[LouisSayers]

I have a decent CV (comp sci degree, awards etc) and over a decade of experience.

My strategy is quite simple - when I need a job I search for and apply for jobs I like the look of.

I might apply to a handful of companies. I tailor my CV for each one. Then I treat the interviews seriously, researching intensively and preparing as best I can, doing the problems they're known to give, practicing answers to questions etc.

It's pretty straightforward but requires a lot of work and means I have a high rate of passing through and getting offers.

My last interviewing experience was a few months back and I applied for 4 jobs, and got 2 offers. I didn't get past CV stage with the other 2 companies. I've moved around a lot with at most 2 years at a company so that probably hurts my success rate. It's always me quitting, I've never been fired or layed off.

I've gotten work via a friend before (side job), as well as through recruiters. I still get emails every now and then from recruiters that have me on their list. I even got a job via hackernews - Posting in an "Open for work" thread.

[gaws]

> I might apply to a handful of companies. I tailor my CV for each one. Then I treat the interviews seriously, researching intensively and preparing as best I can, doing the problems they're known to give, practicing answers to questions etc.

Don't you risk burning yourself out?

[LouisSayers]

It's not something that happens very often, so I'm OK with pushing myself a bit before interviews.

The way that I see it is that it's a financial investment. Not only can you increase your chances of multiple offers (which can lead to increased salary), but performing well could be the difference of $10k+ salary per year.

If you think of raises as a percentage of salary and compound that over the years you might spend at a company, then potentially we're talking multiple 10's of thousands over the lifespan of working at a company - all for a bit of extra effort up front.

It is extra strain for sure - the smart thing to do is to start your prep a month or more before applying. Also, don't keep your prep code in the IDE. I did this (had an 'archive' folder), and Intellisense was picking up the name of an existing class I'd used during my practice (not sure if the interviewer noticed that...)!