[hoboon]

I wonder if it's common or I am just unlucky or unskilled...

I've been out of work for 11 months. I've been on a large number of interviews and it seems like after that many failed interviews, the answer is probably with me.

The most frustrating thing is the lack of consistent information about why I didn't get hired. Some people said I had good theoretical grasp but can't code. Others said I could code really well but didn't have the grasp of fundamentals they wanted. Most stay silent.

Frustrating.

I've grown to hate and resent myself.

[shawndumas]

I've conducted a lot of interviews. In my 23 yr career I've done on avg 10 a year. Early last year I was in Yahoo's hiring war-room and did more than I care to remember.

All that to say; I'd love to conduct a few mock interviews with you. My contact info is in my profile.

Do it. Contact me. Seriously.

Edit: this offer extends to anyone that wants help. I am a front-end engineer so that means you'll get more mileage out of me for JS, CSS, and HTML; but I am totally willing to help with the subjective side to interviewing as well.

[steffan]

Thank you for doing this. You've improved my impression of humanity today, and inspired me to do the same.

(And you also, papercruncher)

[nashadelic]

As someone who does 8 interviews a day and loves to help candidates understand what they did wrong and how they can improve; this is really, really nice of you.

[philsnow]

Did you mean "on avg 10 a [month]" ? 230 over a 23-year career doesn't seem like all that many.

[papercruncher]

Don't hate yourself, interviewing is a skill that can be improved with practice. I'm not hiring right now but if you're in SF, I'd be more than willing to give you a mock interview and all the honest feedback you want. Email is in my profile.

[maheroku]

I think the best way to get over that is to make something on your own that is so great that everyone wants to hire you without even doing an interview!

The funny thing is that you may not even need a job once you do something great on your own :)

If you are short of money, you can always get a simple part time job to survive.

[danjayh]

Last time I went out interviewing, I whipped up a fun little Android game, put it on my phone, and made a point of finding a way to slip it into the conversation. It was great because:

1) It let me set the tone and path for much of the interview, since so many places do unstructured interviews. 2) It was a concrete demonstration of my skills. 3) Java and mobile are both hot technologies, and the game also made effective use of other common stuff like Open GL, multithreading, network, database storage (via sqlite), etc. 4) Spending a few minutes playing a game sets a relaxed tone for the entire interview, which makes things easier for everyone involved.

Structured interviews really are a brilliant strategy. Whenever I interview, I do my best to subtly direct the interview in a way that exposes my strengths and leads the conversation into areas that I am most comfortable with (and trust me, whipping out a concrete example full of technologies that you're absolutely comfortable with helps). A structured interview, to an extent, would allow the employer to retain better control of the interview (whether or not the realize it), which is probably to their benefit. For instance, I teach Java, C#/VB, and some other modern languages at a local college after work, do tons of C / embedded / network / etc. stuff at work, and do digital electronics for hobby ... so if you let me push the interview in those technical directions, I'm at an advantage.

[hoboon]

> I think the best way to get over that is to make something on your own that is so great that everyone wants to hire you without even doing an interview!

This is a good idea.

I have no idea what people would want or what I could make that people would want or what open problems are there that I could make. Every idea I have someone else already has a better solution.

I keep trying and put it in github but it's mostly for me; no one looks at it.

[proksoup]

You've got about billion comments like this in your history.

The previous advice has been good.

If you opened up more about your specific troubles I think more on HN might help diagnose.

Maybe put some stuff on github, who cares how awful it is or if no one will use it .... The following statement is not globally true but I think it is probably true in your case --- you won't be able to succeed until you fail some more.

If there was a "hoboon" github we could like at when responding to your comments, the specific advice might be more specific.

[hoboon]

You're right. I talk about this often. I'm going a little crazy, and maybe angry.

[chernevik]

Frustrated and wanting to improve your skills -- fine.

Hate yourself -- hmm, not good.

Everyone struggles and it's very hard. Looking in the mirror and figuring out what you can do better, not being satisfied with what you've achieved, I'm all for that. It's how we grow. But you cannot allow your assessment of yourself on a single dimension to become your entire assessment of your entire worth. I'm certainly not saying we're all special flowers, and our professional is hugely important. But it isn't all we are, and those skills aren't static anyway.

Also: If you want feedback, you can do things to improve your chances of getting it. Be incredibly positive in your responses -- "thanks for the opportunity!" People are obviously reluctant to talk with someone they've rejected, so signalling that you won't make this hard for them can help. If you have guesses at the problem, or suspicions you'd like to rule out, suggest them. Statements like "I think I need to build up Z" or "I worry that I come across as Y" might give you useful yes / no answers, if they are set up properly.

Think also about informational interviews as a means for seeking out fit. If you're just having coffee with someone, about what they look for and how people succeed, they are much more likely to be brutally honest than they are after rejecting you. If I'm having coffee, I can politely tell you why your resume or body of work look off, because I think that's helping you.

[kelukelugames]

May I humbly recommend this resource?

https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~kelu/interviews/

[Decade]

Don’t hate yourself. I refuse to hate myself. I know my many skills and powerful talents. Hate the system.

[72deluxe]

Where do you live?