I completed all of fcc except Data Viz. Help finding job?

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.

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The only advice I have for shaking things up is to go to more meetups and try to find unadvertised jobs, but you’ve already said you’re trying that but Huston doesn’t have many events.

My experience was that every recruiter encounter led nowhere and every application was unsuccessful. The job I actually landed was unadvertised, and I found it by attending a local JS meetup where my future boss just happened to be, in search of a React dev. Basically, I just got lucky.

I’ve heard variations on the co-working space idea before, too. If you can afford to rent a desk at one while working on your job hunt / developing a personal project, it would at least get you hanging out with a couple of other devs… But that’s a risk for a fairly random chance at reward. Resume spamming co-working spaces might work, but cold approaches are usually the least likely to succeed.

You could maybe try finding Houston devs on Twitter and asking if they know of local meetups that maybe aren’t super well advertised…

It’s a tough situation to be in, but I believe it’s possible to get that first gig… You just have to try not to go crazy in the mean time.

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Thanks Jackson! All good advice I think. That Twitter idea is a good one. Never occurred to me. Thanks again!

Hi at the beginning I’d like to apologize for my English.
I’m complete newbie to the coding, though got a lot of time to listen to the different materials and what I found yesterday is a freecodecamp podcast which is an absolute gold dust. You must listen to episodes 28 and 32
Austin is a Genius if it comes to networking and tips how to land a job I hope it’ll help a bit and wish You a success

Another idea I just had: see if you can find open source projects that you know a Houston dev or two is contributing to. This will take some investigative work, but if you can start working with a Houston dev on an OS project, they might at least be able to give you an introduction somewhere down the track.

It’s a long shot, but you are in long shot territory!

Oh, what about Toptal, etc? Anyone have any experience there?

Toptal is tough to get into. I tried a few years ago and they have pretty rigorous algorithm testing before you even start interviewing with the Toptal people. Apparently Leetcode has a lot of algorithm questions that companies use for their interviewing. Maybe a good place to start practicing.

Hey mate,

I’m on the hiring side of things.

That’s really disappointing to read. I have no idea why a hiring manager would interrogate you like this. If you get an offer, I would consider speaking with other employees before accepting (it sounds like a toxic environment).

Probably not. All you can do is keep applying. If you’re passing the technical portion of the interview with no issue, you’re probably being rejected for “culture” reasons (a dressed-up way of saying someone in the interview process is turned off by something you’re doing). I don’t know the specifics here so it’s hard to diagnose.

Not dumb but unproductive for junior roles.

Companies aren’t provisioning a recruitment company to fill roles with huge demand (with a few exceptions such as situations where vetting is difficult). I wouldn’t invest much time in recruiters until you’re at the 2-5 year mark and looking for senior/niche roles.

Good idea.

Pretty much every hiring manager has the same mental system when it comes to lies. If we catch a complete fabrication of the truth, you’re out (even for high-level roles). A good example of this would be claiming to have X years experience with a certain language/framework and not knowing how to complete fizzbuzz in the language (I saw this happen with a great candidate who claimed to have 3 years experience in Lisp in their current role. The technical lead in the interview asked them to do a quick fizzbuzz example before going on a tour of the office. The candidate choked and said it had been too long since they used a Linux machine so they couldn’t do it. They were shown the door).