Comment by edude03 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by edude03 | Hacker News Reader

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> if you get into an interview, every companies wants to mitigate risk as much as possible, and even after 6 interviews with everyone and their sister getting to ask similar vapid questions, you can be rejected with an automated email. > It's pretty soul sucking.

I agree, 100%.

That said, I would consider filtering out those sorts of companies as part of my pre-application process. I'd want to know upfront, what the interview format is, how many interviews there are, what other candidates experience has been with the interview etc, before even considering putting together an application for the company.

I'm guess (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the major difference between the world OP and yourself describes and my experience is mostly in that it seems you two are trying to get "a job" (any job) whereas I'm saying, I find companies that I think I would enjoy (pre, during, and post interview) then tailor my application and approach specifically to that company.

Otherwise, it seems unlikely that you would still end up with companies with a terrible interview process, despite doing your due diligence to filter them out

>the major difference between the world OP and yourself describes and my experience is mostly in that it seems you two are trying to get "a job" (any job) whereas I'm saying, I find companies that I think I would enjoy

I'm in the second group, for the long term goal on finding companies I'd like to work at. It's in the thread's title.

Recently I chatted with a less experienced engineer, he currently works at Lyft and has had internships at Intel and Github while at college, along with related extracurriculars. That is what inspired me to make this thread. I'm trying to build a several years long plan to do what is possible for a self-taught in order to get to a similar position.

So my aim right now is to plan a itinerary that is suitable from getting noticed the way reputable tech companies notice future graduates with good internships and credentials. I will have to earn my own credentials differently (not necessarily with a job), to position myself in the same way. You can think of this plan as a "school away from school" on the way to get multiple offers from reputable companies.

There is a risk that it may backfire from a hiring standpoint, since this plan would probably further delay my re-entry into the workforce. However, without the ability to pass job interviews, I will have to obtain other accomplishments without work experience. Also, I'll probably cut my oldest jobs from my resume to shorten my experience.

> I'm guess (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that the major difference between the world OP and yourself describes and my experience is mostly in that it seems you two are trying to get "a job" (any job) whereas I'm saying, I find companies that I think I would enjoy (pre, during, and post interview) then tailor my application and approach specifically to that company.

In my case, you wouldn't be completely wrong or right. Both are in-part hampered by a number of factors. The first being the absolute critical mass of companies jumping on the bandwagon of these hiring practices. So among the companies you want to work for and make your resume look spiffy for, there often isn't a way to mitigate much of this, except with numbers. Second is the spotty work history, so even in the ideal case where you do bypass any of that, you don't really have much of a choice. The one area that I'd say is worthwhile to do, is always asking about the interview process. If they don't tell you, they're off your list, but the next 10 might come back and say "Hey, you look great for the role, just talk to our CTO, tmand our entire marketing department, and of course Joe over in Boston, after you complete this take-home project" which is just so much risk off loaded. I even had a guy—literally Joe from Boston—and the CEO agree to hire me, after going through all of that, and then get cold feet and back out because I'm in Canada. That was 6 months ago, and I was already on the verge of being homeless, having soent all my savings on just basic necessities between jobs.

If you've got a stable or consistent work history, are well-spoken enough, technically competent, you're probably fine, such as in your case. Otherwise, it's brutal.

For me personally, I don't interview anymore unless I speak to someone on the team first. That's enough to eliminate 95% of all potentials I look at, and it's only possible because for now because I'm already on a contract. Those 5% carry the rest of the risks, and there just isn't enough out there most of the time to be that selective.

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