[Insights, advice, and my experience] Got offers from Zapier, Samsara, and PayPal

Hello everyone. Earlier, I posted here asking for advice on which offer to choose from, but there were a lot of questions asked about how I got these offers, and I thought that it would be better to w

Hello everyone. Earlier, I posted here asking for advice on which offer to choose from, but there were a lot of questions asked about how I got these offers, and I thought that it would be better to write a post about my experience in the past month. As I mentioned in my earlier post, earlier in January, I was affected by an RIF (reduction in force) at my company. Today (after around a month), I received a verbal offer from Samsara, expecting one tomorrow from Zapier and PayPal. Here are a couple of insights and advice re: CS/SWE job search in 2026, hopefully it helps someone in that boat or provides insight and guidance to those who need it :) * Keep your resumes updated, interview continuously, and passively. One of the things that helped me a lot was that I was already applying to companies before I got laid off. I actually had an interview that was scheduled a couple of days before I lost my job. (You can see my tracking sheet below, applied to 50 companies, rejected by 15, and didn't hear back from the rest). * [For people who are already working/passively applying] Focus on extracurriculars. Read blogs, articles, and watch random YouTube videos about distributed systems, unique problems in your space, or just see how people think and what's currently "trending" (Hint: it is not ONLY AI that is trending in software engineering). * [If you are a student] Things could be different now, but from what I've seen, people who excelled in competitive programming always had the easiest time getting offers and excelling in their careers later. Leetcode isn't the only platform out there. codeforces.com, ACM ICPC, IEEEXtreme, etc. <- participate in all of these. Even if you don't do well, it'll actually help you become a better thinker, and you'll look at programming problems way differently. * A/B test your resume. I created 2 versions of my resume with slight variations. Some people say you should create a resume tailored for each job. I don't think that's efficient. You can create 2-3 and do variation tests and compare the data. If you see one that is better than the others, just use that one. * I did not say that I was laid off in any of the interviews unless I was explicitly asked, "Are you still with company X?" I also did not update my LinkedIn, nor did I add an "Open to Work" badge. I got this advice from a director of engineering at a company (that I did not apply to, btw). He told me that humans are biased, and even though lay-offs are 99.9% of the time not performance-related, some companies might still be biased and take that as an off thing. Once you get to the background check, they won't care much. * Apply early. I know this is repeated advice, but it is actually very important. Filter on the last 24 hours (Tip: There's a query param `f_TPR=r86400` in the LinkedIn job search page that you can update to filter on last X hours. 86400 is seconds. To do last 6 hours = 21600). * Target companies realistically and reasonably. The majority of my applications were targeted for mid-sized/tier 2 companies rather than FAANG and similarly sized companies. Reason is 1. I'm less interested in FAANG at this stage, and 2. It is more probable to get noticed, and they pay the same! * Interviews were a mix of take-home assignments, live coding technical screens, always with a system design and behavioral (some more than others). I've noticed that recently, many companies are avoiding pure algorithmic/mathematical interviews, and instead are doing more low-level design, class implementations, or just solving actual problems that you might encounter during a day of work there. * I was asked about "How I [use/implement/work with/etc.] AI in my day-to-day" in every company that I interviewed with. Some companies allowed for AI tool usage in their take-home assignments and/or in the interviews; do not think that it is a weakness to use it. If you use AI tools in the right way, it actually signals maturity and good skills. * Study the company and the role you're applying to. Especially if they are a mid-sized company with a good technical presence (i.e., engineering blog). For example, during Zapier's system design interview, I was able to answer a question because I read one of their engineering blogs in which they solved a similar problem. * Be Patient. I had 5 interviews (5 hours) in one day at some point during the last month. Followed by 3 on the next day. And they came after a week of take-home assignments and technical screens. It's okay. Especially if you're actively applying. Be patient and take it easy. I want to point out that this is only 1% of the picture. Every person is unique; find your strengths and weaknesses, and try to improve. Also, there's a HUGE luck component. I was fortunate enough that I received support from my family and from my wife. And lastly, I'm in this field because I genuinely like it, and I'm interested in it, and not only for the money; I'm pretty sure this played a role, even if for a tiny bit. Some info about me (that in no way you should compare yourself to, but you guys like to ask, so here you go): * I have around \~8 years of generic backend software engineering. * I have a BSc. in Computer Science and am currently pursuing an online master's in CS as well (started January). * I am based in the Midwest in the US, with a green card. Been here for the past \~4.5 years. * I only have 118 solved LeetCode problems. I, however, previously participated in ACM CPC competitions, Codeforces, TopCoder, AtCoder during university, and that exposed me to competitive programming. I am a Newbie in Codeforces, though, and my max rating was a Pupil (low ranking != not getting offers). * I have a couple of mostly incomplete side projects, and I like to write; I have a blog that I occasionally write to. Sorry for the long post, hopefully it provides guidance to those who need it, and good luck to everyone!!! https://preview.redd.it/g45vv604gkig1.png?width=1073&format=png&auto=webp&s=66f1a0f71e1cb63f35dd0fef43beca674a7d80eb