Third-Year Backend Developer, Two Weeks into a New Job: Midway Recap
I started getting ready late last year and switched jobs last month. If I had to sum it up, it was the right move.
My salary went up about 12%, but the biggest thing is that the code review culture is actually well established. At my previous company, reviews were basically a formality, but here at least two people genuinely read every PR and leave comments. At first it felt like a lot of pressure, but after two weeks I can feel myself getting better.
I had four interviews total, and I failed two coding tests. What I realized while preparing is that grinding only coding tests doesn't seem very efficient. It would have been better to spend more time organizing my practical work experience.
10 answers
True, teams that actually do code reviews properly are really rare.
A 12% salary bump isn't bad, right? Congrats.
Well, I don’t think it’s quite right to blame failing the coding test on a lack of practical experience. Coding tests are just a separate area, and people who pass will pass through coding tests too. Isn’t it more that the direction of your preparation was the problem?
I’ve had a similar experience—code review culture is honestly the No. 1 reason to switch jobs. At my previous company, you’d just get three LGTMs slapped on and nobody actually read it lol. Now, since they explain the reasoning behind every single comment, getting reviews actually helps me learn. That said, the first two or three months were rough because it felt like all my code was wrong. Once you get used to it, it’s fine.
If you failed two coding tests, how did you pass the other two? Were they more focused on practical interviews?