Got my first offer after 9 months of being unemployed

[u/aaplh]

Made a post after I was laid off here: https://www.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/s/km2NZfy92k hoping that this post gives yall some hope.

It’s not the best offer in the world since it’s about a 30% pay cut from my previous role and it’s fully in office but an offer is an offer. It’s with a smaller no name tech company that called me in for an in person interview and gave me the offer the next day.

I did work on projects, apply endlessly, and leetcode a ton the past couple of months so my best advice is to keep going and take breaks when needed. Market is still brutal but it’s not completely hopeless. I’m still going to be grinding for a better role/compensation but I’m extremely grateful that I finally received an offer 🙏

[u/B2A3R9C9A]

Congratulations and well done for persisting through the process!!

Any advice you have for those in the job market?

[u/aaplh → u/B2A3R9C9A]

Best advice is persistence honestly. I had a lot of interviews where I really loved the company and role but got rejected. Would always take some time to recover and bounced back. Take care of yourself first

[u/iambryan → u/aaplh]

What did your interview rate end up being?

[u/aaplh → u/iambryan]

Don't know the numbers tbh but anecdotally I would say I have been getting an increase in response rates and recruiters reaching out. Could be a good sign for the future?

[u/Flyjatt → u/aaplh]

How was the interview processes you ran into in your 9 month process.

[u/aaplh → u/Flyjatt]

Mostly HR rounds and some technical rounds where it’s a mix of resume, behavioral, and technical concepts

[u/goro-n]

Congratulations! How did you find the job you got an offer for? Did you cold apply, get a referral, apply directly on company website or LinkedIn?

[u/aaplh → u/goro-n]

This was a cold apply on Handshake w my alumni email. They called me in for an interview about a week after my app and gave me my offer the next day!

[u/Waste-Jargon-4444 → u/aaplh]

Congrats. What role?

[u/Beneficial-Watch7946]

Can you tell me what your skillset is and what do you recommend for interview prep ?

[u/aaplh → u/Beneficial-Watch7946]

I’m mostly a frontend engineer w some full stack experience. I’ve noticed recently that interviewers really grill you on resume details so make sure you can tell a story well and defend all your experience. I strongly believe I got this offer from just soft skills alone, I could tell the interviewers liked me lol

[u/NotAnNSAGuyPromise]

Congratulations! Make sure you prioritize saving money in order to weather the likely future layoff. Gotta protect yourself during this period of stagflation. Don't get comfortable.

[u/DigmonsDrill]

It’s with a smaller no name tech company that called me in for an in person interview and gave me the offer the next day.

Many such cases.

[u/DreadConQueso]

Congrats! Job market is brutal right now.

[u/ajarbyurns1]

You know, I'm starting to think in-person interview would boost people's chances of getting hired, not to mention others would be mass applying to jobs less often.

[u/Slggyqo → u/ajarbyurns1]

In a similar vein there are a few different pools of jobs that are going to be much harder to get.

Big tech and/or Full remote with any kind of decent salary are going to be highly competitive.

In office, small companies might not pay the best, but the pool of applicants is smaller and the competition is going to be of a lower tier. They’re also not going to sponsor visas—possibly not even TN.

I think large companies where tech isn’t their primary focus can run the gamut. But there’s a lot of opportunity there if you’re in the right place.

[u/Equal_Technology_950]

Congrats!

[u/AndAuri]

Had you been considering applying to "worse" jobs since the beginning or at some point you accepted you had to lower your expectations?

[u/aaplh → u/AndAuri]

Ngl I was applying to anything and everything. In this market you gotta take what you can get

[u/Techatronix]

Good luck

[u/Chili-Lime-Chihuahua]

Congratulations. Time for some celebrating!

[u/OliveFun3608]

Congrats OP! Going on 10 months here. Grinding frontend and Blind 75 leetcode right now. Hoping for light at the end of the tunnel. Enjoy the new job

[u/aaplh → u/OliveFun3608]

Thanks, best of luck keep going

[u/pacman2081]

congrats

[u/Slggyqo]

Congrats!!

Listen man, the last time I was laid off it took me about that long to find any job at all, and it was Starbucks.

With that attitude, you’ll be back up in no time. This will just be a blip in your life story.

[u/Fun-Meringue-732]

Gz! In theory it should be easier to land a better role now that you're currently employed.

[u/aaplh → u/Fun-Meringue-732]

That’s the plan hopefully 🤞

[u/Timtanium707]

Ok now it's a competition so I can feel better about my situation: how many apps?

[u/aaplh → u/Timtanium707]

A couple hundred for sure idk I should have kept track lmao

[u/OliveFun3608]

Did you have to do any technical assessments for the job interview?

[u/aaplh → u/OliveFun3608]

Nothing technical but they did go through my github afterwards since they said they don’t do leetcode

[u/OliveFun3608 → u/aaplh]

Ahh, yeah. That makes sense. Kinda sucks for me since my projects are pretty much outdated lol. I suppose I could make a “fetch some Pokémon from the poke API and display them” project type thing

[u/aaplh → u/OliveFun3608]

That’s hilarious bc I actually have a React based Pokedex project on my github lol. I didn’t have anything fancy on there, a lot of stuff from college and some small apps that can be built in a few days

[u/OliveFun3608 → u/aaplh]

Forgot to ask, but did you have your Open to Work banner on your profile when they reached out?

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[u/Shot-Practice-5906]

congratulations dude, best of luck for your new journey all good things ahead