This may be a venting post, but I am looking for advice with it. I’ve had a very stressful few weeks, and during this time I had an interview for Meta for an Android developer role. I actually started the role process prior to all the layoffs, so I do feel fortunate that they did reach out to me to continue the process. The problem is, since then I’ve been moved to more of a cloud role and have lost some of my Android knowledge. Nevertheless, I really wanted this role so I spent as much time as I could studying and doing coding puzzles. This is the first ever time I have done an interview like this, and with nerves and not as up to date on the Android stuff as I was 10 months ago, ultimately I wasn’t chosen. This has me pretty bummed out. I really wanted to get back into the mobile world at a company where my code would have a huge impact and now I can’t reapply for 10-12 months. I know everyone will say there are plenty of other jobs out there, but I can’t find any that are of this caliber or that will even give me the time of day. Since the interview last week, I’ve spent time building an app just to refresh my skills and I’m, for the most part, proud of the app I’ve built so I know I can code. Post vent: So I’m looking in suggestions on maybe what I can do from here. Are there other ways to interview other than these types of coding challenges and system design challenges such as by showcasing my code? What are some other Android mobile roles where I can ally and excel that you may know of that I can’t seem to find? Just looking to crowd source some advice. Thanks in advance! TC: 130k
To answer your final question no. The only thing that matters is algorithmic coding interview and system design. You could have the most profitable, advanced android app on the market and they’d just be like: “Okay anyways please code this up” I think 10-12 months is a good time frame to get good at this stuff since you’ve never done it before. Once you do actually get good it’s like riding a bike which takes 1-2 months to ramp back up. Just my 2 cents gl
Most people at FAANG have been rejected by other FAANGs many times. I’ve been at 2x FAANG, it took me like 10 interviews to get my first offer; lots of onsites that were rejections. Lesson learned is that you have to keep applying, studying, and failing the interviews. Keep improving. It’s a probability game but there’s things you can do to improve that probability.
So true. Just keep trying and developing your skills. These 500k jobs aren’t handed out like candy. Even very skilled engineers fail interviews!!!
Don’t worry, Android at Meta is terrible anyway. It’s a dumpster fire internally with most people only having Android experience at Meta and not knowing anything about app architecture or modern practices. They’re 3 years behind everyone else at best but really it’s the internal attitude that makes it a bad place to be a mobile developer generally.