I definitely don’t want this to be discouraging at all. I think the reason I wasn’t getting offers at first was due to a few different factors. I plan on writing a blog post about this but I’ll break it down for you quickly here.
My mental health was not doing well. As much as I didn’t want my depression to bleed through during interviews, it did. I was not beaming confidence and that hurts my chances.
I didn’t know computer science basics (data structures, time and space complexity, etc.) at first. As a computer science grad, you have this leg up on me already as I went the bootcamp route. 😊 I had to learn this all on my own after failing during interviews.
I had no group project or open source experience at first either, which means no practical collaboration skills in tech.
COVID-19
These 4 things I think were huge factors that led to me taking as long as I did to land a job. Over the 444 days, I worked my butt off to improve on these things and continuously improve myself. ❤️
When you get into your job search and start feeling frustrated, start asking yourself what you could be doing better and work on that. Strive to make yourself a better candidate and engineer. It’ll all be worth it no matter how long your job search journey lasts.
Hi Victoria! This is my second time reading your post. The first time was when you published it, I was only ~2 months into my "job search declaration" (yup, fellow Flatiron grad here). At the time I experienced #2~4 you mentioned above.
Now, having had over 25 first-round interviews in the past 5 months (14 second-rounds, 4 third-rounds, and 1 final round), I am adding #1 to my list.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU for sharing your journey. I have also been binge-reading your previous posts, which led to me joining the Hacktoberfest for the first time.
You were right. Each interview made me realize there are things I need to improve on, and even though I am hitting a new low mentally, it is OK if my journey takes longer than expected.
Really appreciate the encouragement and congrats on landing the job! ❤️
Hi Annie! I am so happy that my blog posts have been relatable to you and that they've been able to help. ♥️ It's super exciting that you have jumped into Hacktoberfest for the first time! That is absolutely awesome and it is such a rewarding experience.
If you are ever in need of advice, please don't hesitate to reach out to me on here or over on Twitter. I'm happy to help out in any way I can.
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I definitely don’t want this to be discouraging at all. I think the reason I wasn’t getting offers at first was due to a few different factors. I plan on writing a blog post about this but I’ll break it down for you quickly here.
These 4 things I think were huge factors that led to me taking as long as I did to land a job. Over the 444 days, I worked my butt off to improve on these things and continuously improve myself. ❤️
When you get into your job search and start feeling frustrated, start asking yourself what you could be doing better and work on that. Strive to make yourself a better candidate and engineer. It’ll all be worth it no matter how long your job search journey lasts.
Waw, you've come a long way!
Congratulations for your job offer and for getting over your depression! :)
Thank you for answering my question in such a detailed way, I'll read your blog post when it'll be released. :)
Hi Victoria! This is my second time reading your post. The first time was when you published it, I was only ~2 months into my "job search declaration" (yup, fellow Flatiron grad here). At the time I experienced #2~4 you mentioned above.
Now, having had over 25 first-round interviews in the past 5 months (14 second-rounds, 4 third-rounds, and 1 final round), I am adding #1 to my list.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU for sharing your journey. I have also been binge-reading your previous posts, which led to me joining the Hacktoberfest for the first time.
You were right. Each interview made me realize there are things I need to improve on, and even though I am hitting a new low mentally, it is OK if my journey takes longer than expected.
Really appreciate the encouragement and congrats on landing the job! ❤️
Hi Annie! I am so happy that my blog posts have been relatable to you and that they've been able to help. ♥️ It's super exciting that you have jumped into Hacktoberfest for the first time! That is absolutely awesome and it is such a rewarding experience.
If you are ever in need of advice, please don't hesitate to reach out to me on here or over on Twitter. I'm happy to help out in any way I can.