[flor1s]

I did my masters in Computer Science (graduated cum laude) and am currently in the third year of my PhD. I applied for a few companies but I am having trouble getting through the coding tests, which are sometimes very practically oriented (Android and iOS). Maybe I am not skilled enough as a programmer, or the companies tests are not suitable for me, or the companies themselves are not suitable for me, but I believe I would have a better chance of getting hired if I had the practical experience these companies are looking for. Your advice about reading Cracking the Coding Interview is spot on, however I would say a bootcamp aimed at studying exactly that book would be very beneficial for landing a job.

[wand3r]

Why do you think you're having trouble? Presumably you know at least 1 language well and can build shit? Are you looking for competitive jobs and are you trying very hard? In my experience a lot of people get jobs through networks so I wonder if you are quite qualified, feel competent you can do (or learn quickly) the job but simply can't get the opportunity. I feel that way.

I went to a boot camp, know a few languages fairly well, can do a lot with a computer. I think certainly more than enough for entry level. I am trying to break in myself, once "in" I think I could carry entry/jr workloads but getting in is hard

[flor1s]

I guess the jobs I am applying for are rather competitive. I study in Japan and I am applying for jobs here which are open for those who do not speak business level Japanese, and there aren't many jobs like that.

I've build pretty significant systems. A few years ago I was working as an ASP.NET WebForms/MVC developer and recently I've been working on a web based visual programming tool using NodeJS and a graph database.