5 ms·

It took me a year to find a new job. I got rejected from on-sites 8 or 9 times, a few other rejections before that. I've been through everything the OP has and

by vdnkh 10y ago

It took me a year to find a new job. I got rejected from on-sites 8 or 9 times, a few other rejections before that. I've been through everything the OP has and more. I was once forgotten in an interview room while my interviewer played foosball and then went home. I've managed to pass all rounds with "positive feedback" only to get rejected three days later. I've swam through rivers of aerated bullshit to find a new job and it sucked - but I never once believed that I was a bad engineer. Hate the game all you want (and I really do hate it), but you have no choice other than to play it or have an extremely strong network. I didn't even want to go to the interview which landed me my new job. In my previous phone screen they were looking to hire a single person.The perfect fit. Probably not me - what the hell do I know about video players? And it's one of those interviews where they'll boot you to the curb if you do poorly in the first half. Whatever, I'll go anyway. And as luck would have it, I didn't get booted. I did damn well. And in my final phone screen with the CTO, I got asked how to find the Nth last spot from the end of a linked list. I really wasn't good at interviewing for a long time. And from the outset, I didn't know everything I needed to get the job I wanted. It was consistent studying and a buy-in to the bullshit that interviewing is that landed me a new job.

LordHumungous 10y ago
I failed 7 interviews before getting my current job. I'm a self taught programmer, and I've had to beat down the door to make a place for myself in this industry. I have a huge chip on my shoulder. But that's why I'm going to beat those golden children who never had to fight for it. I may not be as smart as them, but I'm stubborn as fuck, and I never, ever quit.
ruaree 10y ago
> In my previous phone screen they were looking to hire a single person.The perfect fit. Probably not me What country was this in? In Ireland that qualifies as employment discrimination on the "civil status" ground.
- vdnkh 10y ago
  America. It's a bit hyperbolic, but is it really discrimination to want to hire a person who meets all your requirements? Oh, single person. Ha, it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of civil status. They meant it as "one person".
  - ruaree 10y ago
    Apologies, I misread your original comment. I thought they wanted a person who wasn't in a relationship.
    - jbdigriz 10y ago
      They would probably prefer that as well
- kak9 10y ago
  Think they mean the company was hiring one person. Not that they were looking for an unmarried person.
apercu 10y ago
I worked for (led) the same company for 8.5 years, then decided to go do something else. I was pretty certain that I wanted to be independent (again) but I also had a mortgage, was married, etc... So while I lined up clients and started transitioning from the current job I applied for a couple positions (note that as an executive I did this by contacting other executives (when possible) at firms, not filling out forms on the website). I had a few phone interviews, and these were fine. But a couple times it would get kicked to HR and they would send links for personality tests - before I ever talked to anyone. I guess if I was desperate for a job (really glad I didn't take one) I might have complied, but I decided I didn't want to work for a firm that approaches recruitment like that.
- matzipan 10y ago
  Applied for Thales UK a few months ago. I was met with 19 pages of personality quiz. Seeing that, I decided I don't want to work there anymore, but I dared myself to finish that questionnaire. It was excruciatingly painful and felt really no regret when I was rejected.
  - apercu 10y ago
    It's almost like it reinforces that you are just a commodity, meat. I do think it's important to have a fit on teams, and I have hired people with awesome skills that were terrible cultural fits more than once. But I'm not going to fill out personality quizzes unless I am desperate. And I work really hard to try to make sure I'm never desperate. :)
pmiller2 10y ago
I'm looking right now and my previous experience has made me afraid it's going to be this way for me ("rivers of aerated bullshit.") Add to it that I don't know very many people here in the Bay Area, didn't study CS, didn't go to a "name" school, and half my software engineering experience doesn't seem to count because it wasn't web dev, and I'm just seeing a very long road in front of me. I hope it doesn't take a year.
- abritinthebay 10y ago
  Your experience will count, it's just you've narrowed the pool of opportunity. Web Dev is just a bigger target with more hiring going on. If you apply to a Web company without much web dev experience (or knowledge) then yes, it'll count for less. But that's true of anything. The bay area is probably the easiest place to get hired in tech right now as an engineer.
- vdnkh 10y ago
  Don't sweat if it takes a while, and don't compare yourself. Not everyone is good at interviewing at first. Just try not to burn out - when I first started, I would go crazy studying for a month, then burn for a month. Rinse and repeat. In the past months it's been a slow, steady, and consistent effort to improve. I don't have a CS degree (ECE) and went to a state school (but it has a good rep) and my previous job was at a tiny no-name company. Oh, and you get used to the bullshit. My advice: network. I got a lot of interviews (and my current job, and another offer) due to networking. I went to a lot of meetups at my scene (NJ/NYC).

by vdnkh 10y ago

LordHumungous 10y ago

I failed 7 interviews before getting my current job. I'm a self taught programmer, and I've had to beat down the door to make a place for myself in this industry. I have a huge chip on my shoulder. But that's why I'm going to beat those golden children who never had to fight for it. I may not be as smart as them, but I'm stubborn as fuck, and I never, ever quit.

ruaree 10y ago

> In my previous phone screen they were looking to hire a single person.The perfect fit. Probably not me What country was this in? In Ireland that qualifies as employment discrimination on the "civil status" ground.

vdnkh 10y ago
America. It's a bit hyperbolic, but is it really discrimination to want to hire a person who meets all your requirements? Oh, single person. Ha, it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of civil status. They meant it as "one person".
- ruaree 10y ago
  Apologies, I misread your original comment. I thought they wanted a person who wasn't in a relationship.
  - jbdigriz 10y ago
    They would probably prefer that as well
kak9 10y ago
Think they mean the company was hiring one person. Not that they were looking for an unmarried person.

apercu 10y ago

I worked for (led) the same company for 8.5 years, then decided to go do something else. I was pretty certain that I wanted to be independent (again) but I also had a mortgage, was married, etc... So while I lined up clients and started transitioning from the current job I applied for a couple positions (note that as an executive I did this by contacting other executives (when possible) at firms, not filling out forms on the website). I had a few phone interviews, and these were fine. But a couple times it would get kicked to HR and they would send links for personality tests - before I ever talked to anyone. I guess if I was desperate for a job (really glad I didn't take one) I might have complied, but I decided I didn't want to work for a firm that approaches recruitment like that.

matzipan 10y ago
Applied for Thales UK a few months ago. I was met with 19 pages of personality quiz. Seeing that, I decided I don't want to work there anymore, but I dared myself to finish that questionnaire. It was excruciatingly painful and felt really no regret when I was rejected.
- apercu 10y ago
  It's almost like it reinforces that you are just a commodity, meat. I do think it's important to have a fit on teams, and I have hired people with awesome skills that were terrible cultural fits more than once. But I'm not going to fill out personality quizzes unless I am desperate. And I work really hard to try to make sure I'm never desperate. :)

pmiller2 10y ago

I'm looking right now and my previous experience has made me afraid it's going to be this way for me ("rivers of aerated bullshit.") Add to it that I don't know very many people here in the Bay Area, didn't study CS, didn't go to a "name" school, and half my software engineering experience doesn't seem to count because it wasn't web dev, and I'm just seeing a very long road in front of me. I hope it doesn't take a year.

abritinthebay 10y ago
Your experience will count, it's just you've narrowed the pool of opportunity. Web Dev is just a bigger target with more hiring going on. If you apply to a Web company without much web dev experience (or knowledge) then yes, it'll count for less. But that's true of anything. The bay area is probably the easiest place to get hired in tech right now as an engineer.
vdnkh 10y ago
Don't sweat if it takes a while, and don't compare yourself. Not everyone is good at interviewing at first. Just try not to burn out - when I first started, I would go crazy studying for a month, then burn for a month. Rinse and repeat. In the past months it's been a slow, steady, and consistent effort to improve. I don't have a CS degree (ECE) and went to a state school (but it has a good rep) and my previous job was at a tiny no-name company. Oh, and you get used to the bullshit. My advice: network. I got a lot of interviews (and my current job, and another offer) due to networking. I went to a lot of meetups at my scene (NJ/NYC).