[maxxxxx]

“The other thing that might be fascinating is that the technical portion of interviews seem to be where things stall out for me. I would never claim to be an incredible programmer, ”

The interview process filters for coming up with solutions quickly. My strength has always been that I worked through a situation even after the initial or obvious approach(es) didn’t work. A lot of people give up quickly but I keep going and solve it. You sound similar.

Unfortunately the interview process doesn’t filter for that.

[imetatroll]

Yes we probably are. I don't usually walk away lightly from a problem that initially gives me difficulty, but the speed with which I can execute just doesn't seem to satisfy the hiring process. It is frustrating.

[alchemism]

Try interviewing for senior SRE positions, if you would like that quality to become an asset towards being hired.