10 ms·

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejectio

• heyitsguay 4y ago
  My partner just got off the tech job hunt roller coaster last week - signed a solid offer at a great company with a team she's excited to join. It took months, she encountered some similar disappointments, felt the same doubts and fears, and I know how awfully hard it can be. Keep rolling the dice though! It's hard but it will pay off.
• jtchang 4y ago
  Interviewing is terrible. I'll just say keep your head up and don't let it get to you. It definitely does not have anything to do with your worth. That said there are a lot of people on HN. I would update your profile with at least your site/resume and what you are looking for.
• throwawaysleep 4y ago
  This is why I just interview endlessly. At least one a week. You need to develop a callus to interviewing. Find the time for it by rubber stamping a few code reviews. It gets boring after a while. Just a very repetitive process after 100 or so.
  • d4mi3n 4y ago
    I do similar, though only a few times per year. I also advise all my colleagues (and sometimes managers!) to do likewise. My rationale: 1. Interviewing is a career skill that has an outsized influence on your earning potential. You need to practice it to get good and keep those skills sharp. 2. Interviewing regularly (minimum twice per year, YMMV) keeps you up to speed on what skills are in demand and what problems companies are trying to solve. 3. It's a great way to network. I'm up-front about being a passive candidate and I still get takers for interviews. Even if you don't take the job after passing an interview, you'll have a foot in the door if you revisit your interviewee in the near future or have somebody you can send their way. 4. You never know when you'll need to change jobs. Job satisfaction, change in life circumstances, layoffs/economic downturns, or any number of things completely outside of your control can force a change in your employment. It doesn't matter if you're happy, busy, or hate interviewing--interview regularly or suffer the consequences for being unpracticed and unprepared.
  • granshaw 4y ago
    What if you actually pass an interview which you weren’t really interested in to begin with? Decline with some BS excuse? The amount of deception you’ll have to do is what holds me back from constant “practice” interviewing
    • kortilla 4y ago
      “The compensation is not adequate enough to make me want to leave.”
      • Jensson 4y ago
        And if the compensation is so high you want to leave, just leave.
      • throwawaysleep 4y ago
        And if they know that not to be the case, the offer is probably good enough to leave for anyway. So in my practicing, I found a new job.
    • meowtastic 4y ago
      Tell them you got another internal role at your company. It's reasonable and totally unverifiable.
    • throwawaysleep 4y ago
      I frequently do. I get at least one offer a month. You don’t need a BS excuse. You can just say you took a higher offer/offer with more vacation. A lot of these companies aren’t paying competitively anyway, so they are used to people declining.
  • kortilla 4y ago
    100+? Are you just interviewing at anywhere and everywhere?
    • throwawaysleep 4y ago
      Yes. I target hybrid roles in places I have no interest in living. Use an burner number app to pretend I live nearby, and away I go.
      • CamperBob2 4y ago
        This sounds like something that should have its own entry in the DSM V.
        • yieldcrv 4y ago
          "I took a test to see if I was a sociopath, I scored 1 point under the threshold, but I think I got that point back when I broke in to the testing site to see my result early"
  • yieldcrv 4y ago
    Realizing my competition is doing this was even more discouraging for me. Energy can just be put towards other things.
  • sys_64738 4y ago
    Once you interview and turn them down then will they interview you again? Doesn't that close a lot of doors?
    • majormajor 4y ago
      > Once you interview and turn them down then will they interview you again? Doesn't that close a lot of doors? Currently, at least, big tech cos will keep that door open. Think of it this way - a company spending $$$ on recruiters cold-emailing a bunch of candidates, the majority of whom fail the process, isn't gonna throw away leads of people who they know have passed the process at least once.
    • throwawaysleep 4y ago
      My solution to this is to book many of my interviews in places where I am unwilling to live, like New York. So whether or not I am burning bridges, it does not matter because I would not accept many of those roles anyway.
  • iou 4y ago
    Do you do the full loop with each company? How do you select the companies? Do you feel bad if they’re smaller ones and you’re not serious about it?
    • throwawaysleep 4y ago
      Yes. I usually target hybrid roles in a place I am unwilling to live like New York as many are explicitly for practice. And I generally do not interview for smaller companies as the process is usually wacky. I was once asked to argue for forcing a company on Linux, Mac, or Windows for a dev role.
    • np- 4y ago
      Not OP, but why would you feel bad? Anecdotally, I’ve gone into interviews before thinking it means nothing, and one of the small companies I wasn’t serious about ended up convincing me to join. It’s really on the company to sell their vision.
  • wnolens 4y ago
    I just now am understanding this. I usually do a leetcode per week. But now I'm straight up booking interviews. They created the game, I'm just playing it.
  • bazmattaz 4y ago
    One interview a week? Are you serious? You must move job every few months then? Do you not get new job fatigue? The first few months at a company are horrible - getting the lay of the land, understanding who you have to impress and who you don’t…etc
• JohnJamesRambo 4y ago
  How low was the lowball? Maybe you should have taken it.
  • nwiswell 4y ago
    Do you think this was a constructive comment?
    • JohnJamesRambo 4y ago
      Well yes. He seems to be going through some hell. Maybe a lowball offer would be better than that.
  • treyfitty 4y ago
    It was at a crypto trading platform who gave me a verbal offer, and then a month later tried to pull a fast one and wrote down an offer 50% less than what was discussed. When I probed, they responded “it’s out of my hands, leadership changed their needs…etc” The offer was a pay cut from my current, very boring, but stable role.
    • bdcravens 4y ago
      There's something to be said about boring and stable. I don't know how long you've been in your career, but I do know we're coming off a very long bull market for developer roles and salaries. That has created an expectation that our career must always be fun and fruitful. I've been doing this long enough that I've seen the other side of the market, and have gotten emails from talented developers desperate to get a job with the very boring company I was working with at the time.
    • JohnJamesRambo 4y ago
      Crypto trading platforms are having a rough time right now haha.
• bmitc 4y ago
  I just went through an interview cycle at a FAANG, and I'm pretty sure only one interviewer out of five was directly involved in the actual position. And I'm somewhat certain that it was the others who were the nos. I actually didn't find out anything about the position until the final interview. Additionally, no one in the panel was a software engineer ... for a software engineering position.
  • sahila 4y ago
    That sounds unlike faang interviews (the only one person being a swe part). Which one was it and what were the interviews like? The non-team thing is common but they do it to bring “objectivity” to the process and since it’s leetcode or system design questions, it usually doesn’t matter unless you’re applying for a highly specialized role. I can speak for google and Amazon - you might not even apply for a specific team till you’re in, and do that afterwards. Facebook also did team match post boot camp.
    • traviscj 4y ago
      I read as “only one person on the team I was interviewing for”, not “only one person was swe”
    • bmitc 4y ago
      The interview revolved almost 100% around their leadership principles, of which humility is not one, so that should pinpoint it. And I said no one was a software engineer. All six were management.
      • KerrAvon 4y ago
        Leadership principles means Amazon? Humility is not exactly in great supply at any of the FAANGs
      • I_AM_A_SMURF 4y ago
        What level were you? I've never heard of managers interviewing software engineers at AMZN.
• OrangeMonkey 4y ago
  Look man - you fucking matter and you will get this. The crap you are going through is not fair, this entire process is not fair, but who the fuck cares - you will get this. Do NOT let this fucking industry joke of an interview process harm you man. Seriously. It really is not you - its them.
  • cooldrcool3 4y ago
    Why should we put our mental health on the line for this industry? There must be other jobs that are fulfilling and pay the bills.
    • targ65 4y ago
      whose bills though? most people find one of the most high paying jobs they can, then adjust their lifestyle to that income, then if they miss the mark ('lowball offer') they have to keep looking. lifestyle regression is exceptionally hard for humans, especially if your friends/neighbors don't have to go through the same thing (e.g. there's no war raging in your country). the best thing to do would be to keep your spend way below your means. this maximizes your options and gives you choice. but who does that?
      • allendoerfer 4y ago
        > the best thing to do would be to keep your spend way below your means. this maximizes your options and gives you choice. but who does that? Many do. The FIRE movement shows this.
      • bittercynic 4y ago
        <raises hand> My spouse and I have household income around the median for the area, and through a combination of discipline and good luck have managed to keep expenses very low. It's not a life of depravation. We take nice vacations and buy the things we want, but we have to be careful not to want things like fancy cars or elaborate remodels. These seem like very unimportant things to forego when you stand to gain freedom from monetary worry.
      • 4y ago
• BuckRogers 4y ago
  One thing to always remember, because it's the same for me as for you, remember that most jobs are already accounted for. They often interview for quotas, gotta try out 3 people or such. I've clearly been the best qualified candidate a few times, as a grizzled software developer going for devops jobs. Still don't get it. They often know who they want to hire before any interviews begin. While that's not always true, it is far more often than you think. So assume that's what happened to you, it probably was if you look at the odds. As far as thick skin, that's life. Stay strong. Remember that failure is never achieved until you give up. This is a cold, hard world if you don't benefit from nepotism as many do.
  • PainfullyNormal 4y ago
    > They often know who they want to hire before any interviews begin. I've seen the same thing as well. One company even flew me out to their headquarters to interview for a position they knew they were going to give to somebody internally. I found out because they left me alone with a senior developer on the team. I asked him what my chances were of getting the job and he told me. I wonder if there's a good way to filter out these roles earlier in the hiring process.
    • BuckRogers 4y ago
      And people have been claiming for decades that private industry is more efficient and less corrupt than government. If we only made one of these businessmen president instead of a politician. Trying to tease out these roles that are starting off on such a horrendous level of efficiency is difficult.
• ammanley 4y ago
  Been there buddy (including that exact, form-letter rejection email). I feel for you. I just finished a 9 month interview cycle of funemployment, with a break of two months in-between where I too, was questioning my reason for even being in this industry. My background is a coding bootcamp + relentless up-skilling and self-directed learning (with the help of some mentors), plus a healthy side of ADHD/spectrum issues, including, best of all, crippling social anxiety. I cannot tell you in words how astounding it is to go from a full stack dev lead, to being reduced to failing junior-level code interviews because my brain just leaves the chat in the middle of most interactions with new people, let alone interactions involving cognitive effort/hazing. You matter and the fact we have to spin our wheels on this grindstone does not change that.
  • I_AM_A_SMURF 4y ago
    Have you tried ADHD medications? I don't normally take them but they really helped me going through the interviews (I legitimately have ADHD, but the side effects are too much for me for normal use)
    • anonymoushn 4y ago
      There are some with minimal sides, if you can stand going to a doctor enough times to try out and reject several.
      • sizzle 4y ago
        Any recommendation? Vynase, Dexedrine, etc?
        • SimDeBeau 4y ago
          I’ve loved straterra. One of the few non stimulant adhd meds
    • ammanley 4y ago
      Did you find that that helped you focus despite anxiety? Annoyingly, I've only been able to get my hands on the most common one, Adderall, which turns me into a bouncy boy flying off the walls for some reason. It sadly seemed to trigger my anxiety too. Child comment mentions trying some others, which I might do. (Have been on multiple different anti anxiety / depression meds, as well as a few anti seizure meds too fwiw.)
• cjohnson318 4y ago
  Dumb question, have you tried shorter term contracts? Have you tried networking with your peers from your bootcamp? I get that it's better to have Big Stable Names on your resume, but there's a lot of places that just need things done, and any experience is better than nothing.
  • dave_sullivan 4y ago
    Do you have any leads on short term contracts? Would accept one in an instant. The problem is upwork takes a 20% cut and has bad terms and has a very flaky client base, while everything that VC money touches pays way better but hires non-contract fulltime only (fine) and has these rediculous interview cycles that I never seem to pass through. I think if you put me in a stack of candidates that did leet code, i am basically never in the top 3 fastest, so that makes me unemployable in a system where resumes dont matter, personality is suspected to be bullshit, and speed of test completion is the only metric that can be used to rank candidates. Not in the top 3 fastest test takers? Get fucked.
    • cjohnson318 4y ago
      Oops, I didn't see your response; I'll shoot you an email from connor[dot]labaume[dot]etc. I've never interacted with UpWork. My experience is that smaller companies pay fairly well, the interview process is usually easier, and you can learn a lot more about development, and that particular industry. The down side is that office politics matters more, you might have challenges with setting realistic expectations, and you might have trouble with comparisons to the last programmer they hired/fired.
• 650REDHAIR 4y ago
  I know the feeling. I’m sorry, dude. That blows.
• valand 4y ago
  Been doing it for 2 years because I specifically am looking for company looking for founding staff which is hyper-selective. The worst thing is to be refused without knowing what's wrong so you're kept wondering why. Is it geographical reason? Is it national border reason? Legal reason? Culture fit? Personality fit? Another worst thing is to be denied without any tests. Nowadays, I'd pick difficult and time consuming technical tests over being denied by technical merits due to incomplete CVs
  • zebnyc 4y ago
    Serious question: How do you vet for these? I would be interested in a founding engineer position as well but how do you know that the company itself has potential and not just hot air. Additionally, it seems I cannot get into an early stage startup cause I have never worked in an early stage startup.
    • valand 4y ago
      I found it quite hard myself, but there are a couple of values that I use as heuristic: - it is either looking to get sustainable as early as possible, - or, if not, it is a research into the unknown (e.g. quantum computing, different purpose of db, new kind of AI, space exploration, green earth initiatives, even the early phases of blockchain) Another points would be if the founders have the motivation to give back rather than take as much profit. My current company's founder have a dream to make an incubator for aspiring game makers, for example. > I have never worked in an early stage startup. The young company I have been in is when it was 1-year old. Founders are not looking for a mere "engineer", but one that can drive the team "above and beyond" style, because it is important for a small company. But, it is very difficult to see in people. The common mistake of many is to look for their own virtues in other people, which pretty much limits the other set of people not having the same virtue. E.g. Founders that focus on verbal communication and sales filter out people that cannot speak fluently, even though those are excellent product and engineering people.
• wnolens 4y ago
  I'm in the same boat. Been interviewing for 3 months now. More than half of interviews are ego exercises for the interviewer. I've had a few where I could barely get to my point before the interviewer was finishing my sentences, or suggesting a different but equivalent answer more to their liking. One even refactored my code in coderpad while I was typing elsewhere lol!
• technick 4y ago
  You need to break out some social engineering on these companies. Tell every single one of them that you're interviewing with a bunch of other companies and that you may be approaching a offer soon. On the first call, be straight forward with your expectation in pay, benefits, other compensation and where you expect to do the majority of your work (home / office / farm / park / bathroom). Tell them you do not wish to waste their time or yours, they will often appreciate it. In the mean time since you are out of work, start volunteering, participating in the community and even create some youtube / twitch content.
• mattigames 4y ago
  After being burned a few times in similar ways I have detached my feelings from work, to the point that I believe that not actively looking for a better job than the one you have is foolish, I know it's an unpopular opinion but I reached the logical conclusion, that my work is just an asset and I sell it to the best bidder. There is a handful of cases I would concede that you shouldn't keep searching for a new job but they are rare, like when you reach the position and company you dreamed your whole life and it's everything you wanted (e.g an artist that dreamed of becoming head animator at studio ghibli), or a company where you own a big stake and strongly believe soon will increase in value, or you found a company that provides so much generous benefits that looking for better position would likely be a waste of time (e.g. 200K, 3 day work week, great teammates)
• P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y ago
  Why shouldn't it require a thick skin?
  • ozim 4y ago
    Because later business treats people in a way where "everyone can be replaced" but interviews are like "we are looking for someone who will save our company".
• mattlondon 4y ago
  Been there in the same situation for the "You were great! 100% perfect! But there was someone who was 110% - sorry & good luck!" more than once, both at the very start of my career as a new grad and as an experienced hire. It sucks and it is a blow, and it is emotionally quite draining. Try to stick in there - for me things all worked out in the end, and I hope they will for you too. I try to live my life by the maxim of "you never know what is going to happen" and it cuts both ways, but there are times when something amazing just comes out of nowhere. Good luck.
• cbdc_watcher 4y ago
  The whole rat-in-a-maze interview vibe is creepy and suppressive of true intellect. Solving a maze that the candidate had not studied recently is going to be a trial and error situation unless one gets very lucky with their first try. And if one had studied the maze recently then it's testing for rote learning, not intellect. I normally ask the interviewing team to allow me to ask an advanced (worthy of PhD thesis) comp sci question for every canned leet code exercise they ask me to do. They usually say no thank you. Or they say we believe you have the skills (based on the tens of github/youtube links on my resume) and won't test you. Don't let them get away with one-sided penalty kicks.
• sshine 4y ago
  Dodged a bullet! 8 months is seriously too long if it’s the company dragging it out. I went through something similar where I pulled the plug after 3 months.
  • treyfitty 4y ago
    I didn’t interview for 8 months at one company. I’ve been trying to leave my current company for 8 months, and have been going on interviews during that time.
• conradfr 4y ago
  It's amazing how from one interview or technical test to the next, you can feel a worthless human being or a god amongst your peer.
• edmcnulty101 4y ago
  We're letting over a million immigrants in every year. As an American I'm finding it's harder and harder for me to get a job in the tech industry every year and I have a decade of experience and a master's degree. I recently got a job in the industry and I'm on a team of all Indian people, my boss is Indian, and his boss, all the way up to the CEO. Just so you know it's not you. It's a clown world we live in. Vote accordingly
  • sahila 4y ago
    Or get better? You lucking out in which country you’re born in / citizenship shouldn’t be the only thing that allows you get a job. We all work in an industry where we praise meritocracy, so the best thing to do is to earn your role through merit, not privilege.
    • edmcnulty101 4y ago
      How about immigrants make their countries better? There's no amount of meritocracy that can override billions of immigrants. It's why immigrants are coming to America. And how come Indian teams hire 99% Indians? They don't call that meritocracy with white people.... Also I didn't get lucky. My family has been here for many generations, and helped to build this country, got ancestors died building the railroad My grandfather got a purple heart in world war II. My ancestors worked hard to contribute to create a country with a stable government and civilized society. So it is really depressing to see collapsing in on itself. if anyone ever wonders, what Trumps appeal is That's why.
      • hmlongco 4y ago
        Try reading for comprehension. The parent said, "You lucking out in which country you’re born in..." You were lucky in that YOU were born in the US. Your parents could have lived in India. Or China. Or Chad. Or the Ukraine. Just so happens they lived in the US and, as a lucky consequence, you were born in the US. But unless you're Native American your ancestors weren't born here. They were immigrants too. America is a huge multi-cultural melting pot spanning generations. 97% of the population are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. Getting tired of the folk that move in and then say, "Hey, I've got mine. Now it's time to close the door on everyone else."
• jdmg94 4y ago
  Man we are living the same hellscape, I had an offer rescinded a couple of weeks ago, been interviewing since April. Got to so many onsites and passed a bunch of hoops only to get "we paused hiring", "we are rescinding your offer", or sometimes just get ghosted. The tech recruitment process is clearly broken. Companies have left this as an afterthought, its so clear to anyone interviewing that entire recruitment departments are doing the most and putting devs to hell for it
• winternett 4y ago
  It only takes a day for a company to lay you off. The interview process my major companies are often designed to convince you of prestige and the illusion that they are coveted, but if you really look at how things work in the corporate world, we are individually a product that they buy into as consumers. If they undervalue the product, and the product is something they don't really need for whatever reason, they will try to haggle. If they need you as a product, and you develop and know your value, you can negotiate better, from a position of strength. Personal growth and confidence is a continual process of building and renovating, but it always has a peak, and even ebb and flows throughout. There is never one clear path to success, but rest comfortably in knowing that all you have to do is survive and grow, carrying only what matters for each role you need to play in life. Your life isn't linked to a job, it's linked to survival. Never let an employer convince you that you are not worthy of a job, and never let a job be the only value you have... Work to qualify for interviews at companies where you get interviewed by execs, not by middle and lower management. The friends you make in those roles carry weight. A big part of success is the "Grey Hair" rule. Accept that when you are young and less experienced, things will be harder. It gets easier to navigate as you grow grey hairs and more experience if you work efficiently and effectively (not furiously). Resume formatting and a cover letter aren't really what get you the job. Your experience, personal product, and presentation does... Don't overthink the process... Overthink your personal life goals (What you want to accomplish in your personal life, not in work for an employer). I am not usually a positive person, I am a practical one. The world is a lot less intimidating and more easily understandable when you focus on what you can control... Work to live, don't live to work.
• abandonliberty 4y ago
  Just like success with the other gender (or whatever you're attracted to), this doesn't mean much about your self worth. As a hiring manager, I'm desperate for good talent. For the company that liked you, ask if there's other roles in the organization or to be considered for future rounds. Can't hurt, but don't hold your breath. Laws often prevent honesty in rejections. It's extremely difficult to find good people. Even the most prestigious companies with the most stringent hiring processes are filled with people who shouldn't have been hired. Half the time I hire someone, my workload increases rather than decreases. I finally find a promising candidate, only to have FAANG come in and offer 50% more than I can. Significantly more than I earn. I try to compete by offering a better work environment, team, and growth. But 50% is life changing. And while I've helped so many grow, they leave holes when they do. So I find myself questioning my life and worth.
• redhale 4y ago
  Sorry to hear about your negative experience -- interviewing is absolutely the worst. Complete shot in the dark, but my consulting company is hiring and I'd be happy to hook you in with a recruiter. We hire all types (background matters little if you have the skills), including career industry folks. Drop me a line if you would like more info -- email in profile (email domain is personal, not the company I work for). Regardless, I wish you the best of luck in your search!
• bufferoverflow 4y ago
  > Interviewing shouldn’t require such thick skin Says who? If it was easy to get a high-paying job, everyone would just apply. It's up to the person with money to decide on the kind of people they want to pay lots of money to, and what the testing methodology is (within the bounds of the law, of course). I've played that game for over 20 years, and I'm completely immune to rejection. Most of the time you don't even get rejected, there's just silence. It used to bother me, maybe the first couple of years, but not anymore. I'd go to 50 onsite interviews and get maybe 2 offers, even though I'd solve most of their challenges correctly.