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If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

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Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#121

Post by sahila »

bmitc wrote: post #116
treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

I just went through an interview cycle at a FAANG, and I'm pretty sure only one interviewer out of five was directly involved in the actual position. And I'm somewhat certain that it was the others who were the nos. I actually didn't find out anything about the position until the final interview. Additionally, no one in the panel was a software engineer ... for a software engineering position.

That sounds unlike faang interviews (the only one person being a swe part). Which one was it and what were the interviews like?

The non-team thing is common but they do it to bring “objectivity” to the process and since it’s leetcode or system design questions, it usually doesn’t matter unless you’re applying for a highly specialized role.

I can speak for google and Amazon - you might not even apply for a specific team till you’re in, and do that afterwards. Facebook also did team match post boot camp.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#122

Post by OrangeMonkey »

treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

Look man - you fucking matter and you will get this.

The crap you are going through is not fair, this entire process is not fair, but who the fuck cares - you will get this.

Do NOT let this fucking industry joke of an interview process harm you man. Seriously. It really is not you - its them.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#123

Post by kortilla »

throwawaysleep wrote: post #110
treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

This is why I just interview endlessly. At least one a week. You need to develop a callus to interviewing. Find the time for it by rubber stamping a few code reviews. It gets boring after a while. Just a very repetitive process after 100 or so.

100+? Are you just interviewing at anywhere and everywhere?

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#124

Post by peteradio »

anchochilis wrote: post #92
pkrotich wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel your pain! I had an initial phone interview with Yahoo in mid 2000 or so and my anxiety got the best of me on "hello". I went blank! Forgot how to talk - so I hanged up and DECIDED that very minute that I would start my own company and never interview again!

So did you end up founding your own company? Was that your last interview ever? Don't leave us hanging!

Your question frightened them, they've deleted their account.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#125

Post by 5d8767c68926 »

jackblemming wrote: post #63
Retric wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re selling your life, focusing on chasing ever more money is a poor trade IMO. Not saying you have to join a non profit, just consider what you want to work on, who you want to work with, and the kind of hours you want to put in.

It always amuses me seeing programmers chasing as much money as possible when they make a fraction of executives or many other professions. Even if they're at the "elite grand master SRE" level. Still a fraction of some MBA.

Quite a few more programmer jobs than elite executive MBA opportunities.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#126

Post by kortilla »

granshaw wrote: post #120
throwawaysleep wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I just interview endlessly. At least one a week. You need to develop a callus to interviewing. Find the time for it by rubber stamping a few code reviews. It gets boring after a while. Just a very repetitive process after 100 or so.

What if you actually pass an interview which you weren’t really interested in to begin with? Decline with some BS excuse? The amount of deception you’ll have to do is what holds me back from constant “practice” interviewing

“The compensation is not adequate enough to make me want to leave.”

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#127

Post by nuclearnice1 »

PebblesHD wrote: post #114
nuclearnice1 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the other poster. The possibility of ending up unemployed is a bit stressful here. What percentage of people get let go within 90 days?

For us, it’s a tiny fraction. I’ve hired around 30 engineers over 5 years and we’ve let go of 2 during probation, both for dramatically overstating their capabilities compared to their actual experience, to such a degree that it was clear it was done intentionally and with no effort to try and bridge the gap with learning during the period. Others who may have slightly embellished their skills but could learn as they…

That number might be low enough that there is no need to emphasize the probation period to candidates.

If 20% of candidates are getting cut after the probation, I’m very hesitant.

Losing 5% quickly is only slightly above normal and may, in fact, be a positive sign of quality control.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#128

Post by BuckRogers »

treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

One thing to always remember, because it's the same for me as for you, remember that most jobs are already accounted for. They often interview for quotas, gotta try out 3 people or such. I've clearly been the best qualified candidate a few times, as a grizzled software developer going for devops jobs. Still don't get it. They often know who they want to hire before any interviews begin.

While that's not always true, it is far more often than you think. So assume that's what happened to you, it probably was if you look at the odds.

As far as thick skin, that's life. Stay strong. Remember that failure is never achieved until you give up. This is a cold, hard world if you don't benefit from nepotism as many do.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#129

Post by nwiswell »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #111
treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

How low was the lowball? Maybe you should have taken it.

Do you think this was a constructive comment?

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#130

Post by treyfitty »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #111
treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

How low was the lowball? Maybe you should have taken it.

It was at a crypto trading platform who gave me a verbal offer, and then a month later tried to pull a fast one and wrote down an offer 50% less than what was discussed. When I probed, they responded “it’s out of my hands, leadership changed their needs…etc”

The offer was a pay cut from my current, very boring, but stable role.

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