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I'm in the midst of a background check and getting the documents together for the job I was offered last week. Assuming the paperwork goes over well and the background check passes, I'll be rejoining the workforce in a couple weeks. Specifically, the bay area. Overview: * Over 500 jobs applied to in the last 9 months with 300+ different companies. * I've interviewed with 80+ companies in the last 9 months. * 15 onsites completed, more that I just didn't get to do because I was out of town and they wouldn't wait * 1 offer * Did most of this while living 700+ miles away from where I was trying to get the jobs. A lot of driving. I have advice but I need to digest it and pass it around to some peers for evaluation before really preaching to the choir here. I'm not wildly successful so maybe my advice is misplaced. I do feel like I know failure very well though. If I had kept my mood in check and did slightly more company specific prep, I would've gotten 2-3 offers last week instead of 1. I was at the last step with one, got annoyed, and said some regrettable things. My key takeaway for the moment is - set yourself up for success and stay on that track as best you can. On the days I was feeling like I did well - I was in a relatively good mood, I had ate breakfast, and the weather was great. Whatever it takes, make sure you're feeling good and that can really improve your interview performance. Similarly, keep your calm during interviews and generally try to be happy. If you're happy, you'll likely say things that will be a better reflection of yourself than if you were angry or annoyed with your interviewer. If you notice you're feeling annoyed or upset, just step back, reevaluate, and chill. I know that's easier said than done in all regards but I did notice when I felt better my interview performance felt better too. Know too that it'll just improve your odds and you can't win them all. After I get confirmation that all the paperwork is good, I'll start writing some more thoughts and digest them down. About six months after I've had the job and feel like I won't get fired, I'll try to post something more useful publicly. For now, employment seems almost tangible again. EDIT: I'll add some extra info about me and the job offer too. (Cause why not) From a reply: > * Graduated from top 10 CS school in 2014 but major was math; still studied a lot of CS (double major without the degree, basically). I've got a solid CS background from college alone. * Worked as full stack software dev for a year while in school * Worked doing IT stuff before that * Worked as a full stack software dev for a no-name startup in bay area in 2015 (first post college job) but only for a few months * Have a side project with over 50k users. * Built a product that tripled the startups funding. * Contributed to a very large open source project in my own time. >I applied for full stack, front end, and back end software engineering roles. I apply for a lot of senior roles because I get a pretty high response rate from applying to them. They're my last resort though. Only do that if I can't find anything mid level or lower from the company. Sometimes they change the job title to a lower level one while interviewing me and sometimes they don't. This does lead to me competing with senior level candidates often enough, which is troubling, but I'll take what I can get. >I don't want to identify myself anymore than these things already will. I never mention specific dates on my resume - just years. A lot of people may think I work at the last job listed currently or worked there for a long time but if they ask I always clear the air. I don't lie about how long I was at any job but people don't ask for specifics too often. Job offer: $110k/yr. Big company. Little to no typical bay area software company benefits. no (free food, office activities, team activities, gym, etc.) Only one health plan to choose from and have to pay a non-trivial monthly premium for it too. Same for dental. They don't pay for vision. 401k match is real low. 15 days/yr PTO. 8 days off for holidays plus christmas to new years. Overall, it's not bad in terms of vacation+holidays and salary but compared to a lot of big companies here in the bay - it's easy to criticize. I don't think it's a bad second start at all. I'm excited to start working there and see what it's all about.