I will probably enter the interview pool in the next 12 months or so and I need to start prepping soon Fall 2021 I was entering my third year of college (T250 southern state school) looking to get my first internship for summer 2022. At this point I had done very little leetcode, I didn’t even hear of leetcode until summer 2021. My school had no competitive/grind culture and I discovered what the tech industry really is later than most students at top schools, anyway, I landed a couple interviews at big companies and failed all but the easiest one, which was State Farm. I did the internship and got a full time return offer, which is where I am now I wanted to try to leverage my internship experience and full time offer into some more money and started applying for new grad roles in fall 2022. I already had an offer so I didn’t stress so much about prep, I did all of the easy and most of the medium problems on the Blind 75 list. I only applied to about 40 positions and got a surprisingly high interview rate with about 10 invites. The market was competitive then as it now(?), I should have written all of the companies down, but I interviewed for Netflix, Amazon, Visa, Expedia, a few other smaller companies I can’t remember. I got 1 offer for a small startup in the Bay Area, TC was about $220K. I turned this offer down because I didn’t want to move there. Point is, I had a surprisingly easy time getting interviews at big companies once State Farm was on my resume considering how the market was at the time, the thing was passing interviews. I didn’t take much prep seriously but I definitely don’t think I’m the kind of guy who will eventually be able to shit out optimal solutions to hards with no issue. I would be entering the pool with ~2 YOE, so I’d be interview for mid level roles. Not only will I have to take leetcode prep much more seriously, I’ll have to start dipping my toes into system design, which I know nothing about. I’ll mostly be shooting for roles at remote friendly companies like Meta(?), Atlassian, Netflix (I need to look up what companies are remote friendly) or maybe I can get lucky with a remote friendly startup. I’m not willing to relocate. What do you think is easier at the entry-mid level, or just in general in your experience? TC 103K DFW YOE < 1
Getting interviews for engineer I: easy. Getting interviews for CTO: difficult.
Why is this even a debate… you can make hundreds of apps and get only a couple of replies back, meanwhile everyone that is employed (most people) passed at least one interview in the couple of hiring processes they proceeded in. So rough estimate/example is 1/100 getting interview, 1/10 passing interview.
Most people with experience can do well enough in the interview. Getting the interview is much tougher in this market. I've helped 50 people land tech jobs in the past year, and the tactics that make the biggest difference are top of funnel (networking and resume format). After that it's your storytelling in behavioral questions that matter the most for the interview itself.
Number one cause that extends the job search imo is not networking. Solid point.
Thanks. I've been in tech for 26 yrs so I've been around the block a few times.
The market today is vastly different imo than in the Fall of 22. State Farm experience isn’t likely to be more competitive in the grand scheme of things, it truly comes down to what you’ve worked on and the skills you have. The work environment at a Fortune 50 insurance company is vastly different than a smaller tech company, not saying your skills couldn’t transfer but you’ll be viewed from the standpoint of working within a more narrow scope of work vs. broader experience with a wider range of responsibilities. Not trying to sound negative, but seriously it’s a different world outside the Farm depending on your target industry, but for sure Atlassian and Netflix wouldn’t even consider mid level at 2 yrs exp w no systems design experience. Take a thoughtful approach to what type of work will fulfill you and help you develop to future roles and create an intentional plan to make it happen. It will take a lot of interviews, patience and practice.
Hello Sir 99la99 Statefarm, Can I ask for referral from you, please? I'm a recent CS graduate from CS < 10 uni in US, with 450 LC done. I would love to have the chance for state farm new grad swe.
Holy wall of text.
For me since I been applying I feel like getting interviews is really hard. You have to network network network. Otherwise it’s impossible to get your resume noticed even if you are super qualified.
To give you context, I had about 30 tech screen interviews in 2022, and only applied for about 4 months. Applying in 2024, I have had 1 tech screen. And that was from a referral. 1 interview total in 2024. And my resume now has more experience. In my opinion most candidates are too weak on LC/Systems design to be applying in this scenario. The reason is, if interviews are scarce, failing them is now a problem. Cooldowns on companies are a problem. Your chances of lucking out like the good old days are basically 1%. If you haven't touched a systems design book, you should not be applying AT ALL. You can start with Alex Xu if you need an introduction.
thought you were balling in LCOL stay there lol
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you are hard stuck in the state farm type of companies as your YOE go up that’s the trade off of living in LCOL/MCOL but you will do very well for your area getting a VHCOL pay in LCOL area is only reserved for doctors lol
They're both hard honestly. Positions have hundreds if not thousands of applicants. I've heard recruiters claim that meeting all the requirements isn't enough, and they're splitting hairs to search for perfect candidates. I've personally been rejected without a phone screen after quality referral applications, even having direct experience and meeting all the requirements. After that, I've experienced insanely long and difficult interview loops for underpaid, entry-level positions. It's a shit show out there.