Feel like shit after 4 Onsite Dings
Apple - Failed on C++ semantics (11 months ago) Google - wasn't fast enough in each round Citadel - drew blank on one dynamic coding quest Amazon - Aced the coding, dinged on sys design Another Fang - upcoming. probably another ding :( Have been practising algos for a year + and improved a lot, but at every onsite it is something else that is causing my demise. I'm exhausted and about to just give up on all of this. First i was rusty on my C++, fixed that with more practise + reading Then it was being bad at white boarding. So I put a fucking white board in the middle of my living room. Then it was dynamic programming, so I hammered on those problems. Then I started reading designing data intensive applications and grokking the sys design. And still got dinged at Amazon with my best interview performance so far. I can generally now solve a new leetcode med at home within 20-30mins max. But during on sites, I get nervous and still make minor errors, and sometimes need hints. It really feels interviewers are looking for perfection and I can't get there unless I'm lucky and seen the question/similar pattern before. Sorry for the rant, it is sometimes hard to stay positive. Yoe 3ish
Yup that’s how I’ve felt ; at least 7 onsite fails for me here amongst companies you’ve mentioned / in that tier . Still don’t know how people on this app are complaining about multiple top tier offers
Tc and yoe pls
As long as you understand your area of improvements and work on it..... opportunities are just around the corner.....😀
I don't think you are doing as bad as you think. You just need to pace yourself and take smaller steps to work with the interviewer on dissecting the problem before rushing into the solution. After both parties agree on the solution, coding itself should take < 15 minutes if you're proficient with your choice of programming language.
There are tons of good companies out there. Keep going.
Why can you only work at FAANG? These are fat, old, has-been companies that are doing very little innovation right now, 20+ years after being founded. I know of a guy who had 20 job interviews, 20 rejections, but he finally at last got a faculty job .... at MIT. You ARE becoming a better SWE. To ace a test you have to practice under time pressure, to do better than perfect, in case something goes wrong and to compensate for pressure. Olympic medalists can still get 10s on the uneven bars on a day when their cat died, etc.
I don’t know of anyone whose onsite passing rate is greater than 40%. Most of my friends who went to Facebook and Google had about 10-30% passing rate at onsite. Many of them prepared again after two years and got better. They failed almost all of them when prepared first. Add that many people give up after multiple onsite failures. I know at least 4 people who stopped going for interviews after failing about 5 onsites. Despite the myth that software engineers are in shortage, interview passing rate is lower than any professions. There is a shortage for people who can pass the narrow gate (leetcode champions) but they are very few. Software engineers are not good at having empathy or being on another persons perspective. Many of these picky interviewers are recent hires who studied hard and therefore have a higher bar. As a result, the bar keeps going up. Google employees who got a job three years ago can’t pass the current bar as a result. How ironic software engineers are thinking they are smarter but in a big picture we are the dumbest who can’t take advantage of once in a life time opportunity, and ended up making it becoming increasingly difficult for everyone without knowing the next one who will face this issue is you.
When I used to work at Google I conducted about 30 on-sites and 5 phone screens and passed at least 20%. We hired zero. It's insanity. Onsite passing rate is 3%. If I could fire the idiot who designed it this way, I would. Hiring process is more about scaring existing employees into working harder than about bringing in talent ...
Thanks for the comment and sharing information That number looks ridiculously low. However, 20% is not generous either (pardon if I sound rude). You would assume the person is good when you give him a pass and he will cruise through the others. That is the trap we are falling into. Even if Google ignores one person’s reject recommendation, there are four others who can reject the candidate. The candidate may also screw one or two of them depending the type of questions and the fit with the interviewer. If each person gives pass at 20%, that is 1/(5*5*5*5) to get a go from 4 interviewers which is extremely low. Lets assume the person you gave a pass is a high caliber and has a chance to get a pass from the next interviewer is 50%. That is still 1/(5*2*2*2)=1/40 which is 2.5%. There is one more guy we can fail so the percentage goes a little higher but that results in low hiring percentage which will only hurt the company. I think we need to be even more generous particularly if the person has a good credential (good resume for example).
If you get nervous, go to the doctor and ask for beta blocker prescription. It will do wonders for interviews and public speaking.
A pill that makes you less beta you say....... Interdasting.
Are you coding your interview questions in C++? That may be why you run out of time
I consider you a success. You have only improved with each failure. These interview processes are very complicated and not a true judge of intelligence. You will soon succeed and all these "failures" won't matter. Look at each upcoming interview as a new opportunity to learn.
This. You are the type of person who identifies his/her weaknesses and works on them. That is a success in itself. My advice is dont loose hope and soon you will get your dream opportunity. Hang in there buddy.