A Junior Backend Developer’s 6 Months of Trial and Error (40 Applications)
From the second half of last year to early this year, I applied to 40 companies, passed the document screening at 6, and got a final offer from 1. I learned more from the process than from the result, so I’m writing it down.
1. Your resume shouldn’t just list projects; it should be written in a problem-solution structure.
2. For coding tests, doing 2 problems a day for 3 months was the most efficient. Cramming was pointless.
3. Technical interviews keep asking “why.” Don’t just prepare “I’ve used it”; prepare why you used it.
4. About half the time, rejection emails just never arrive. Letting it go is better for your mental health.
What I regret most is spending the first two months only watching Inflearn courses. It would have been better to get even one project going quickly.
If any of you are preparing now, feel free to ask me anything. I’ll answer as much as I know.
8 answers
Agreed — the problem-solving structure in a resume is really important. I switched to STAR too, and my application pass rate went up a lot.
Two coding problems a day for three months... isn't that different for everyone? For me, batching them on weekends helped me focus better. I'm a bit curious about the basis for it.