Should I prioritize interviewing / doing side project in this economy?
I want to quit my current job, so I've been applying to 300+ jobs across the span of 6 months. Out of those 300+ jobs, I've only gotten past the resume screening for 1 company, and I got approached by 5 companies that I didn't apply to. The low numbers could be caused by me requiring visa sponsorship, although I suspect that it could be because of the job market.
Out of all these 6 companies, I always get eliminated at the screener round (DSA, multiple choice general programming knowledge question about concurrency and multithreading). Should I try to improve my resume screening pass rate through side projects or should I instead focus on leetcode? I don't think I'll have enough time and energy for both, so I try to focus on only 1.
![Senior Software Engineer [E5] at Meta company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fmeta.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Da7a5bcc0-e178-4b5b-b71e-09bf6c6aefae&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D780356ef-3efc-4728-9eb4-d909b75bb4a6&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Discussion
(3 comments)- 24 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
What is the timeline on which you want to quit your job?
- If it's < 3 months, I'd focus on Leetcode -- you need to squeeze out interviews however possible (if you've gotten 6, you should be able to get 6 more).
- If it's > 3 months (i.e. there's no immediate urgency), then I'd spend a few months on side projects. Use the side project as a way to build your skills and network so people can see your skills.
What tech stack are you looking for jobs in? That'll also dictate how "side-project friendly" it is.
- 04 months agoMid-Level Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
Thanks for the answer Rahul! Ideally as fast as possible, because the company I'm working at is not doing too well financially, and I think layoff / PIP is looming in the next 4-5 months. For tech stack, ideally it's something that's similar to what I've worked with in the past, such as Golang / Java / Python.
To be honest, I wish recruiters would tell me what's exactly wrong with my resume so I know what specific part to improve, but some have told me that it's because I don't have enough years of experience compared to other candidates. It makes me wonder what I can do to show that despite having less years, I have what it takes to perform at the same level. I've followed Taro's course on building my resume and the "show don't tell" principle
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4 months agoEngineer @ RobinhoodHi OP: can you share an anonymized resume?
