How many times did you get rejected (from onsite) before landing your first dream job?

Apple
kdjenwpj

Go to company page Apple

kdjenwpj
May 3, 2021 21 Comments

Hi Blind,

This is nothing new. Rejections really hurt. I'm a CS Ph.D. with a focus on ML and DL with a good record of publications (though not in top conferences). I've done two internships, one at Apple. I've solved 250 LC (mostly hard medium) so far.
As of today I've had 9 onsite interviews (including FB, MSFT, Tiktok, Twitter, LinkedIn) and got rejected from 7 of them. One is still pending and the other one lead to an offer, which I declined because I wasn't happy about it. For some of these interviews, I can understand the reason behind the rejection -either my performance wasn't good or I got questions irrelevant to my background. But in a few of these, I did very well and still got rejected :( And I'm not even counting the interviews that didn't get to onsite.

For the ones I didn't have a good performance I usually do very well on all rounds, except one round where I get a really hard question. I usually make great progress in these questions. I do come up with a solution, but I usually run out of time till I can polish my code to be fully bug-free.
I really don't understand the expectations for these interviews. They expect you to solve a LC medium and hard in less than an hour. How is this possible unless you've memorized the question?? Is this because I haven't solved enough hard questions??? And how long does it take to get there? I've been preparing for months while working on my thesis and I feel like I got nowhere so far.

I'm the kind of person who always tells others to work harder instead of whining if you want to achieve something. But I'm really frustrated and I feel like I want to pull my hair out. Is this because the market is still not good? Or because I'm just stupid and I overestimate myself? Or both?

Can you please share how many times you got rejected till you landed your dream job (poll below)? It's becoming much harder for me to continue interviewing. Any advice is appreciated.

#interview #rejections #softwareengineer #coding #tech

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TOP 21 Comments
  • Boeing
    calwho?n

    Go to company page Boeing

    calwho?n
    It’s better to talk about it in years vs times. I landed my first dream job after 2.5 years of trying to get it. You learn things in the rejection time that you just can’t learn otherwise. Realize that you’re going to have to take something, and don’t reject something good just because it’s not your dream job just yet
    May 3, 2021 1
  • Amazon
    drytexvno

    Go to company page Amazon

    drytexvno
    Learn to do Leetcode hard. That is the only sure fire way of getting an offer these days. There r always ppl who will say they studied for a weekend and got an offer, but they could already be a genius or just got super lucky. Keep doing LC man. We’re all out here struggling

    Do some LC contests and try to get top 1000 consistently. I’d say if you can get top 500 consistently then you probably can ace most interviews. Top 1000 youll still need luck to get in.
    May 3, 2021 2
  • This comment was deleted by original commenter.

    • Apple
      kdjenwpj

      Go to company page Apple

      kdjenwpj
      OP
      Lol forgot to add this to the poll 😂
      May 4, 2021
    • Google
      EXvi83

      Go to company page Google

      EXvi83
      It's probably not SUPER unusual.

      Easiest entry point to a lot of top companies is through an internship while still a student. There's no on-site for internships, so if you get one and convert the answer is zero. That's the path for a large percentage of new grad hires.
      May 4, 2021
  • Intuit
    morpeido

    Go to company page Intuit

    morpeido
    I'm in a similar phase. Trying to quit and get a role in another company.But as you said, one round is going wrong in interviews. It's hard to stay motivated. But, what to do? I'll keep on trying.
    May 3, 2021 2
    • Uber
      kikidede

      Go to company page Uber

      kikidede
      Exact same scenario, had my 4th(this job hunt session)virtual on-site today, bombed the first one itself, somehow the others went really well. I hate myself for it. Looks like it’s back to square one, with phone screens.
      May 3, 2021
    • Same here! 6 onsites! No offer yet (DS ML position)
      May 3, 2021
  • Uber
    Bambiii

    Go to company page Uber

    Bambiii
    You need to be able to do 2 mediums in 45 min or 1 hard for top places. Else, try applying for DS roles instead. Coding bar is lower for those. Coding bar is lower at Amazon too, so that’s another option. Also don’t reject offers until you have something else at hand. You can use offers for negotiation. Also if applying for industry jobs, de-prioritize the thesis. No one will read it anyway, finish it once you get the offer and before joining. Good luck.
    May 3, 2021 1