around 3 million graduates worldwide. If we consider that about 20% of these graduates seek positions at large tech firms, that would amount to approximately 600,000 graduates each year. This is merely an estimate. The actual figures will be affected by various factors, including the standing of tech companies and the quality of the education system in each country.