As of August 14th, I have a new job!

Oops!

I didn’t plan to find a new job. I wanted to start my own company and was going to stay put until I could start my own thing. A friend talked me into applying for a tech lead position at his company. I had the qualifications, and it would have been a huge promotion. I applied for other jobs, but I didn’t think any of them could beat this.

It was my first onsite interview, and I bombed it.

Doh!

My first onsite had only one technical interview. They asked me to model what happens when a user buys an SSL certificate. They didn’t say it explicitly, but they wanted a sequence diagram. I didn’t know what that was. I thought they wanted me to design a system, so I started mapping out services.

My solution was way too complicated and confusing. I can blame my nerves, but I spent all of my prep-time reviewing Cracking the Coding Interview and working Leet Code’s interview questions. The question was new, so I was unprepared. Bombing this question helped me prepare for later interviews.

I regret that my first choice was my first onsite.

What Now?

If I hadn’t applied to other companies, I would’ve mourned my lost free-time and given up on interviewing for another year. Instead, I doubled the number of applications I had, and continued studying in my free time.

Job Hunt Stats

95 days
38 jobs applied for
17 responses
6 onsites
14 rejections
2 offers
1 process ended once I accepted an offer

Other Details

Homework Is a Crapshoot

Every company judges homework differently.

I spent a week working on a homework assignment for [data metrics company] only to be rejected for doing the bare minimum. They purposefully left the scope vague to see if a candidate would go above and beyond.

Another homework assignment I wrote in two hours and emailed it to the recruiter with notes on what I would improve if I had more time. It was good enough to skip a technical phone screen and jump straight to onsite.

No One Thinks Twice About Your Interview

I’d heard that interviews matter more to you than the company interviewing you. I didn’t expect to have hard proof. I ran into two people one to two weeks after they had interviewed me. Neither recognized me or remembered my interview once I brought it up.

One exception was an interview I had with a CTO. He interviewed me when he was the VP of development at a different company. He remembered me. I should’ve asked if that was a good thing or a bad thing. 😅

I Love My New Job

It’s only been two weeks, but I love my new job. It’s 100% remote, and most of my team is remote. The team is brand new built to implement a killer new product. I couldn’t be more excited.