Harsh Job hunt story - 11/11 Rejections
Sometimes it gets so tough. I have a friend of mine who is looking for job as a masters new grad international student with 2 yoe outside US before masters. She also has an offer from the company where she interned. And to tell things in perspective- she was the first one to get the internship offer. That was her first interview, she cracked that. But the story changed entirely when she applied for full time jobs. The companies that she went onsite for- Audible Airbnb Pinterest Cruise Amazon Confluent Rejections from phone screens (1 or 2) Bloomberg, Appfolio, Google, Facebook, Coursera She was rejected in all of the above. Now both of us worried. Key points- 1. She always solved most of the problems correctly. She has practiced over 400 LC so it should be true. 2. Every time she had 75% of interviews to be very well. How often do we need interviews to go 100% exceptionally well! 3. Now she has no idea what goes wrong Everytime. 4. I believe the problem might be with communication. But it's just her way of communicating and how much should that be emphasized? Now my questions are- 1. How should she take this? With every Rejection she gets devastated. 2. What should she work on? 3. I also think that most of these companies are tier 1 and known for high bar. That might be an issue too. What do you think? 4. Can you please suggest some Bay area companies that might be easier to crack, sponsor h1b and that are hiring (/hiring new grads)? It's such a tough time for her. Fortunately enough she has one internship company offer.
âHer way of communicatingâ seems to indicate you see/hear something. What is it?
I just think that she doesn't come out as a polite person even if she is. The way she talks is without tones, ups and downs. But her in US, people talk very differently, it's more expressive.
Speaking monotone can definitely turn an interviewer off but it shouldnât be a deciding factor in terms of hiring decision. Monotone can also hint at a lack of enthusiasm which can affect an offer (e.g. you clear the bar but no HM wants a candidate who is lukewarm or not excited about the position)
She's definitely not good. I can't imagine being rejected after a phone interview in so many companies being a recent grad where expectations are so low. Memorizing 400 LC and writing the exact solution she memorized without even figuring out what her interviewer wants might be her issue.
Honestly speaking, that might be a problem. But only if question comes as is. I am sure she has not memorized and she can solve variations of problems as long as difficulty level is up to medium.
This isn't math exam. It's a job interview. You have to prove that you know what you're talking about AND you are an interesting person to spend time with.
Interviews are more than technical ability. Tell her to fully explain how it went. Could be soft skills or something unrelated to technical ability. Also, broaden the search. You're not a failure if you don't get into a Big N!
Do a mock interview where youâre the interviewer. If sheâs not cleared 11/11, thereâs clearly an obvious red flag that she might not be seeing. Besides communication, are all other bases covered? Dressing, personal hygiene, eye contact, firm handshake, friendly conversation with natural smile, body language, asking follow-up questions.
Keep trying. Not everyone can hit jackpot right after college. Get in to the industry, gain some experience and then try again in top companies.
The answer to boosting confidence is small achievable wins. That can be mock interviews, interviews at less prestigious firms, but she needs to get her confidence back. There is one thing she can do next time around with her interviews: donât try to cram as many as you can into a short period of time. Have 2-3 per week so if you have a bad week, thatâs ok. Stagger them so you only have one high pressure interview in any given week. If you do a phone call with Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Bloomberg in a week, youâll be utterly exhausted, and may even be too stressed to do your day job (school/existing job). Job hunting is a marathon, not a sprint. In terms of practice that only helps you if you see a similar or identical problem and will do you a disservice if you do get the job. Stick close to be theory and youâll find yourself reapplying it in new and different ways. I never did leetcode before any FAANG interviews and instead busted out my CS textbook and studied, just like school.
I guess it may not happen after she does- 1. thoroughly leetcoded 2. Practice communicating her solutions 3. Be ready to explain the correctness of her approach if asked. That been said, preparing isnât over yet. Before an interview understand thoroughly what the expectations are for every round of the interview( including manager round). This potentially starts with gathering generally asked questions for a particular round and ask to have her mock answers evaluated by someone. When you go through this drill, it gets really easy to get an offer.
Companies are starting to realize that hiring solely based on Leetcode isn't the right approach. If Quora has a high bar for engineering and hiring in general, why did they have a data breach with 100 million accounts exposed? That's nearly their entire user base.
2 different issues. Handle it separately, proofpoint. Issue 1: how can this random person succeed in interviewing? Issue 2: you are pissed off at quora for doing a sloppy job. Preparing for interviews != preparing for a successful career. Hope your confusion is cleared.
I have learnt it that the recipe for immigrants to be successful here is going to require a mix of hard work (that she got it through leetcode), patience (that it is going to take a while), and luck because even if a company is willing to hire, there's no guarantee about H1b approval. Good luck to her.
Its all over the news on LinkedIn and in company coworker conversation that H1b approval is about to get easier for students with advanced degrees. Stop scapegoating the visa situation. If the person isn't good then that's the end of story. Doing 400 LC problems has nothing to do with interview success or technical ability.
Hey foodtruckj, you might have had success on the first instance for everything you would have touched but not everyone is born with Midas's touch so take it easy. It is okay to be rejected. With regards to be tougher getting the H1b, just yesterday someone shared a story that he had MS from the USA and got rejected for Visa transfer. There are many more stories like that so get your facts right.
The problem is with her and maybe not her technical ability. Interviewing onsite exposes the person and in many cases interviewers go off of gut feeling when something feels off and doesn't feel right. They continue with the interview but you are internally already rejected. I wouldn't count phone screens as interviews especially if she failed them on 1st round. Does she come off arrogant? Does she dress professionally? Casually? Some companies care and some don't. How is she at communication? Can she handle a conflict of opinion with a coworker when doing a white board coding interview? Does she express her thoughts clearly? Why did she you a certain way to solve the problem and not the other way? These questions matter.
no matter how much you leetcode your inexperience gets exposed in interviews. look for entry level se positions. 2 yrs of experience outside US which I'm assuming in India means nothing.
All were entry level positions.
This.