Hey all... I'm happy to report that I landed an engineering role. Most of my success getting through to recruiters came through referrals of former co-workers, so I didn't really get to build up those networking skills in the ways that I would have ideally. But I plan to keep that up as I go along, so that I'm ready for the next time. Some things I found helpful in this last interview loop: - I used Claude to talk about everything I was doing - Before this coding screen, I asked the recruiter for more information to establish whether it was more "practical" or "Leetcode-style" and she confirmed it was "practical with elements of DSA." So I used that with Claude to generate potential problems that the company might ask, which helped me practice potentially tricky language-specific things like working with timestamps. - I used HelloInterview to learn and practice System Design. I also booked a mock interview through them and it was the most helpful by far. Feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions, and best of luck to everyone! https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-edward-royall-iii/

So I got laid off my previous company HundredX which was a startup based out in Texas. I had gotten some severance so I didn't start looking as I was recharging. Well maybe I should have started right away because little did I know this job search would not be for the weak. Countless applications, reframing my resume and cover letter, continuously adding recruiters, responding to countless emails, applying for roles that may or may not fit your background, questioning my sanity, numerous job sites, updating job profiles, hitting up people I haven't talked to if ever in ages, getting few interviews, getting ghosted after one interview, completing all rounds of the interview process only to not get selected and when asking for feedback no response, random off shore recruiters calling you at odd times, when given feedback all they say is that they wanted more "experience" in this area, finally making it through to the end and all things are right in the universe only to get the "we flipped a coin and we really loved you but ultimately decided on another candidate", asking AI for all the life lines and rewrites. Is this you? Because this was/is me. What can I tell you is that no matter what put on that smile and keep on going. You've worked too hard to get this far. And yeah if it was a cakewalk then everyone can do it. And it would get boring fast. Just keep recharging your batteries with your loved ones, friends, outlets and anything you can. Take little breaks so that your head doesn't explode from over thinking or being drained. And look for positive outlets. I found that here with @Anna Miller and @Nate Hobi and the Insiders here. It was definitely a breath of fresh air. I got some new ideas being here and started applying them. So thank you for the support. And with that it has been a long time coming but I just signed onto a role with Apple. I can finally breath.

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share some wins I got this week. I haven't been getting any interviews but then I joined CCM Insiders, read all the guides and advice I received and now I am finally getting interviews. I had 2 introductory calls today and another interview scheduled for Thursday!🎉

Hey all... I haven't posted besides my intro yet, so I thought I'd start with my resume. I struggled a lot building this out for a number of reasons, but a big thing was that I didn't take notes over the years on real numbers and big projects / wins so I had to guess a lot for impact and metrics. Any feedback is welcome, thanks!

https://usefulfictions.substack.com/p/how-to-increase-your-surface-area "Operate from a place of genuine curiosity... Talking to people without an end in mind other than satisfying your own curiosity is the slow way that is the fast way. People love to talk about what they’re interested in, and by extension love to talk to people who are genuinely curious about the things they’re interested in."