My Preparation for Software Developer Interview for a Technology Switch (Level - SDE 2)

I did my undergraduate course in Computer Science, so I have previous knowledge of Data Structures, Algorithms, Databases, and Operating Systems. After finishing my undergraduate, I joined a good company. My team was using Pega for development. My team members were all starters in Pega but had previous industry experience with other technologies. On the contrary, I didn't have any industry experience and started with the skills I learned in college and competitive programming. I was newly introduced to Pega.

I started learning Pega and did my certifications in it. My team developed an application almost from scratch. I was working for that team for 5.5 years. At this point, I was at a juncture to decide about what I was going to work on next. I decided to switch company, to explore more opportunities. I had a decision to make whether I wanted to continue with Pega development or get back to my roots of conventional programming. Though Pega also provides solutions to problems in a more non-conventional way (It makes the process of software development very easy compared to the traditional process and you can develop applications fast with it. I had a great time working on it), I had this urge to get back to conventional programming. So I started practicing problem-solving again after nearly 5.5 years.

I was not sure where to start. GeeksforGeeks is an amazing platform for problem-solving and it has got a great number of problems to solve. So I started with it. I updated my resume and job search profiles.

The Preparation Part:

I started with the Linked List problems. All the basic operations in it. I used my default language as Java, though I was more convenient in C++ in college. But really, the language shouldn't matter in problem-solving. It is the approach that matters. I started with the basics, installed IntelliJ, and started coding in it. I looked into all the Linked List problems in GeeksforGeeks. They provide everything in a structured manner. They are awesome that way. And slowly, I felt that I started getting my problem-solving instincts back like in college. I built on this and moved to other data structures (arrays, trees, etc). As I kept solving, I was able to see the patterns for the problems and approaches to be taken in solving them. Sometimes, just seeing a problem and solving would be kind of monotonous, so you would have to do things differently. That's when my husband introduced me to Leetcode. You solve the problems based on difficulty level and you get points for that. That went on for some time. I did these on and off.

The Interview Part:

I started getting calls from the recruiters and I was honest with them regarding my skills. Some people said they were looking for only experienced developers and some people said they would schedule interviews. Sure enough, I attended my first interview after a long time. It is a great company in terms of its products, the turnover and customer base it has. I went till the last but one round and they said I had to improve on my design skills. I went home kind of dejected. My husband cheered me up, told me that I can take the feedback from the interview, and encouraged me to come back stronger.

The next one I attended was a startup that deals with storage solutions. I cleared all the rounds and got a call the next day saying that although my problem-solving skills were excellent, they were looking for someone who is already experienced so that they would be able to work in a fast-paced environment. I lost hope once more.

This went on for some companies. I would get a call, I would be preparing for the interviews and after the interview, I would either not get any call back from the recruiter or would get a no-go response. I was serving my notice period too, hence my confidence level went down. My husband was helping me all along the way with the preparation part and the motivation part and my family was supportive.

I was clearing the problem-solving rounds but was struggling with the design round since I had not designed solutions for any distributed systems and the systems I was working with in my current team were completely different. So I started working on the low-level/high-level design problems and their solutions. Meanwhile, my last day in my current company came and I had to part with the company I was working for the past six years. I was always with the hope that I would get a good job someday but the when and where part of it was killing me. Also to say, I got married recently, had to move to a new city and was preparing for something on which I had never worked.

Then I interviewed for one company through referral. I did the HackerRank successfully and got invited for a face to face interview. Round 2 was problem-solving which I aced successfully. Round 3 was Design and Architecture which went partially well. I was honest with the interviewer regarding my skills and told him that I would be able to improve on them. Based on the confidence that I had shown in learning new skills, I was selected for the manager round and further to the Director round. Once everything got over, the HR told me that things looked positive and I would be contacted soon. 

The Happiness Part:

Nevertheless, I was contacted four days later to be told that I was selected. I was happy with the way things had worked out and I accepted the offer. Also, I took a small break before joining the company to work on some of the personal stuff that I had always wanted to work on. Now I've joined the team and have been going for the past two months. It's a great team to work for and the tech stack is good. I have hope that I will have a good learning experience here.

Some things that kept me going in this job search were that I was always honest with the companies regarding what I know and what I don't know. My husband and my mom motivated me before and after the interviews and my family supported me with my decisions. I'm grateful for all the things that happened in this part of my journey.

I hope this gives some confidence to those preparing for tech interviews and making a switch in their roles. Wish you good luck!

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Author's Note:

Here's a quote that motivates me when I'm down.

"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end".

For those of you struggling in these unprecedented times with job loss and financial struggles, remember that you are not alone. Keep doing what you do best, prepare to the best of your abilities, and give a shot at the interviews. If you don't get this one, there's always the next to look forward to. A tiny bit of reminder that every failure is a step closer to achieving your dreams. Keep going!!!

Finally, thanks for reading. If you liked what you read, feel free to leave a heart.