gentlewareblooming

[gentlewareblooming]

[gentlewareblooming]

I've been having a hard time with programming lately. Considering that it is my job i kind of need to get it together.

My plan is to start learning stuff that isn't just the only thing I need for my current project. Try to find things about programming and computer science that interest me and maybe talk about it on this blog. I think I need to expand my curiosity about the subject.

I have all these hang ups about feeling stupid and incompetent and how hard everything is, but I need to reframe it. Yes, it doesn't come as easily to me as to others, but that's ok because I'm capable and I can put in the effort to do and learn the hard thing. And I know that at the end it will be totally worth it.

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Kill ambition!

That's the plan going forward with my job search. The hypercapitalistic nightmare landscape of the tech industry keeps driving everyone towards _ambition_. Higher title, higher salary, longer work hours, grind, grind, grind!

And frankly, I'm not interested.

I got caught up in it too. I want a higher salary to support my family but often times that comes with a higher title which means more work. And I just don't have that in me. I don't want to spend time learning a bunch of new skills before I can even apply to jobs with "senior" in the title.

I want to get paid for my work with the skills I already have and new ones I pick up on the job instead of having to slave away during the application process before I can even get a job. Or even before I can check all the boxes and apply.

So I'm going to start looking at lower level positions that have my baseline salary and the benefits I need and not strive for more. Because I'm tired. I'm so fucking tired.

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Got an email this morning that my next round interview was canceled because the company is reprioritizing and they are no longer hiring a backend engineer. So I'm back to square zero.

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Well, they liked me enough for the next interview! System design this time. Luckily the interview isn't until Monday because I have no childcare for the next week and I need the extra time to study and prepare.

I hope I get the job offer but I'm conflicted about whether I want to work at a startup. It's SO much work, but I'll also learn a lot. And getting a job sooner is better. Plus this is not my forever job. I just need to be here a year or two until my husband is done with his degree and starts earning money and then I can finally quit this grind and do something else.

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Had my first interview today (of this job search) and while generally I thought I did well, especially since none of the technical questions I was worried about were asked, but at the end I asked "I know you're looking to hire quickly. What's the timeline for the process from here?" And the vibe subtly shifted into a more negative territory.

"We're looking to hire the _right_ person so it'll take as long as it takes." Or something like that, was his response.

It seems like I also misstepped by asking if the coding interview was live or take home.

Getting real used to rejection at this point, though I should know by tomorrow if I am rejected.

In any case, I don't feel hopeful and his answer about valuing work life balance was not encouraging. I don't really want to work for a startup but I will if it means not being unemployed anymore. If they reject me I guess that point is moot.

At least I'm getting interview practice.

Mostly I'm frustrated by the lack of interviews. And all my reaching out to people to get referrals has resulted in absolutely nothing.

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Got an email from a large company we all know and love or hate that my resume was reviewed for one of the many applications I submitted there and that they wanted to set up a technical screening phone interview. I was elated until five minutes later when the recruiter emailed me again to say that the first email was a mistake and that they hadn't reviewed my resume yet.

WHAT THE FUCK

Why did the first email exist to get accidentally sent at all??? I'm shocked at how wildly unprofessional this is.

[gentlewareblooming]

Another sad day of applying for jobs and panicking about the future for my family. I know it's only day 9, but I haven't even had a recruiter screening, only rejections.

I need to keep reminding myself, I don't need all of these companies to hire me - just one.

Time to go do a short workout and then spend time with my family.

[gentlewareblooming]

GATEKEEP GASLIGHT GIRLBOSS GUIDE TO ENGINEERING JOB INTERVIEWS

Alrighty so I'm job hunting, helping my work friends job hunt, STRESSED and having imposter syndrome. Trying to get my thoughts in order about what's worked for me in the past as I enter this shitshow again.

Like I've interviewed people for years so I know what jobs are looking for. I've gotten most of the 8 jobs I've decided I wanted (5 yesses, 2 rejections, 1 time I ghosted a company because I realized mid-interview they'd push me to sign off on something unsafe) so I should NOT be feeling this imposter syndrome.

Preparation

If I really want to go for a job, I like to dig into a company like a fuckin journalist. Read through their company website, newsletter, LinkedIn, look for YouTube videos or podcasts with the founders, see if the leadership team is exclusively old white dudes who have frats on their LinkedIn profiles, read between the lines a bit. That way I can find out if I even want the job, and if so, how to impress them.

Insane girl tips (that work tho)

importyeti takes advantage of an obscure law about maritime shipments being public record to show companies supply chains. You can get an idea of how they're doing financially and dodge some bullets by looking at the graphs over time here.

Use this tool to search through like 30 databases of corporate records that can really tell you how that company screws over employees in court, and the details of the government contracts they have for their (conveniently not mentioned) military work. (Scroll down to the 'populate all' box and enter the company's name)

If you're in the US, use this database of every individual and corporate political campaign donation to search the name of the company, and its board and c-suite members. If they're donating to bigots, run.

Ask everyone you know if anyone knows someone who works there, who'd be willing to tell you the tea about the place

Take notes in a Google drive you share with ya girls. This especially pays off if you build it over years and have the shit on all the local companies. A lot of people in this industry are still sexist af so we gotta stick together.

Questions

Write questions based on your research in a notepad, to bring with you! You can also take notes in the interview.

You can and should ask your hardest questions, just ask them nicely. Anything concerning you found in your research, ask about it! You'll look super well informed. It helps to ask ChatGPT to code switch your actual questions. It ain't good for much, but it is a large language model.

(cotd under the readmore)

How do I get an interview?

Easiest is a referral (ew nepotism but that's how it is, you're near definitely going to get an interview if you do this)

Second easiest is to fill out your LinkedIn like a resume (bonus points if you highlight skills you know your target job needs), go look through their page's list of employees till you find a recruiter, DM them and tell them you're interested. They'll see your profile and if they think you've got a chance, they'll reply. Their job is to find people to interview, you'll cut the line if you hit them up. If they don't reply, DM another recruiter, and send in an official application after a week or two, just in case ;) If you still get nothing, take that as a no and don't take it too personal, some companies keep job listings up just to hide that they're in financial trouble, but they ain't really hiring.

How to interview

I don't think I need to tell you to prep for technical questions lol. Do that for whatever questions are likely to come up in your field, try practice ones online or have a friend interview you.

But on top of technical stuff, they're seeing if y'all could get along as coworkers. I try to be chill and friendly and make (PG-ass) jokes. Plus you can tell if employees have time to spend on hobbies or with their families if you ask about them.

As an interviewer, being funny and friendly and enthusiastic about learning shit makes such a difference when the other candidates are arrogant douchebags. This happens more than you think, the "At least they're not an asshole, we can train them"

It's also chill if you're nervous, most people are, and interviewers see it as more earnest and nice than anything. It's more common then not and won't count against you so don't worry if you stumble on anything!!

And ask questions throughout the interview trying to make it more like a conversation than an interview! (unless it's a technical section, then treat it like an exam lol). My go tos are:

What do like the most about your job, and what's the most difficult part of it?

What would my average week in the job would look like, in terms of how I spend my time? How about the busiest week?

Detailed technical questions about their work that show you understand it - you can even guide the interview out of the exclusively "you ask me technical questions and I sweat" vibe if you ask them technical questions first, and you'll still leave them knowing you're smart ;)

How would I do (Main job duties) day to day? What resources do you have to support this work? How would you recommend a person address (foreseeable challenges) in this role?

All the hard but politely put questions you prepped.

Act really positive and enthusiastic about the company. If your interviewer says something you like or that you're interested in, say so! And if they say shit you don't like, this isn't the time to argue. Maybe just go 'uh huh' with a smile and see if they tell you more :)

And this is gonna sound like some boomer bullshit, but it works. Get the names of everyone you interviewed with, and send them a thank-you email after, mentioning the most interesting thing y'all talked about!

[gentlewareblooming]

Due to some heinous circumstances at my previous job, I find myself in the position of having quit a job without having another one lined up. As the sole financial provider for my family of four, this is a rather scary place to be.

The job hunt only officially started last week but it's hard not to already feel panicked. I've made my application spreadsheet and started applying anywhere and everywhere where I am interested and have some relevant skills but so far I've only had rejections or no responses.

I'm worried that I burned through a few applications for places where I really want to work and am fairly qualified, but without having tailored my resume for the positions, which needed more of a focus on data and databases, rather than my standard software/web dev resume. But I was frantically applying instead so here we are. I haven't heard back about those positions yet, so maybe all hope is not yet lost.

The current plan is to keep slowly applying to places where my current resume seems like a good fit, create a version of my resume that's more data focused, and start studying and preparing for interviews.

[gentlewareblooming]

About Me

I'm a software engineer specializing in backend systems with 8 years of experience. To be honest, I'm not sure what else to write here that isn't already on my LinkedIn but I'll update this eventually.

Currently in the job hunting trenches!