WHELP
Software Engineering Job Search Mistakes I’ve Made Thus Far That Perhaps You Can Avoid
I graduated from a Software Engineering bootcamp this summer and I’m approaching the halfway point of my program’s 6-month money-back guarantee with no offer. I’ve been busting my butt. Networking, leveling up my skills, applying for jobs, and preparing for interviews has been my full time (unpaid) job since I graduated.
But wow, I f*** it up a lot.
I’m learning a lot. About coding. About myself. Have you ever seen the movie Zootopia? I must have seen it a thousand times and there’s this Shakira song featured in it with this amazing lyric:
I’ll keep on making those new mistakes
I’ll keep on making them every day
Those new mistakes— Gazelle (Shakira) from Zootopia “Try Everything”
I’m getting closer and closer. I am! But still, only to make some new mistake. So if your LinkedIn feed is also littered with “I JUST GOT MY FIRST OFFER! Here’s what I did to score my first Software Engineering job out of my bootcamp!!” posts that are making you want to pull what’s left of your hair out, I wanted to offer this up as an alternative—
Here’s what I’ve done so far that did NOT get me the job.
Now, not everyone will struggle with these things, so if you and I are completely different people and you are not at risk of committing any of these tragic mistakes, may these anecdotes serve as an ego boost.
Not reading the full instructions on the coding challenge
With the clock ticking on an algorithmic coding challenge I briefly skimmed the instructions, completely missing a paragraph where they gave instructions on what technique to use to SOLVE THE FRIGGIN PROBLEM. I spent 55 minutes struggling with a sliding window approach and couldn’t get it to work. I noticed what i’d missed with 5 minutes to spare. They’d included a link and everything. Wow. Wow wow wow.
Hasty copy and paste jobs in cover letters
I don’t know if this is completely avoidable. In an effort to speed up my cover letter game I sometimes reuse paragraphs here and there for companies in similar industries. I recently forgot to change the company name in the middle of a paragraph. Sorry again, Robinhood.
Not practicing STAR responses for every bullet point on my resume
This one is special because this is actual feedback I received from the CEO of a company. He’d asked me about a previous job I had where one of my bullet points mentioned something along the lines of “succeeded in high pressure and unforgiving circumstances, while showcasing creative problem solving.” He wanted an example of a time I did this at that job. The job was incredibly niche, difficult to explain, it had been a year and half since I did it, and under pressure, wow—I couldn’t think of a single example. I’d like to blame PTSD. Not a day went by when I wasn’t getting my butt kicked by some crazy situation. But in that moment I had absolutely nothing to say except generics about the day to day challenges. He wanted one, concise STAR response: Situation, Task, Action, Result. I had nothing, and in my rejection email, he very kindly stated that this was why I would not be proceeding in the recruitment process. There is no excuse for this one! We’ve been told countless times to prepare these and…whelp, I didn’t.
Saying “yes” to every interview offered, at any time, even if it meant I couldn’t put my best foot forward
I had a company that wanted to meet with me on a day where I had work already scheduled. In my desire to seem enthusiastic and not get beaten out by someone more available I accepted the time they offered me, meaning I would have to rush out on a lunch break for the interview. It was twelve minutes before the interview when I realized I’d left my laptop at the office. I almost died racing back on my bike back to the office, helmet-less. Luckily there was an empty office I could use—but I wasn’t able to use a second monitor for our live coding and my energy was INTENSE. I haven’t gotten the official rejection for this one yet but that’s a mistake I won’t make again. Another mistake I made during this interview…
Jumping the gun during guided coding moments
When someone is trying to talk you through something, chill out and let them finish what they’re saying before you get excited and start typing. I think I may have even interrupted this man. Yes, I interrupted a Senior Engineer during an interview. Wow. I am something else. Let’s give that it’s own section:
Interrupting my Interviewer
Yeah, let’s let that sink in a little bit more. I actually did this.
Trying to run the show
I made this mistake early on. I have a big personality and I’m used to taking the lead on conversations when I come across someone who is a bit more reserved than I am. So in the Software Engineering world I’m often “sitting across the table” from someone who I might usually consider “shy” out in the real world. Add nerves to the mix and you’d think I was hosting a radio show. Even if someone seems shy, they have a plan for the interview, have likely done it a few times, and are plenty capable of leading it. Shut your mouth and let them do it, Zoe.
Leaning too much on my assessor during live coding
I was super nervous for my first live coding assessment and I got advice to treat it as if it was a peer programming session, but I think I took this a bit too much to heart— “What do you think about…” or, “Do you hate this approach?” and a lot of back and forth between us. Looking back on this problem, if no one else had been watching, I probably could have solved it in half the time and come across as a far more proficient engineer. This Senior Engineer was probably thinking, “wow, this woman takes a ton of hand holding. Hard pass.” My takeaway here was to talk less and code with more confidence. I think I’ve been groomed to act this way around older men, in general. Working on that in therapy.
Stay tuned for more:
I won’t give up
No, I won’t give in till I reach the end
And then I’ll start again
No, I won’t leave
I want to try everything
I want to try even though I could failI won’t give up
No, I won’t give in till I reach the end
Then I’ll start again
No, I won’t leave
I want to try everything
I want to try even though I could fail— Gazelle (Shakira) from Zootopia “Try Everything”