Maximizing Your Job Search: Sequencing Your Software Engineering Interviews Effectively

I ended up with multiple >$500k offers and interview sequencing played a major role in my success.

Interviewing is draining

I applied to nine companies and interviewed with all of them over a three-month period. This was exhausting, as I was working a full-time job at the same time. I had to work weekends or after normal work hours to make sure I was fulfilling my obligations at my normal job, as my interviews were taking place during business hours.

I realized early on in my interview process that if I had a one-hour technical interview at 11AM, I wouldn’t be able to work from 9AM — 11AM. I would be stressed, doing last minute coding preparation, and trying to not completely psyche myself out. To avoid this, I aimed to do interviews earlier in the day, with enough of a buffer that I felt fully awake after getting out of bed. That way, I could do regular work during the remaining business hours.

For final round interviews (”onsites”), I had to take a few Fridays off to make the six-hour long interview block work. Some onsites, however, were much shorter and only 3–4 hours; I could get away with blocking my calendar off and then catching up on work after dinner.

Be careful not to take too much time off. Some managers may be concerned if you’re taking too many random days off in the middle of the week. I usually took Fridays or Mondays off to do…