Hello, I went through something similar. As a self-taught software engineer with a business background from a not great school, the hiring process at most larg

Hello, I went through something similar. As a self-taught software engineer with a business background from a not great school, the hiring process at most large companies is specifically built to prevent people like me from getting in the door. What you are encountering is the "gatekeeper layer" of these major tech companies. I call this "the front door." To put it mildly: The front door of tech is configured to reject everything that doesn't match some unrealistic perfect ideal of a genius savant engineer. To summarize Gandalf's general disposition towards flaming Balrogs:"Thou shalt not pass!" Why is the focus on rejection and not acceptance? There are three reasons. First, everyone wants to work at Google, Facebook etc. and there are a lot of unqualified people coming in. Second, these companies can't afford to grow at the rate at which they can gain talent. If Google were to hire a tiny fraction of the people applying to them every day, they would rapidly grow far beyond a size which makes sense. Third, they are very strategic about which directions they plan on growing in. They would rather acquire talent in groups focused in strategic topics like automotive than bother letting in single general-purpose individuals based on some brain teasers. Fourth, the actual volume of truly qualified people is even too high! The big companies can't afford to hire every qualified person who actually wants to work for them in some cases. Therefore, anyone who possesses a diversity of skills beyond pure programming should completely avoid the front door, it isn't going to value your whole person (as you have seen). Instead, you need to be using the "side door." That means you go and find people who you like (want to work with, resemble, build interesting stuff you like to use) and approach them personally and sit down with them like a regular human being and talk about building cool shit together. If you are really great, people will recognize your greatness and they will help you get in the door. Using the side door is about creating your own interview process rather than letting someone else define your interview process for you. Shoot high. Pick people who can hire you or have influence directly over hiring decisions. You don't need the gatekeepers.