[rckclmbr]

It took me 8 years of industry programming (after college) to get a job at a top tech company. But I'm here, and I feel like my skills are a lot better than they were. Don't get down on yourself by getting rejected, and don't invest too much time in interviews. Take 1 or 2 a year, and just concentrate on being a better programmer and person.

1. No, but you should evaluate how much time you invest in this. (time per year)

2. I hated every time I got rejected. I never did postmortems myself, but swore I would never interview at another BigCo again. But guess what kept happening.

3. I never found a mentorship useful. The best way is to find where you're deficient (which is hard, because companies almost never give feedback). I don't think post-mortems is the right way to approach this -- look at different ways companies evaluate someone (tip: it's not always just the code you write), and see where you can do better.

I'd be happy to answer ad-hoc questions you have -- maybe it would be better to provide suggestions by understanding of your particular circumstances.