Yoe

Full Disclosure: This was originally going to be a rant/doompost complaining about everything in my life being awful, and it may still come off that way in parts, but I decided that I want to try to be productive and help out others if I can TLDR: Apply early and often on company websites, constantly upskill, be prepared and clear in interviews, get on unemployment if you can. This is all fully subjective based on my own experiences as someone with a few years in the industry in the US who has gone through interview processes for 50 or so roles. I also still don’t have another job in the SWE field after being laid off and I’m completely drained of money, so take my advice with a grain of salt and maybe do the opposite? Networking I’ve reached out to old friends, family friends, college classmates, coworkers for any sort of advice or referrals to mixed results. Then I expanded my network by going out and socializing at general public events and bars. Some referrals did help me get my foot in the door to a hiring manager interview at certain companies, but unless you personally know the CEO, that’s all they can do. I had recruiters and more experienced professionals look over my resume and added key words to get past ATS. I also customized my resume for the jobs I applied to. To customize my resume and try to get past ATS, I use Simplify to find what it thinks are the keywords and add them to my resume before submitting. There’s no guarantees that’s how the ATS does it or even cares, but I think it’s worth a try for roles you really want. I’ve done paid and unpaid mock interviews to improve my communication skills. I’ve gone to job fairs and local software focused clubs to expand my network, but everyone else was also looking for a (often first) job and there wasn’t really anyone who was offering to provide referrals. I did network with everyone I could on the off chance they did find a job and could help me out in the future, but nothing came of that so far. I paid for referrals, which honestly didn’t help at all compared to blindly applying and isn’t worth the money. I tried finding a job in a related field other than software engineering, like cyber security or general IT help desk. But the moment they realize I don’t have the specific experience or I used to work in software engineering, they go with someone else that fits better. I’ve tried looking into unrelated fields, like finances, law, or teaching, but I would need to go back to school for at least a year and a half for a degree, and that’s time and money I don’t have. And I don’t know what those fields will look like when I’m done. I’ve tried finding people on LinkedIn who are hiring or are recruiters for companies I’m interested in, but I’ve only had a few connect with me and only two who actually messaged me back. I think doing this too much also got my account banned various times, which can be detrimental to the job search and was difficult to fix. If you’re going to do this, you probably need to be very strategic about who you contact and get LinkedIn Premium to reach out to more people per month. I’ve tried LinkedIn Premium. I was told people notice when you have premium and see you as more professional. It was nice to see how many people applied to a job and to be allowed to message random people, and I did have a few random recruiters reach out to me a bit more often, but it’s $40 a month on average and I don’t think it really made a difference enough to pay that amount. Contract roles are a good alternative to W2 work, minus healthcare and maybe a bit lower pay wise to my knowledge, but you need to be careful about the people you work with to get the job. Some third party contractor companies that say they can help you get a role will take a certain percentage of your pay for a period of time. So be sure to confirm if they do that. Using Fivver to directly offer contract work felt like trying to stand out in a sea of way too many people. Upwork requires you to essentially bid for a potential contract role, and didn’t seem worth the effort or money cost. Improving I’ve used online articles, YouTube videos, and AI to expand my knowledge of new tools and technologies. Be sure to double check the information AI gives you to be safe. I keep a word document going over the general technologies and architecture I have previously worked in, and new concepts I’m still learning. Even if you’re familiar with the technologies while you’re employed, the further away you get away from it, the more details you won’t remember. So take notes how things work and why that choice was made. For leetcode, I memorized the 15 or so algorithms that are commonly used for questions by looking up YouTube video and online articles. You can and should practice questions too, but I found doing hundreds of them is too time consuming. It’s often said you need to memorize big O and similar concepts for technical interviews to truly show you understand what you’re doing, and that may very well be true, but I’ve never been asked about it to my knowledge and I think I’ve only brought it up once or twice. Practicing coding in your chosen languages regularly to avoid forgetting syntax or common usage during interviews. This will be controversial, but personal projects and GitHub’s don’t matter to interviewers. It’s important to do to keep up your skills and learn new technologies, but I have almost never been asked about my personal projects, and whenever I bring them up (ie: “I have experience with this technology in my personal projects” or “I have coded in this language for these projects”), interviewers don’t seem to care. To them, only professional experience matters. I have a similar sentiment for certifications. It does depend on the cert and the field you’re getting into, but typically certifications are more meant to improve your own skills and can only potentially get your foot in the door for a recruiter or Hiring Manager interview. If you’re going to do cloud certifications, Udemy and Tutorialsdojo are where I had the best experiences learning compared to longer certification test preparation courses. Applying This is the general go to advice, but apply to companies directly through their websites if possible. Use and check LinkedIn and other job boards to see what is being posted and use them as a springboard to go from there. If you can, apply early as possible. You don’t want to waste time applying to a job from a month ago and I’ve had some recruiter friends say timing matters. You probably don’t need to apply the hour the job is posted, but if you want to when using LinkedIn for job listings, after putting in all the filters and searching, edit the URL so the “TPR={number}” is four or three numbers long. That number is the seconds since a job has been posted. Applying locally usually gets a better response and is my go to, but applying nationally is important to do and does get responses even if companies prefer local candidates if possible. I have never gotten any interest from international roles hosted in other countries. Even if a job requires a few years experience more than you have, or you don’t have every single item on the job description, I’d say go for it. It is a wishlist after all. Worst case, you get a rejection email. Best case, you’ll be interviewed and need to brush up on certain topics or justify why you should be a good fit for this role. I’ve sometimes had recruiters say I’m not a good fit for the role I applied to, but an unlisted role they have would be better and send my resume directly to the hiring manager. I use the Simplify browser add on to help fill job application details. It’s probably selling my personal information, and doesn’t always fill in information correctly, but it definitely saves me time for Workday and greenhouse applications. I keep an excel document of companies I’ve applied to, a link to their jobs page, the number of jobs I’ve applied to, and when I last applied. I try to go down through and add to the list at least once a week, but often look more than that. I have another documents that tracks when a role moves forward, what stage I’m at, and when the next interview is. It definitely helps me stay organized, but it can be depressing to review. It depends on the company, but typically a “senior” role for SWE can range from 3-8 years of required experience. The job titles that are actually senior (8 - 10+ years) are commonly called “staff” or “principal”. Sometimes senior does fit that description though. Interviewing Have a one to two minute introduction practiced and prepared that goes over the impact you had on the company and whatever concepts are relevant to the role. I also like to include a small joke (ie: “Covid was a crazy time to be working!”) to help break the tension and add some charm, but it doesn’t always get a laugh. I use this introduction at all stages of the interview if possible. Recruiter Interviewers are typically done to make sure you’re not crazy and see what expectations you have for a job, but I have done a few that ask very general technical questions. If you can, build a working relationship with a recruiter for a company you’re interested in. Even if you don’t get that one specific role, if you email or call them in the future (even if you have to be a bit annoying), remind them that you worked together before, and ask about roles, there’s a chance they’ll actually help you out instead of just saying that they will. Recruiters are your go to points of contact. Don’t be afraid to ask them what to expect from upcoming interviews to better prepare. However, don’t always trust what they say! I’ve had a few recruiters tell me to expect this or that for an interview, and it’s something completely different. Online assessments can be a single leet code, several leet code, or a general code repo set up that you have to fix or add to. The time frames you work with are usually somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes. Most of the code repo work I was given involved APIs in some way, so I recommend knowing how to use set up a REST api in whatever your chosen language is. Sometimes there are also multiple choice questions that you need to fill in along with the listed above options. I’ve heard of other people having to do longer take home assignments over several days, but I’ve never encountered them. Do at least some research into the company before the hiring manager interview. Even if it’s just reviewing the job description page of what you’re interviewing for so you at least know what the company produces, values, and can talk at length on your relevant skills and technologies. Hiring Manager interviews can have some technical aspects, but typically focus on behavioral questions that call upon your own experiences. Just in case, be prepared to explain what technologies you worked in and why. Write down five to eight notable events that happened at your job. Memorize and practice saying them. During the interview, fit them into whatever type of box the question is being asked. Preferably in STAR format, heavily emphasizing the impact of the results that you specifically did in some tangible way. Technical interviews are the biggest challenge because they have such a wide variety. They can be categorized into three different types: 1. Jeopardy Trivia - You’re asked a wide amount of questions on either a technology you have listed in your resume or that’s listed in the job description. For coding languages, it’s typically general questions you haven’t thought of since college (Ex: Java: What’s heap vs stack memory?). The questions cover a lot and don’t usually go too deep, but do sometimes build on top of each other. This is where the word document I made comes in handy. 2. Live Coding - These are usually leet code medium or hard questions but can be easier tasks given you typically only have 45 minutes to complete it. This is often a test of your mindset as well as your coding skills. Be sure to ask questions to confirm details, take some time to plan out your solution before diving in, break the problem into smaller parts, explain what you’re doing out loud at each step of the way, and code in whatever language you’re quickest and most comfortable in. If you’re running out of time, acknowledge it and explain vocally or pseudo code how you would complete the remainder. 3. System Design - You need to know how to build the space around the code, explain why those choices are made, and show the architecture in a clean diagram. It’s all about trade offs and what shape fits into what hole you’re working with. ie: Why use microservices for this program? How are they broken up? What API do we use for live data and why? What about the database choice? Some technical interviews will let you google things. I often ask the interviewers if I’m allowed to or not if they don’t mention it. When it is allowed, I use it sparingly for mostly specific syntax I can’t recall, not for like an entire library or what an object I don’t know about is. If you don’t know an answer, just say so. It’s better to be upfront about not working with a specific technology or not knowing the time complexity of something rather than a half remembered guess. I have never used AI for interviews. It just doesn’t seem worth the stress of hoping whatever AI you use is smart enough to answer quickly, doing your best to not look like you’re reading from a screen, and being black listed if you’re caught. For all interviews, knowledge is extremely important, but clear communication is key. When answering questions, you need to strike a balance between being able to provide the dictionary definition of an answer and putting it into your own casual words. Going one way or the other can result in the interviewer not liking your answer compared to the other candidates. I’ve recorded behavioral and technical questions into a word document immediately after interviewing to refer to later. Behavioral questions especially are repeated among different companies. After hiring manager and technical interviews, I typically ask “Assuming I move forward in the interview process, what does the next interview look like?” And “Based on what you’ve seen today, is there anything I can do to improve?” The second question was recommended by a recruiter friend. There’s no guarantee the interviewers will be able to answer these questions, especially if the interview process is compartmentalized and they’re not supposed to provide direct feedback, but I still recommend trying to see how you could improve. In office interviews are usually technical, but can also include behavioral questions and be split into several different rounds (usually two). Due to AI and fears of cheating, I’ve noticed they’re becoming more common if you get far enough in the interview process. Because of the trouble of actually going into the office can be for the candidate and the interviewers, the questions can potentially be slightly easier than online interviews. I’ve also had in person interviews that are just as hard, but that had me in the office while the interviewer was remote. Final interviews can be deceptive. Just because you’re at the last round doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed the job. Sometimes they’re just culture fit questions about your previous experiences, other times they’re another surprise technical. Even if you are doing a tour of the office in person, make sure you’re prepared for both behavioral and technical questions. Financial Support After receiving severance and if you’re eligible, apply for unemployment. It can hurt people’s pride to do so because they think they don’t need it or they’ll find a job quickly, but it’s there for a reason, and it’s extra money for doing something (applying to jobs weekly) you’re already going to be doing. With all the red tape required to get it, it’s better to apply to it early and potentially not need it. For all the same reasons as above, after your unemployment benefits are completed, find a local job to pay the bills. Even if it’s part time. While you might have a decent amount of savings at the start, if you’re not employed in your field for an extended period, that money pile going away can be stressful. Having at least some income can help. Going from a high paying job to being unemployed can take a large toll on your mental health. Especially the longer you are unemployed and the more your finances are affected. If you don’t already, get an application that tracks your income and spending, and create at least a general outline of a budget, so you have an idea of what you’re spending on necessities and what you can spend on fun. Go out with friends and have fun. Maybe don’t offer to buy everyone lunch, but socializing once week or two can help you keep a feeling of normalcy and not get too stir-crazy/depressed. _ The original point of this post was to vent and hope some tall, handsome, emotionally cold but with a secret heart of gold CEO would read it and decide to support me financially. And given my current situation, it still kind of is, but I also wanted to try to help other people either recently laid off or who are in a similar boat to potentially try something new, and provide a space for sharing any tips or recommendations others might have that I don’t have listed. Thanks for taking the time to read!