I Got Rejected (again) 

Nick I literally got my dream job from your Leetcode playlist. Because of you my wife and I are about to also move into a new house. Don’t give up!

I got rejected from a job I wanted - it was because someone went through the 5 rounds quicker than I did. I guess if you have the freedom to schedule your interviews make them as ‘back-to-back’ as possible

10 years ago I passed five interviews at Microsoft. They called me, said congratulations, and asked me for a couple of days to send me a financial offer. Two days passed, and the contact person messages me, *hey sorry, change of plans, the position is no longer available, so we cannot hire you anymore". I joined a smaller company, and I'm still working there ten years later. I made a career here and I'm happy, I feel valued and that I my work really matters.

It’s important for all developers to have a life outside of software engineering. Go the gym , hunt , fish woodwork , go for long walks , learn to draw, homestead , jogs and hikes etc . If you put software engineering jobs on a pedestal you’ll be all the more crushed when you get rejections. Just some advice developers should consider.

The more i interview, and the times i think back to when i was hired, and the many times i've been rejected, ive come to realize two things 1. most of the time the person who you deal with for like 75% of the interview process (HR person or recruiter) doesn't know too much, and will really say whatever to keep you interested until you are no longer needed. 2. there is a very healthy amount of luck involved with getting the job you actually want.

Thanks for putting this out. Been rejected for a year and a half and had only 9 actual interviews (outside of recruiters). The problem I did find out was that I had my own programming business and, typically, that is guaranteed a rejection/ghosting due to not working with a team of developers (I did get some honest answers, and that's #1 answer: no team experience = no consideration). Another reason for rejection was being self-taught (and no degree - though went to college in the 1990s for 4 years with 3 majors, but never finished due to $$$). That's pretty much being frowned upon (not sure why - since they always seem want a go-getter/self-starter). Another reason was interesting: No social media presence. Since I've focused a ton on security, I kept my profile(s) private and only discuss business (no politics nor "hot" topics), and have aliases as well. Another reason for rejection was not keeping up with some particular framework (Angular was one. I said, what's wrong with Vue?) - about the only viable rejection - I totally understand. Another reason was not having a particular skillset with a particular cloud (which kinda makes sense, however, once you've been on one "cloud", they're pretty much all the same and you can pick up a new one's syntax in a day or 2!) - better excuse, but, c'mon, really? (not to mention, if they're true Agile, most cloud tasks would be delegated to a different job positions - billing, security, container mgmt, routing/firewall, backups, disaster recovery, etc - not put all these tasks on devs). Some rejections, I am grateful for: There was a position that required mastery of Java, C#, VB and Ruby, disaster recovery, front end (including artwork), middle tier, back end (Oracle, SQLServer, and DB2), 3 clouds + hardware experience in their own datacenter. Had to have a PhD in Computer Science and their compensation for all of this was a measly $42/hr! (you can be a Google Adwords expert and get more than this!). If someone w/a PhD had this kind of experience, I'd presume they wouldn't dumb enough to work for this rate, unless they had a felony record. One rejection was brutally honest: "We're looking for younger candidates"

I appreciate that you shared this. Been getting auto rejected a lot lately and it sucks.

When you get rejected, you are one step closer to the right thing/role for you. That thing you got rejected from, it was either not the right place/role or not the right time. You and your content mean the world to me; Love you lots man!! Stay safe and happy.

Great video, 2 months ago, I got failed from Amazon's interview after 5 rounds interviews as well, and even they refused to give any feedback. I was heartbroken at that time..., but now I've decided to leave these sucks in the past year! just keep moving on!

No worries on this one, Nick. You'll get where you want to be through your hard work and talent. I've learned a massive amount from your channel and wish you the best of luck on your next attempt.

Thanks for sharing Nick. One key lesson is "never sleep or postpone your interview, prepare and take it on time". This really opened my eyes ...

I've been through kind of the similar thing. And when I look back, it seems like when you miss something, it is really a opportunity to reach something maybe better.

Thanks for this video. It really helped me with my own failure. I've been learning software development for the past 5 years while I worked in an IT job. A few months ago, I got laid off, so I decided to go all in. I gave up most of the things I loved doing, and study/practice non-stop every single day. Despite this, I absolutely suck at algorithms. I have been struggling with leetcode easy/medium questions and today after struggling to solve a single question for hours only to fail, I had a meltdown. Unfortunately, my savings and my time is running out, so I have been increasingly frustrated with how stupid I must be to spend so long on single problems when my peers can solve them in seconds or minutes. It has kept me from applying to jobs because at this rate I will only embarass myself if they give me even a simple algorithm to solve. It has made me question if I am even suitable for this role or if I have wasted the past 5 years of my life. I'm glad I am not the only one that takes failure poorly. Also thanks for all your leetcode videos. They have helped me understand problems so that I can tackle them myself.

I can't imagine how those company that you mention can reject you. You seems really valuable, even just watch for a couple minutes and i can know how passionate you are by the way you tell about what you did in a certain way. Hope you get better than those rejection!

What I have learned is to leave emotions out of the process. Be excited, but not attached. It's all business. This also helps in technical interviews, so you don't feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. It will happen if it's meant to be.

I can relate to this so much. Two years ago, I desperately wanted to land a Software Engineer Internship at Amazon. Unfortunately I didn't pass the final interview. Fast forward to last year, I managed to get an internship at Microsoft even though I didn't think much of it and thought I'll also fail it. Now I'm set for Summer 2023 !

I wasn't expecting but this is exactly something I needed to hear today. Thanks man. Best of luck for the future opportunities.

Hey man, you don't have bad luck. It simply wasn't meant to be and one day if you continue pushing you'll look back at it and see how it molded you into a better position/person

It’s rough out there. I’m a recent graduate and I’ve had a few interviews. Sometimes I haven’t don’t the challenge quick enough or sometimes I have genuinely had no idea what I needed to do. - the main thing is to just keep pushing and learning

Whoa this came just in time for my own rejection I got with similar circumstances. 5 rounds, heavy hinting that I'm ideal, AND they even told me I was the first to complete it all. But they decided to cherry pick and wait for someone else with some more impressive background or something. Ultimately, I know I would have done amazing at the job and I'll go on to do other amazing things with or without them.

I am glad that you shared this; It helps put things in perspective as we try to find what we will call "The best fit for me".

Very touched by your rejection story. The best job will find you. There are too many applications on a job market due to mass layoffs by the MAANG companies that had been tough on talents like you. A lot more rejections are happenning in worst ways - like cancellation of last round interviews, being kept on standby as a back up in case their offer does not work out, asking to do take home assignments that are taken by the interviewers for their benefit or simply getting ghosted.

Hey Nick! I'm not too good in cheering up people, but perhaps you value this thought - It helped me a lot in similar situations... " A winner is just a loser who tried one more time" ;) Keep going brother!

Don't give up Nick! Just remember that you did your best. A couple of days ago, I got rejected from the Amazon SDE internship. I have probably never studied or prepared for anything in my life as I did for the Amazon SDE internship; needless to say, I was so disappointed but tomorrow will be better for us bro! Chin up!

I’m so proud of you Nick. Keep your chin up and you’re the best. You don’t have bad luck. You’re gonna have everything fall into place and in looking back you’re gonna be stoked to see how it all really played out to your favour bruh 👊❤️🔥🦆

Put it like this bro, the company who gets you will be hella lucky because you are someone who puts the work in even when they don't know the answer like a real dev they find it. I can't wait to see your future success bro

Yeah, I can not agree more that sometimes it's just bad luck and their loss to miss you. I bet you will have a better job this year!

We love you Nick! Keep it up bro! You're always delivering great content! You're going to be stronger and much better off going forward!

Absolutely can relate to this. It’s always the jobs you want that you want or already care about that you never get.

I don't like the word "rejected" sometimes you just aren't the right fit. It's for the best like you said.

Yea, it happens man. But as you said in the end, sometimes its destiny. It happened to me, to not get hired to a role I wanted, but ended up getting something better later on. Just keep up

felt the same with my Amazon interview and I didn't keep practicing since. But new year, we gonna strive to get back and be better

much like gambling, you're only one step away from a win. thank you Nick, you have made me realise i should get back into gambling and never stop again < 3

Very important video for dealing with job rejection! Don't give up mate, that dream job is definitely out there, keep practising your craft and it will happen for you! In the meantime keep up the good content 💪

Can already see the difference with the health transformation. Keep it up genuinely impressive!

I got rejected from multiple jobs(that I thought I really wanted) before I got hired at my dream job. Don't let this bring you down. You're destined for something much better!

I feel genuine respect for you dude..... Following you for like years...People like you who have such potential are hard to find...

Nick, from what I've learned in my humble experience is that whenever you get rejected it is for something better. It means that you don't belong there and something better is "meant" for you. Don't give up, aim high brother!

The main problem here is the thought of "a dream job". Jobs are just that, jobs

Thanks for sharing, humbling experiences only become internalized humiliation if you are too prideful to be able share them

Hey Nick 👋🏼 I just started learning about code so the algorithm brought this video, I’ve always wanted to learn code but the REAL reason I’m learning is because there is a rumor we’re getting laid off in April 💔 Soo I’m keeping the “there are better opportunities” coming ahead ✨ so thanks! Greetings from 🇭🇳

I'm an engineer and I've been on many interviews, the way I get over the whole rejection thing is to just expect the worse and hope for the best. I usually don't expect to get any jobs I interview for but because my expectations are so low when I do get the job it's a welcome surprise. I'd say I'm around 30% on my success rate with interviews but I only need one job so if I do at least 10 interviews I'd have 3 offers and that's good enough for me.

I got rejected too for the most role i wanted so hard :( but I keep going and i will not give up. I feel you Nick keep going we gonna do it

the worst is when they hype you up over the whole process, i wish they would have just said i sucked like man you didn’t have to get my hopes so high

Whenever I really want a role, I don't get it, but i get other roles, I don't want. Trust me nick, this is true for a lot of people.

It is kind of nice and it seems out of the ordinary that Mongo set up a call. There's not a whole lot of upside in doing that for them. Sort of replaying many of the interview experiences I have had watching this. Fact is there are so many external variables that you can't control during an interview and companies turn down so many great candidates. It can literally be something as simple as someone having a bad day. Eventually you will get something and in my experience, it will actually turn out better! There are many instances where I look back and think... like wow I avoided a curve ball a few years later (companies closing down etc.). Great video!

Hey man - rejection is always tough. I thought I landed my dream internship three months ago but lo and behold three months later due to difficult economic conditions, I will probably not be interning there. Also interesting that I have the same luck. Whenever I tell people about where I'm interviewing and have a good feeling about making a role, I don't end up getting it and vice versa. I guess we both just have bad luck LOL

Hey Nick - I also got rejected by mongo recently. Sucks but seeing your video helped me get over, if you didn't get a job there it makes me feel better I didn't!

Damn, I am nowhere near you knowledge-wise and been getting rejected for over a year. All this time thought I was the only one having terrible luck when it came to jobs. At least they liked you enough to set up meetings to figure out the reason for the rejection. And you are absolutely right, it is 100% their loss. Be sure to hit them with maximum compensation possible if they do come back with an offer.

Try and try until you succeed.. Thats my motto.. I got rejected many times as well, but if you got this mentality, you will be immune to the feeling of being rejected and will just keep on going..

Interview process is tough. Every company has their own and there’s no way you can prepare for this experience. At some point I understood that been yourself during that process is a key to the success in the role you are applying. Something else I also understood was that if you didn’t make it, it was because it was probably not for you. I always take it positively either I got through or I was rejected. Obviously, if you can get a feedback it is always a good thing

I'm currently on my final year of college, and i was the goto student for my professor and friends when they got stuck on coding (especially on Python and Machine Learning problem) so when i apply for a python developer role and got interview. And when i got rejected i feel like shit and can't get over it, i feel like it's not fair i thought i qualified for the job. But then i moved on and maybe just focus on my final year and improve my portfolio

Dude feels genuine. Good stuff.

I have recently graduated from the university with a master's degree in computer engineering and I'm living in Lebanon. I have applied for many internships and jobs. I have been rejected from a lot of companies and some companies didn't even reply to me even though I tried to communicate with the recruiters but no one responded. The reason I get rejected is because I don't have a previous professional in such a field. I'm working on myself at home to build projects etc. to gain more experience but the problem is no company is willing even to give you the oppurtionity to train you and see if you really have what it takes for this job, Moreover, how do some companies expect from fresh gradutaes to have 2/3+ years experience when they have just graduated?! sometimes the demand for the experience for an entry level job is a little bit silly especially when you are a fresh gradute.

Omg why ?! You are so good man! Learnt a lot from your videos!!!

Keep your head up bro, thanks for sharing with us.

Oh nick I feel you! Loved your video and I like to think in the same way, feel the anger and the sadness but after that the only option is to move on and think that something better is gonna come up haha 🎉

thank you for making this video, ending is on point

“I’m doing this so I can relate to my audience” lmao 💀

love the content. Sometimes you can just be a good interviewee. Sometimes you just get there at the right time. Good luck on your endeavors.

This is a great video. This guy's experience is so informative of how tech interviews really go, and helps people get closure any interview.

Hey nick, i also got rejected many times for my dream jobs. I am still trying. Don’t give up!

Great video for those who want to apply and are scared from getting rejected or for those who have been rejected. One question I ask myself: What do you think about founding your own company?

I just graduated from my coding bootcamp December 9th and have already faced COUNTLESS rejections so this video could not have come at a better time. Thank you for your vulnerability which in turn makes me feel less alone during this period of rapid fire rejection in my life.

Thanks for the motivation. Just starting my journey into a low cost CS degree. On a side note, it would've been great to see you in Japan!

You'll do great Nick! You are not alone... I got rejected at first in all 3 companies I worked for - Bloomberg, Amazon and Google :) I'll probably make a video on that too.

Don't get disappointed brother, even though I was rejected from three SDE internships and now I'm polishing my skills. New to the channel, subscribed and liked.

Hi Nick how are you doing? i know that life sometimes is challenging even for the most intelligent and qualified person like you! but your video gave me so much inspiration to keep moving on thanks

I recently interviewed with a company got to the final round and expected an offer just for them to say they are changing the role completely and no longer looking for that role.

I am a firm believer of whatever happens in life, happens for a really good reason. Never thought I'd get a Full Stack Software Engineering job, but I landed on back in 2022. Never be disheartened, there is always another, even BETTER opportunity coming your way.

it's tough when you get rejected, it's happened to me a few times, but honestly, something better always comes along. As we say in Scotland, "Whit's Fur Ye'll No Go By Ye"

Final round too! Unfortunate!

big things coming this year Nick 📈

There's a weird hiring culture in tech where companies will take your time and put you through this long interview process, but then if you get rejected they won't give you any truthful information on why that happened. It makes it hard to learn what you need to learn, but honestly you may also want to take it as a sign that these are not companies where you actually want to work. They often end up hiring people who are good at interviewing over people who are good at the actual job. Rejections suck but you only need one acceptance at the end of the day. And if you don't get that, create your own opportunity. Best of luck.

Someone got to the role faster than you did. This is important. It seems you need to take the interviews as soon as possible I've been thinking about this lately. I've always tried to schedule interviews a couple days before the initial interview offer. Hmm, I might need to reschedule my interviews to happen at least a day after the offer.

Extremely valuable keep going Happy New Year

Nick don't worry i am with you. Hope for the best

thanks for sharing man. got rejected a tonnnnn as well

@Nick White the sane happens to me. the more I want something I feel the more it gets from me. so I decided not to think about it until it happen and do not talk to anyone who will not help me get it

First of all...LOVE YOUR VDOS...AND your attitude, as in this one. You hold in there son...YOU ARE GOING PLACES !!

not that uncommon then uh. Dude seemed really excited to have me in the team and never texted me back. Like, I followed up but he kept ghosting me, not even to tell me that I was rejected lol

You do not have bad luck, it just didn't work out. There are more opportunities, just keep going! 🔥

I needed this

Pretty common to hire someone who makes it to the end first, sadly most tech companies do not wait for the best candidate. It's whoever meets or exceeds the requirements first, first come first serve. At the end of the day you have the skills just keep it positive. A new role will in your future =) that goes for everyone.

I also got rejected for position that I really wanted. just doing my best to fit those roles. my Hope is to come back stronger and got what I wanted. first try thought me important lessons.

keep your head up nick. Remember, you're old saint nick. You have many gifts to give to us all on christmas.

Last year I applied to Eastman School of Music for their masters in organ program and auditioned after being encouraged to do so. I got rejected mid March. I took a gap year and reapplied to Eastman and all. I went to the audition and played some of the hardest repertoire there is for organ. I think I had a bad audition because I made ten mistakes. Last March 23, I got rejected again. I’m glad I’m not the only one who seems to be always getting rejected for things I really want so badly. I guess it’s Eastman’s loss.

I got rejected more times that I would desire, sometimes by miscommunication or by questions not made the best way by the interviewer. After some experience I learned to cope with that. It's not something that brings you joy, but is something that souldn't ruin your mood. In fact I started by being rejected in my first job interview, by a tech company here in Portugal, managed the old fashion way. Because of that I went to startups when startups were not desired by developers. Today I have a strong startup background and I am glad I got rejected in the first interview.

I just had my interview today for a dual study at a big german company. I will get the results at Thursday. I hope for the best, I will keep you updated! I need to admit, that i kind of messed up the technical part.

That’s why I hate this interview process. Invest weeks into a role you think you’d be a good fit for or a role at a company you’re interested in and then get rejected. That’s madness and so much time wasted that we can’t get back. Frustrating

Hey Nick! I understand you =( I got rejected from many companies and the recruiters told me the same to you.

I am all set to like your future "got the job that I wanted finally" video.

Good stuff, thanks for sharing!

Love you man, I’m sure the universe has better plans for you

this year i would be finally be giving the first job interview of my life, kinda scared a little😢😢

Hey, Nick! We all love you, and we believe in you, It might be the best tomorrow for you. You've tried your best that's an amazing step for the greater success than that!

It was not meant to be Nick. You're a very talented and smart young man/programmer/youtuber. You'll have many more goals to reach and many more opportunities to prove yourself. All the best in 2023!

Start your own. Depending on others opinions is a setup to a punchline. A good deal of these "developers" have preferences set by the company or personal preferences that will never seem logical to anyone but themselves.

Lol, I got rejected from a job at Tesla Motors and I wanna tell you, It's ok bro. Maybe you're meant to make your own company in the future. Don't give up :)

thanks for sharing Nick