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I just don't get it.

Been looking for a new job for 2+ years and have failed at every opportunity. Numerous white board interviews, code challenges, hours upon hours wasted. Just can't seem to make the next move. I believe I have my soft skills down because I am able talk and do meetups just fine but either I'm too junior or something else is going on.

What started all of this was my latest rejection that I thought I had in the bag. Sailed through all their questions, did a live code thing, all of that being for 3+ hours. As it's called a final interview with them. Not to mention they're a startup, figured their standards might even be a bit lower than normal since they're needing people. Yet, still got rejected.

This sort of stuff, I'm seriously considering just leaving tech in general and probably just go do a outside job. With supposedly everything going for me like working in a hot job market, in a growing tech town, experience, and doing extra coding on my own time to beef up my portfolio. Doesn't matter. Still continious rejection. Lol in fact how I even got my current job was through completely unconventional means and based on that, I think it's done me more harm than good, which is why I'm trying to leave my current job and go into a place where I can be a better developer.

As of now, back to the grind of trying to find something.

Comments
  • 2
    Have you asked for/received any feedback on why you aren't getting the jobs? Not sure if you're currently working but it may be worth volunteering, starting a side business, or working equity-only to get experience/title if it's a lack of experience that is the issue. Otherwise, hang in there!
  • 1
    @ceceliacreates The only real feedback I got was from Google of all places. "I didn't finish the problem fast enough", even when I worked pretty well in the pair programming problem and finished well in the 45 min allotted time to where I was able to talk with the interviewer for a bit afterwards.

    Other than that just the generic "Thanks for applying...." Message.

    I am currently still working but like I said earlier, it really is time for me to go, especially since I am not improving my skills at my current job at all. The only improvements I get are on my own time with the projects that I do have. I've done that at meetups. But that didn't help me too much either since I was only dealing with newbies, which is fine, but I ain't talking to someone that could get me in and I keep iterating on the basics. Side business, could maybe work but I'll need to find clients.

    I do appreciate the support though. Just got to sleep this off I guess and see what happens tomorrow.
  • 3
    It sounds like you're doing all the right things. Get some rest and keep at it, it's definitely a tough process so it's important to take care of yourself.
  • 3
    That's rough, sorry about that. Speaking from my experience, I'm a co-founder of a software startup and we are extremely picky about who we hire. My perspective is the exact opposite of yours: because there are so few people, everyone has to wear many hats and therefore they have to be extremely senior/top-level performers at what they do. As we grow, we will eventually reach a point where we can hire lesser experienced folk in the name of educating and providing opportunities but we're just not there yet.

    My guess is because they are a startup, they are exercising the same extreme pickiness. That's not necessarily something that reflects poorly on you. What they're looking for might be so specific that only an extremely small percentage of applicants in the job market could fill.

    Advice in the next comment, running out of room here.
  • 3
    Continuing from up above.

    I'm not sure which tech you are experienced with, so I'm going to continue speaking generally. In my experience, most of the interviews that I've been apart of in my past jobs and in my current position, people stand out immensely if they have read and understand these books:

    Refactoring by Martin Fowler
    https://amazon.com/Refactoring-Impr...

    Clean Code by Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob)
    https://amazon.com/Clean-Code-Handb...

    If you have already read those books, fantastic. In my opinion people who are hiring that don't appreciate those accomplishments are not worth working for. I'm serious. It's supremely telling what kind of atmosphere and standard you can expect in such cases and it will be sub-par.

    If you haven't read them, I strongly recommend it. Feasting upon those two books alone will greatly improve your dev skills and architecture IQ.
  • 0
    @duckWit Thanks for the insight and I get that pickiness. It just that it seemed that they wouldn't be as picky due to them having a more specialized role, which would mean slightly less hats to wear.

    As for my current role, it's more generalized and I do wear quite a few hats, even though the company originated in 2007. The latest rejection was the latest attempt to try to become more specialized. I guess the problem I'm running into could be that I am not able to find those more junior type of roles that I can excel in. I haven't been able to figure out how people find those roles yet. All I'm seeing in my area is a overabundance of senior roles, which I am definitely not of that caliber yet.
  • 0
    @duckWit As for those books, I'll add those to my reading list and see what I can gleen out of them.
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