You might have imposter syndrome. If any job I went for required 3 grilling technical interviews designed to put me like a mouse in a maze, I'd tell them to get

You might have imposter syndrome. If any job I went for required 3 grilling technical interviews designed to put me like a mouse in a maze, I'd tell them to get lost. The fact that you even went through with all that chicanery is quite telling. I believe that despite the time limits, you probably wrote subpar code. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have said, feel free to re-apply when you feel more capable. That doesn't sound like a tall tale to me. (and I'm aware other HNers are saying HR often lies about the reasons.) To top it off, you are having a problem finding a job in a huge tech market. Any coder worth his salt, is not going to have a problem finding a job in this day and age, unless they lack confidence (imposter syndrome) or really aren't that great..despite years of experience, and yada yada. Unless you can provide more information, I'm leaning towards lack of confidence, or false confidence.