>"With every unsuccessful application, I saw that something needed to change.

That change came when I took a break from meeting my daily numbers and began to think of my applications differently. I began to see each application as a sales pitch to the hiring manager or whoever was going to be reading my application, but here the product being sold was me."

[...]

>"Backed with my resume, this cover letter had a 95% success rate. The one time this didn’t work, the hiring manager still replied to let me know that the position was no longer available but he would like to connect in the future."

[...]

>"It is also important to understand the peculiarity of the company you are applying to and its specific needs. A startup or a smaller-sized company may have different needs from a bigger company, thus requiring a different skill-set."

[...]

>"But hey, you are also an excellent professional, and that means you never get on a phone call without knowing at least these two things:

the first name of your interviewer, and

at least one tangible thing about the company — what they do, where they are located, any recent news, something, anything!

I noticed that for interviews where I put in the effort to make these findings, I always came across as being genuinely interested in the company. That’s something recruiters typically look for in these kinds of interviews."

[...]

>"Good candidates know how to solve a problem (e.g. a sorting problem), but the best candidates know multiple solutions to a problem and understand the trade-offs of one solution versus the other.

The interviews where I performed the best (Cruise comes to mind) are the ones where I didn’t just solve the algorithmic challenge – I was also able to provide alternative solutions and discuss the trade-offs.

Aim to provide multiple solutions to a problem, be willing to discuss the trade-offs, and be able to implement at least one of them."

[...]

>"One of the companies I interviewed with provided hourly pay, about $68/hr, for the number of hours you worked on their take-home project — it’s that serious, so you should be serious about it."

PDS: It's actually not "that serious" <g>. That's because from the company's perspective, they are spending ONLY $68 or so -- to screen out bad applicants for a position that might pay $120,000 a year or more. Which is quite the COST SAVINGS (again, from their perspective) if the wrong candidates can be weeded out at that stage of the game. There is no business on the face of the planet which would not pay $68 to save $120,000, and if there is, then they aren't going to be in business very long! So is it "serious"? To you the applicant, from your perspective, it appears so, but from a purely business perspective, it looks like a tax-deductible $68 expenditure to potentially save $120,000 or more in the future.

In other words -- don't let things like this phase you.

You'll do infinitely better if you're relaxed, yet conscientious.

>"I had three virtual on-site interviews and I didn’t pass any of them. Sorry I’m not your guy for this one, but I’ve shared some resources that I think you may find helpful below."

You nail these ones via an "appeal to everyone" / "offer something to everyone" social vibe mixed with the tech. It's what politicians do, or what people do who arrive at parties where they don't know anyone, yet by the end of the evening, everyone winds up liking them. Why? Because they showed they can handle multiple people with different understandings and possibly competing interests. You didn't nail this one because this "skill" -- is purely a social skill(!), it's not tech related -- the greatest computer scientist with 10 Ph.D.'s, hundreds of papers and patents, and a Turing Award -- if he didn't have this social skill -- would also have been rejected, so don't feel bad!

Now, on a different note, I wanted to add the following comment/suggestion to your great article:

Historically I have had a 2:1 ratio of of tech job interview : job offer.

In other words, historically, half of all of the companies that I have interviewed at, wanted to hire me after the interview.

One time, to understand this phenomena better, after being offered a job, I asked the interviewer,

"If you don't mind me asking, exactly why did you want to hire me?".

His answer was absolute pure common sense.

He said to me:

"All of the people that we interviewed told us everything that we would have to do for them.

You, on the other hand, told us everything that you would be willing to do for us."

You see?

180 degrees reversed...

And absolutely pure common sense...

Anyway, great article!