It’s no secret that the developer’s interview process can be grueling. Fine-tuning your resume and spamming hundreds of applications is a recurring theme for many entry-level and junior developers. After that, there’s countless OAs, take home projects, phone screens, and on site interviews (possibly multiple even with the same company). Many younger developers get frustrated during this process and don’t approach it the right way. I like to break down the application process down step-by-step into smaller pieces, just like you would a programming problem.
First, are you sending out hundreds of resumes and not receiving any callbacks or responses? If this is happening to you, stop the interview prep (or at least cut down on it) and fix your resume! Getting your foot in the door is the first step. You might be able to crush Leetcode mediums and hards all day, but if no company will interview you, what good is it? Go create projects in the tech stack you are targeting, try contributing to open-source projects, or even volunteer where possible. Putting applicable projects on your resume is the most important thing you can do to get callbacks.
Once you start receiving responses, the next step will often be a phone screen. If you find yourself getting filtered out at this phase, you may need to improve your soft interviewing skills. The best way to improve this is simply by practicing! If you aren’t confident, sign up for mock interviews and practice with real companies as often as possible, even if you aren’t likely to accept an offer. In time, this process will become second nature and these screenings will be a breeze. There may be other behavioral screenings further along in the interview process, but the same principles apply: be confident, be yourself, and practice makes perfect!
Finally, there is the dreaded technical interview. If you aren’t getting offers after making it to this stage, it usually boils down to one of two issues:
- You were given a coding challenge and couldn’t solve it
- You were not knowledgeable enough about a specific tech stack
We have all been there, so don’t sweat it. This part of the process can be the most stressful for many of us, but stay optimistic! At this point, you know you are doing something right, it’s simply time to review your language of choice and brush up on algorithms.
I believe a big issue many of us run into is focusing on the technical interview before you even get to the technical interview. If you’re confident in your resume and soft skills, this is a good plan. However, if you find yourself getting stuck before you even reach that point, remember to analyze your process and focus on your current blocker, just like you would with a programming problem.
