Interviews at 5 Companies as a 3rd-Year Developer Changing Jobs (Including Rejections)

As a backend developer with 3 years of experience, I prepared for a job change and interviewed at 5 companies. The outcome: 2 offers and 3 rejections.

I passed all the resume screenings, but the problem was the technical interviews. More than coding tests, I kept stumbling over my words during live coding. The most frustrating part was knowing it in my head but not being able to explain it.

At one of the companies that rejected me, the interviewer kept asking pressure questions, which shook my confidence. Looking back, I think that was just that company's style.

The companies that gave me offers all asked specifically about the work I had done. I feel like how detailed I was in answering questions like "How did you handle this?" made the difference.