Re-applying to the same company after failing interview

Question

If I fail an interview for a big tech company, how long should I wait until re-applying to the same company for a different role? I'm worried that if I interview and get rejected by a company I won't be able to re-apply 3/6/9 months later. A quick lookup in their performance tool will show that I failed an interview earlier. Is this concern overblown?

PS: I would imagine at startups it is almost impossible to re-apply since the company is small enough that they would easily recognize you. Is this accurate?

Alex Chiou · Accepted Answer

For Big Tech companies, this principle is enshrined. The cooldown window is usually 6 or 12 months. If you don't know which one it is, you can always ask the recruiter.

For startups, everything will be more ad-hoc. I imagine most startups would let you re-apply after 12 months, assuming they still have a headcount open (this is a big assumption though, the startup might be dead by then). A lot can change with an engineer after 12 months - 1 year is a long time in the tech world. And if you use Taro, you can definitely amp up your skills a lot in that time 😉

With all companies, it is possible to be locked out of re-applying forever if you fail the interview very badly. I'm talking something horrible like saying something offensive to the interviewer. But I have only seen that happen 2-3 times across my career (and I've been on 250+ hiring loops).

Re-applying to the same company after failing interview

Discussion