For the last 3 years, I’ve been in the process of finding a software engineering job. I came to the US thinking that I was going to have a stable job. I already had a work permit, experience in a big company as well as in a small startup, and a master’s degree in CS. I looked like a perfect candidate on paper.

I landed in Seattle (the best place to live, IMHO), and it took me one year to land a position at a small startup. I was happy to get this opportunity. I thought that this was the end and from this point everything was going to be good, but life had another plan.

Due to the political situation in the US, I decided that it was a good chance to move to Canada. I had a work permit in Canada, and my company approved my move. So I moved to Waterloo, ON, Canada. It’s a really nice place with a lot of engineers, so I found a bunch of friends. It’s like SF, but in Canada.

After 3 months, I got a call from the CEO, and he informed me that we were out of budget because we had made a bet on a big contract, but unfortunately, it didn’t pay off. So now I needed to search for a job again.

I thought, okay, now I have North American experience, so it’s going to be much easier to find something. I polished my resume and started grinding LeetCode, in other words, preparing myself. I was applying for different positions. For the first 6 months, I got zero calls, and I started to feel like the market was dead, so I decided that I needed help.

I contacted my friends at big companies so they could refer me. I got calls and scheduled meetings and interviews. I thought that this was finally it, and I just needed to do my best to prepare and ace them.

I was lucky enough to always find a job on the first try, so I thought that it was all in the bag. The interview process is always a random event. You can wake up and be in a top mood and your brain is sharp, but sometimes it’s just not your day. In other words, I failed my first interview, so the company rejected me. The problem was easy, but I overcomplicated it. Fair enough. I learned my lesson and started preparing for the next interviews.

I aced the next company’s interview, and the team told me that they were happy to meet me. I was feeling like, finally, this is it. Good team, salary, etc. But I got a rejection. They decided to hire a person with more years of experience on their resume. It felt like a punch in the face because I was expecting that I was the best candidate for this position, but okay, never mind, shit happens. I had more interviews coming up, so I focused on them.

I got a referral from my good friend, so the very next day I had the phone screening, and the company invited me to finish the whole loop. The first round was not good. I was nervous, so I had a solution, but it was complicated, and after the interview, I found a better and cleaner solution. I didn’t panic and prepared myself for the next rounds.

I passed them, or at least I thought I did. I answered all the questions, I got a good vibe, and it felt like I had a chance. But I got rejected. Fair enough, since my first round was not the best one. I asked for feedback but didn’t get it because the company doesn’t share feedback.

And then the final company. I got a call, and we scheduled an interview. I passed it, so HR called me and asked me to go on-site. I was hesitant but decided to give it a chance. Since it was going to be on-site, I needed to rent a car and spend the whole day there. I prepared, and the interview was really easy. I thought that I aced it because I answered all the questions and gave fast, working solutions, but the very next day I got a rejection.

I think I was just overqualified for this position, so they decided not to give me an offer because they thought I might change companies quickly, or for some other reason. I can only assume what was going on because they just ignored me. It’s so frustrating that after taking my time, the company decided to just ghost me. I wasted my money and time just to be ghosted.

So this is my 1 year of looking for a job, and it’s brutal. My question now is not how to find an interview. Now it’s how to be a unicorn so the company will actually hire me. I’ve had bad rounds and good interviews, but still, I don’t have stable employment.

The market is looking for something that is not realistic, but with all the layoffs and AI hype, companies can do it. But now I can continue my journey with the understanding that you can be a shitty engineer but have amazing interviewing skills, and that’s because on your job you’re not going to solve problems. You’re going to create PowerPoint presentations and schedule a meeting to schedule another meeting where you’re going to discuss how to solve the problem with a coffee queue in your office.

I have a solution for you guys: HashMap