My 6-Month Job Change Prep Recap (From Application to Final Offer)
I decided to change jobs at the end of last year, and it took 6 months to get a final offer. I'm writing this up in case it helps people who are wandering without a clear direction, like I was.
1. Application Stage
- For my experience section, instead of listing projects, I focused on 'what problems I solved and how.'
- For each company, I matched the JD keywords and reordered my sentences, and my application pass rate went way up.
2. Coding Test
- I dropped the problem types I didn't want to touch and only repeated the ones that came up often.
- The biggest factor was a 3-person study group where we solved and reviewed one problem every day.
3. Interviews
- Technical interviews ultimately keep asking 'why did you do it that way?' Don't memorize answers—prepare the reasoning behind them.
- For behavioral interviews, it's much easier if you prepare in advance for conflict situations you might face at the company.
4. Final Thoughts
- The hardest part was getting rejection emails and feeling my mental health tank, but everyone goes through that process eventually.
- Go into salary negotiations expecting at least two rounds. Don't say yes right away to the first offer.
Thanks for reading this long post. If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll answer as much as I can.
6 answers
But everyone knows you're supposed to write your career experience statement around "how you solved problems," yet when you actually sit down to write it, it feels daunting, right? lol That was the hardest part for me. I picked one project and asked myself about 10 times why I designed it that way, organizing my thoughts as I went, and only then did the writing finally start to flow. In the end, it seems like digging into your own experience has to come first.
I also took about five months, and I really relate to the coding test study group part. When you're working alone, you waste all your time stuck on a problem you can't solve, but doing one problem a day with two other people let me review and practice explaining things to others. I did it by posting daily proof of completion on Discord, and that helped me the most.
Aren't two rounds of salary negotiation kind of outdated? These days I've seen cases where people lose the offer while negotiating... It varies by company, but I think always doing two rounds can be risky. That said, I agree with the rest.
I agree—when it comes to applications, tailoring to the JD is really half the battle. I changed that too, and my pass rate went way up.
I really relate to the part about the mental toll of rejection emails... I almost gave up once around month three, but in the end, sticking with it was the right call. Thanks for the great post.
Any source?