30 Days 30 Interviews

Read till the end for hidden gems and only if you are serious about making the most of your time vs money trade

This was the start of the year 2022, in the city of Bengaluru, India. I was working at a firm I had been a part of for more than 4 years. Having been in a cacoon and a safety net of my organization, I had been distanced from the realities the market forces bought along with it. And I took a plunge into the deep end.

Long Behold I decided to try my luck in IT professionals' very lucrative job market.

Landed job offers from:

1. startup unicorns
2. Software labs
3. Fintech
4. Saas Product Companies
5. Audio Streaming App
6. and some more

Slipped and course-corrected and again slipped and raised the bar and took a higher leap.

Growth Journey:

Be the best at your occupation or suffer the pangs of being an under achiever.

How did I get big tech, startups, and product companies to discover my profile?

I discovered platforms like Instahyre, and LinkedIn played a pivotal role in making my profile more appealing to the prospective recruiters. I ended by getting a show of interest from Amazon, Google, Walmart, Sharechat, Paytm, Cred, Optum Labs, Porter, and a bunch of more unicorns.

What profiles did I apply for?

Backend Developer, Fullstack Developer, Lead Engineer, Engineering Manager, DevOps Engineer, Data Engineer.

Won’t lie. Having nearly 9 years of experience was of immense help.

How many times was I rejected?

Let’s just say “more than a dozen times”

What kept me going?

The endeavor to search for my strengths and my shortcomings.

What type of interviews is the most common?

“Technical Rounds”. Which can include online assessments of data structure, problem-solving, finding output to a given code, writing SQL queries, and many more.

So, pretty much that gave a fair clue as to how modern-day recruiters and the hiring managers would approach hiring the right talent at their organizations.

Execute with perfection

Idea is to access the challenge in front and not get bogged down by the sheer magnitude of the challenge. Here are some thumb rules that might help:

1. Never undersell: Spotlight’s on you, better enjoy it. Appreciate the attention bestowed upon you. Show yourself in the brightest form, your darkness shall be discovered by those who seek.
2. Two-way traffic: Make sure the questions you ask and the questions the interviewer asks are in the ratio of 1:2, be a curious kid and serve out some queries.
3. Connect: Draw parallels between the stories told out from both ends of the table (‘imaginary table’ in video calls)
4. Stay Humble: Flaunting is good in a limit. Try and stay true to the topic, and it is okay to move on if there is no knowledge to be imparted.
5. Think aloud: the solution is the destination, make sure to narrate the journey. It’s okay to fumble and correct course.

Useful nuggets and Hacks

• GitHub profile is underrated yet most appreciated, work on it and make it greener
• Try LinkedIn premium for a month, it’s worth it (at zero cost, if you unsubscribe in time)
• Referrals work, ask your friends, family, and colleagues to put your resume in.
• Offered salary always has a scope of 10% increase. Just ask politely.
• Track your progress and keep a log of questions asked.
• Online assessment is easy, invigilated ones are not necessarily invigilated.