[py_or_dy]

I did over 120 combined interviews/phone screens/take home tests,etc for about 55 different companies between 2020-2022. Imo, unless it is for a big tech company, interviewing is just not worth it. Sadly I get too nervous to even try out for any of the big tech companies. Plus I'm white and in my 40's. Companies now really want people out of high school/code camp that can program in python or javascript and pay $25 an hour. If a smallish company is handing out take home tests they are only to waste your time. Most of the companies I interviewed for were looking for 3-5 new devs. In some extreme cases I was told they were looking for 10-30 devs in the next 3 months. Here we are nearly 2 years later and I browse the company linkedin page and the employees listed are still the same ones. They never hired anyone. I depleted my $60k life savings in my 18 months of unemployment. If it wasn't for my faith in a "God" and my family, I would have just killed myself via a stent of extreme drug use and homelessness. I haven't drank or smoked since high school. I did get a couple of brief contract jobs but was quickly fired/laid off. But that little bit of money on top of the stimulus payments are what got me into 2023. Then found a backend dev job for a porn site. There was no interview, I was the only one that applied. I now work with the worst code and the laziest people. But it is the coolest team. There are no "PC' police or HR nazis here. Money pours in. I work like 10 hours a week and feel like I'm in heaven.

Oh, but onto your questions. So yes it is frustrating. And as far as feedback. I stopped asking for feedback because it was always maligned. Nobody will really know why you didn't get hired, remember, these companies aren't really hiring unless you are young and cheap. In most cases my feedback sounded like it was almost for someone else. Like "needed more linux experience (I haven't touched a windows or mac OS since 2005). Or my favorite, after talking about a data warehouse I built to house 5TB of data and 15 billion rows, and all the different schemas I migrated through, their reason was they wanted someone with "more database experience".

[stubybubs]

120 interviews over the 2021 hiring boom and got nothing? I must say, this is quite out of line with most developer experiences in that time period. What area do you work in?

[jimmychoozyx]

"these companies aren't really hiring unless you are young and cheap"

Nah, I think there are more factors at work (Also, cheap is relative, therefore dependent on other factors, and therefore somewhat vague)-- its a multivariate situation where you, and the many factors you bring, flow into a process and the many factors it brings. If enough of those factors line up enough-- you get hired.

If it takes 18 months to get hired, I'd analyze the factors you bring. Such as: Web portfolio & Online presence. Network. Resume posted on multiple sites. Appearance & Demeanor during interviews. Skills/Years Exp/Qualifications relative to the role's stated requirements. Etc.

[stubybubs]

> There are no "PC' police or HR nazis here.

I'm guessing this is not an insignificant part of it.

[scarface_74]

> these companies aren't really hiring unless you are young and cheap.

I landed my first job at BigTech at 46.

I changed jobs 6x between the time I was 34 until I was 46.

I doubt that I’ve done more than 40 interviews over 25 years between 8 jobs.

[andrekandre]

  > these companies aren't really hiring unless you are young and cheap

is this because its expected that younger workers work longer hours?

[shakes_mcjunkie]

Or they're just generally cheaper