For last one year, I am applying and giving interviews at various companies mostly based in Northeast. I have probably given on-site interviews at the best technology companies such as NetApp, Mathworks, Microsoft(twice), MediaTek, Altair but result has been the same, which is reject from everywhere. In the past, whenever I made a mistake I very quickly rectified the problem since I knew where I was making mistake but when it comes to these interviews I am still not able to figure out exactly where the problem lies.
I have improved tremendously over an year, the problem I initially faced was that the programming knowledge that an undergrad should know very well was fractured, which means fundamentally unsound but don't judge me that I am totally zero since I cleared every screen interviews which companies generally test your fundamentals which in itself is intimidating and hardly 10% of people are able to clear it.
Some things that I see as problems apart from blaming myself are-:
1) Too broad job description, which means a company such as Intel or semi-conductor based needs a Software Engineer who is not only proficient in writing C++ code but also possesses knowledge of embedded systems, VLSI etc., now how can a Computer Science student who has not interned in Semi-conductor company can get fit into above job description. One on-site interview I gave at Altair, they wanted me to know Finite State Analysis(FSA) which is a mechnical thing, how can I know I have no idea?
2) Very limited open positions, most companies are trying to fill in some cases just one position in their department, and for that I thing they are interviewing 50 candidates, even if you are good but someone else who applied has relevant work experience will surely get the job.
3) Too much of a competition, these days market is bad, too many people applying for the same job, when in January I went for Microsoft on-site interviews, the HR told me they are interviewing 80+ candidates daily for last 6 weeks.
4) Local/ Small companies which are located in cities such as Chicago, NYC, Bay Area or NJ don't want to consider anyone else than local candiates to keep their expenses down and sacrificing on the quality of employee they need.
5) This thing pisses me off the most, only US citizens. Why on earth jobs only for US Citizens. Isn't that a kind of discrimination. People with US Citizenship not only get restricted jobs very easily but also when two candidates competing for same position with same credentials, US citizen guy will get the job since company won't have to pay for the H1B filling and all. Sometimes I wonder why Americans cry a lot about International people taking up their job since companies, US government are doing their best to give them the job, now they are so weak than what others can do.
6) This is the last thing, sometimes interviewers who are taking interviews over the phone have no idea about what kind of position they are interviewing for, they never interact with HR and start asking very complex things such as intricate questions on Stack unwinding, thread control-block issues.
7) Too long interview session like 9 interviews a day, the probability of one not knowing everything is quite high and if any one interviewer says no to hiring, the probability of you being hired reaches to zero.
Anyway, these things are part of life and keep on trying is the best thing than doing nothing or getting depressed. I am good enough that's why I am giving interviews even during worst great depression. At the same time, I should start looking for some maim or abcd so that I can become US Citizen asap ;), see I have already found a way to rectify a part of bigger problem while writing this blog :P. Also, if companies are so stringent about hiring, then one should be sincere towards his/her job but should never be loyal to the company and kick them on their back when a new opportunity strikes since you were hired because you were second best to none than why work for a company which is second best to the someone(new opportunity).
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2 comments:
Do not give up, I am also going through the same process being hired has a lot to do with chemistry as well. Others may feel good about you from inside of their chore, competition is high these days. I have been looking for a job for a long time in the legal field and because we are well NOT FROM here we encounter more of a harsher judgment than others, but eventually you will land in the right place at the right time. The truth is you are not being rejected, they are rejecting some ideas or images they may have of you but the true YOU is truly a different being. Believe me, being there done that!
I understand your point, may be in non technical fields there might be biasing and all but in Technical field not much coz most Americans don't study Technology! they need people who can run their facebook, orkut and wat not!! it's just they are becoming over protective these days wrt to hiring foreign nationals!!
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