Three Mistakes I Made Interviewing for My First Engineering Job While Transitioning Mid-Career

Practice, Lean on Your Experience, Keep Going

It took me over 70 job applications to get my first job as a software engineer when I began applying mid-career. I recently shared some mistakes I made learning the skills required to be an engineer.

Even if you have the skills, getting a job as an engineer can be difficult. Your first engineering job is the hardest too. It will get easier once you get some years of experience.

Here are three mistakes I made when interviewing for my first engineering job.

Mistake #1 — Not doing coding interview prep.

Solution: Read a few guides and grind some Leetcode stlye questions.

Whether coding interviews get the right signal from a candidate is debatable. But the reality is we need to do them. It requires some practice to get the mindset right. Once you see some of the patterns repeated it becomes easier and less intimidating.

So do the practice.

Here are some resources to help prepare for your first coding interview:

• Cracking the Coding Interview is the gold standard for software engineering interviews.

• Practice easy to medium problems at Leetcode.

• I wrote a Study Guide to Senior Software Engineering Interviews.

Mistake #2 — Not focusing on my unique mid-career experience.

Solution: Highlight the experience and skills you currently use in your job too.

When transitioning to tech mid-career, you might not have much engineering experince. But you do have experience that can be relevant.

Look for stories of problem solving, leadership, and other relevant skills.

My first engineering job outside of finance was at a cryptocurrency start up. They loved my trading background and the coding projects I did on market data. Turns out they were exactly looking for a market data person who could code.

You have valuable work experience. Identify what stories showcase your relevant skills and share them when interviewing.

Mistake #3 — Getting down on myself as the rejections added up.

Solution: Remember, its a numbers game for you and prospective employers.

It can be easy to get discouraged. During the hunt for my first engineering job there were glimmers of hope that got snuffed out. Sometimes it was instant rejection via email other times it was a slow fade as they ghosted me.

Try to keep in mind, it’s not always you.

There are many factors that change a companies hiring plan. They also might have found your skills to be good enough but had a better candidate in the pipeline. You’ll never know.

Try to keep focused on the next interview. Accept what you can control and ignore the rest.

All you need is one to say yes and your life will change forever.