So I completed freeCodeCamp, minus the Data Viz certificate, and I did quite a few projects from the previous version of freeCodeCamp. I was previously in Bangkok, Thailand, but I am now in Houston.
So you can see my portfolio here: andrew-horn-portfolio.life . I’ve talked to a billion recruiters, give or take one or two. Few talks with recruiters end up with interviews, and the ones that have have ended in crippling disappointment. For example, I did a phone interview yesterday where I aced their algorithm question (it was a variation on In Place Shuffle on Interview Cake) but then told I didn’t have enough “professional experience.”
You can see on my portfolio I did another technical interview question where EOG Resources asked me to build them a front-end React app in a few hours. However, in the cultural interview downtown, my interviewer grilled me on, basically, whether it was actually me who completed the technical interview problem. And then she started asking me questions like, “Do you think you’re smarter than everyone else?” (To which I of course replied, “I don’t think I’m smarter than anyone else; I don’t think I work harder than everyone else.”) I was grateful and deferential the whole interview long, which was probably about 90 minutes, before she saw me out and I received a pass from the company.
I realize this is already just me complaining into the void, but I’m pretty aghast and saddened.
In addition to talking to recruiters, I’ve sent out applications myself, and I’ve tried to network as much as I can here in Houston, but there aren’t many coder events. Literally every React developer I’ve met in this city has been in an interview.
Ok, to turn this me-complaining-post into something more constructive.
Um. So what sites should I use for applying for jobs? I’m only considering remote and local Houston jobs right now because the lease I signed is pretty unforgiving (google “acceleration of rent”), and I really like Houston anyway.
Also, are there other methods that I should use to network/connect with people outside of sending resume-cover-letter-portfolios out into the void? I’m considering visiting coworking spaces and small business/startup centers with piles of resumes since, well, I haven’t tried that yet. And because I think I would be a very good candidate for a company who wants someone who can do a little of everything, and only vanishingly small and poor tech companies require those kinds of developers these day.
But the big question I’m trying to ask here is this: is there something about this job search process that I’m not seeing that someone who’s gotten their first React or full-stack job would see that I can’t?
Also, a last question, is going through recruiters totally dumb, or have I just been unlucky through now? It sinks a lot of time, and really hasn’t garnered much in the way of results thusfar.
PS If your suggestion is that I should lie (or lie more) or mislead employers/recruiters (or mislead more), then let me just suffice it to say I’m going to totally ignore your advice without a single word.
PPS Sorry about not including links. The site says I need to have more karma before I can make full-fledged links in markdown.