Long time no see?

The last post I made was on the 13th of January, after my septoplasty surgery. Since then, a lot of things happened, but I just didn’t have the time, energy, and motivation to write up a new post. But now, after you-know-what, I am now here writing a new post.

What happened?

Ok, so let’s recap what happened while I was away:

  • ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) acquired Tokopedia. Coincidentally, Tokopedia was my workplace. This move got us using Lark suite, migrating our codebase to their GitLab, and moving our services to their datacenter.
  • My third work anniversary happened on the 29th of March. I recieved a (might be refurbished, the charging cable was unnaturally dirty) Sennheiser Accentum. I also get to claim “3 year working experience”, which might do me more damage than good. Entry level jobs wouldn’t want me, and I’m too inexperienced to be considered a senior software engineer.
  • ByteDance laid off 450 employees, across all teams. On the 13th of June, we were told to work from home, and there will be a briefing tomorrow, at 9 AM. I wish I was there when the email was sent, to see the final reaction of my coworkers. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I was part of the 450 employees that were laid off.

So, what now?

As of writing this page, I’m still unemployed. Not from lack of trying though. Below is a sankey graph, the text version, and an explanation: 

Applications [6] Coding test
Applications [7] HR interview
Applications [5] Rejected
Applications [19] No answer

Coding test [3] HR interview
Coding test [2] Rejected
Coding test [1] No answer

HR interview [3] Logic interview
HR interview [1] Rejected
HR interview [2] No answer

Logic interview [1] System interview
Logic interview [2] Rejected

System interview [1] Culture interview
System interview [1] No answer

Culture interview [1] No answer

So what’s this? Let me explain:

  • 6 applications got into a coding test (hackerrank or other coding platforms)

  • 7 applications got me into an interview with their recruiter

  • 5 applications were rejected, some time after I submitted my CV

  • 19 applications got no answer (as of writing)

  • 3 coding tests got me into an interview with their recruiter

  • 2 coding tests were rejected

  • 1 coding test got no answer (as of writing)

  • 3 HR interviews got me into a first user interview with their software engineer, usually talking about logic

  • 1 HR interview was rejected

  • 2 HR interviews got no answer (as of writing)

  • 1 logic interview got me into an interview with another software engineer, this time talking about system design

  • 2 logic interviews were rejected

  • 1 system design interview got me into an interview with an engineering manager, to talk about culture fit

  • 1 system design interview got no answer (as of writing)

  • 1 culture interview got no answer (as of writing)

It’s probably not that bad, because I’ve heard stories of other people having more than 100 applications without getting a single offer. Besides, ByteDance gave me a very generous severance package and my parents still have jobs, so I could go jobless for a long time.

For a while, I felt like I need to find a new job as soon as possible, and every single failed application was because of my lack of skills. Now, I acknowledge that there are also external factors at play, such as

  • Large supply, small demmand of software engineers
  • Lack of investment to the companies that I’m applying to
  • Someone more skilled or experienced than me applied to the same position, and they got accepted

I’m slowly fixing my mental, and keep applying for more jobs. Every interview I get is a chance, and every failure is a means of improvement. The more interviews I recieve, the more I know what type of questions are asked, and the more I can prepare for them. Eventually, one application should succeed, because I only need a single job offer.

Thanks for reading, I would appreciate it if any of you can refer me to your workplace 😄