interviewing job-hunting I job hunted continuously from Monday, December 27, 2021 - Wednesday, February 16, 2022. 7 weeks and 3 days of playing the numbers game by having a certain number of active conversations/processes and studying frontend JS questions. As my previous job hunts, minus the one in 2018, I juggled working full-time and applying to jobs. Despite being mentally exhausted, this has been my quickest turnaround (yet) from starting applications to signing an offer letter. There is a lot of demand for SWE roles right now.
Compensation was number 1 during this job hunting season, followed by no commute (It is 2022 and technology makes this possible as a SWE). However, I interviewed with a variety of companies as I didn’t target specific mission or industry. From pre-series startups (and everything in-between) to a Fortune 500 company, I got a lot of rejection but also said no too. Although I thought about giving my 2 weeks prior to an offer materializing, being employed empowered me to walk away from certain conversations and put up boundaries.
A note on boundaries: If I got odd vibes, I didn’t continue the process. I also said no to LeetCode/DSA interviews after 1 final DSA interview during the 2nd week of job hunting. More companies are offering take-homes and/or other alternatives.
The Numbers Game (funnel):
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35 companies answered my application. I applied to more than 35 but don’t have that data point.
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7 immediate rejections after that initial HR chat 📞
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13 more rejections after chatting with engineering and/or doing some coding interview(s). 3 of these 13 rejections were after completing the final interview(s). ⛔
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2 companies ghosted me which isn’t a high stat and that speaks to how hot the job market is right now. 👻
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2 companies notified me that they were putting their hiring on hold. 🚧
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I said no to 5 companies due to various reasons (e.g. compensation). 🙅♀️
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I dropped out of 5 ongoing processes as I was mentally exhausted and received…
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1 offer! At this point it would have been strategic to try for at least 1 more offer, but I was ready to be done. I am happy where I am currently and as a career coach once told me that “all you need is 1 yes”. 🎉
I worked in 2 week sprints and got stronger in communicating and discovering what I wanted as I continued interviewing. I started sprints by sending applications and following up. It was refreshing to see less companies demand LeetCode questions and more have a 3 or less step process.