I was let go from my startup in late February and have been nonstop interviewing since then. The beginning was rocky because I naively thought that work experience alone was enough to land me a job. Not true. The first few phone screens were brutal reality checks. Over time I learned from each experience and LCed, mostly easys. Then realized that easys weren't cutting it so I bumped up my efforts to solving mediums. I recently discovered the post with the 75 must-know LC problems(thank you!) and have been trying to familiarize myself with as many of those as I can. I'm having a hard time internalizing the patterns to solve these problems so when I actually get one on an interview I still fumble around for the solution. Then there's system design. Being a frontend eng I don't have much experience with the topic. I've watched a lot of YT videos and blogs on implementing different systems but in an interview, I'm completely paralyzed.
To date, I've already gone through 25 phone screens and 5 onsites. The fact that we're in the middle of a pandemic with news of layoffs happening left and right is really adding to the stress. I'm getting very self-conscious knowing there are more qualified candidates out there, how can I compete. It seems like companies are either looking for jr devs with no experience or sr devs with more experience than what I have. I'm not sure why I'm even posting this, just going through a trough and seeing if anyone with a similar experience can share some insight or advice on how to power through these times.
YoE: 3 (frontend)
#software #frontend #engineering
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Perhaps look more at those early career roles, compete there, and build up to where you want to be.
I have a job at present, but I know that if I went through lay off tomorrow, it will be difficult for me to find a job just on the basis of my work exp. Itโs gonna take me few weeks to refresh my basics and then few months to work on LC problems + system design
What activity gives you flow?
Do that for a week.
Then come back to prep with a set of fresh eyes
If you previous experience were not from FANG, FANG usually look at your application with an equivalent of 0 YOE. So adjust what youโre looking for accordingly as well.
Itโs definitely rough out there. Keep studying. You could also try to do some non-profit or hackathon work to build your portfolios.
Itโs also important to keep yourself motivated. When I was studying for interviews I reward myself small things like a piece of chocolate for every hour, or solving a hard+ LC question. Bonus snack when cpu/memory is rank in the higher percentile.
Good luck, OP
I'm trying hard to keep my head up and stay positive. I'll look into building up my skills with side projects.