I've had 10+ interviews in the last month and it's really a shit process. First of all, I'm terrible at technical interviews. There's just something about being in that "we're watching your every move" environment that makes me freeze. I found myself literally reading the same for loop line over and over again, not even trying to comprehend it, but rather zoning out on it as my brain continued to focus on what I thought the interviewer was thinking. This, of course, gets worse as the seconds tick on and I've said and done nothing. I also perform terribly when I'm given a take-home "test" with a time limit. The pressure to finish on time overwhelms my thought processes. Then you have the asinine binary tree questions for a front-end web dev position or the "tell me what's wrong with this horrible, obfuscated code". If I have to work on code like that, I don't want to work there.
I had multiple interviews where I was either being video recorded (karat.io) or on a skype call with multiple developers "evaluating" me. This is a toxic environment and I knew in the first few mintutes I didn't want to work there.
I have a portfolio full of sites that I've built and I can tell you with confidence that my portfolio didn't matter even a little bit. Not one employer looked at my github account (not that it's impressive, but that says something).
The best way to get a job is through your network. A previous freelance client was hiring and pursued me aggressively. Why would they do that if I'm a shit developer as thought by my various interviewers? The experience of "interviewing" with a company that knows my work and shows a genuine enthusiasm for having me on their team is so night-and-day different from every other interview that the decision was easy. They gave me what I asked for and treat me like a valued employee.
This sounds like exactly my experience as of late with interviews, so it's nice to know I'm not alone; unfortunately, I don't have a "network" and live far away from where any "network" could be set up so I'm a little stuck in the mud.
I had multiple interviews where I was either being video recorded (karat.io) or on a skype call with multiple developers "evaluating" me. This is a toxic environment and I knew in the first few mintutes I didn't want to work there.
I have a portfolio full of sites that I've built and I can tell you with confidence that my portfolio didn't matter even a little bit. Not one employer looked at my github account (not that it's impressive, but that says something).
The best way to get a job is through your network. A previous freelance client was hiring and pursued me aggressively. Why would they do that if I'm a shit developer as thought by my various interviewers? The experience of "interviewing" with a company that knows my work and shows a genuine enthusiasm for having me on their team is so night-and-day different from every other interview that the decision was easy. They gave me what I asked for and treat me like a valued employee.