The Positives of Failing a Developer Interview
Tags: beginners, career, codenewbie, javascript
Published: 2020-03-03 15:53:15


When I first graduated from my coding boot camp, I was ready to step into the next phase, becoming a web developer. I created a portfolio, made business cards, updated my resume, and started looking for jobs. Little did I know how tough it would be.

Fast forward three months later and I had finally secured my first developer role working with React, Node.js, SQL, etc. However, getting there taught me a lot of things that people should remember and embrace during the job search and interview process. Here's some benefits from failed interviews, cause there's always a silver lining.

**FAILING TECHNICAL INTERVIEWS CAN BE GREAT!** Why you ask? Because every time you fail a technical portion of an interview it's usually a coding question, white boarding, or a coding assessment.

I remember my first technical interview I bombed. I was asked "Explain to me what a promise is." I had no idea and tried to fake my way through it. Needless to say, I didn't get the job. However, I left the interview looking up what is a promise and now I can tell you everything about it. So if I get that question again or something similar I'll be ready next time. I've also failed coding tests and every other style there is for the technical portion.

Even though I failed them, I learned from them and got better and was even more prepared for the next interview. PLUS, I now know what failing a technical interview feels like and can better plan for how to handle questions I can't answer.

**EVERY BAD INTERVIEW IS ONE INTERVIEW CLOSER TO AN AWESOME INTERVIEW.** Let's face it, developer interviews aren't easy! Unlike a lot of professions, developers have to take technical assessments to prove they are qualified for the position, and every company has a different idea of what they think is the best way to have candidates prove that they know their stuff. Of course, that means there might be some interviews you fail for whatever reason. Again, it's okay! Learn from that interview and continue to persevere through. I guarantee you a great interview is right around the corner.

**YOU'LL GET COMFORTABLE.** I quickly realized that the more interviews I went on the more they started to generally be the same. There's also a high level discussion with HR, an interview with the hiring manager, some technical assessment, and typically a final interview with a VP or CTO. Every company is different but the format doesn't really change, and once you get a few interviews under you're belt, you'll start to really feel comfortable with the process. Once you're comfortable, interviews go better because you're not nervous, you're confident. Confidence is key, it shows the company you know you belong and your imposter syndrome isn't prevalent.

To conclude, you can find a lot of benefits from bad interviews. Of course they suck and nobody wants to have a bad interview, but it's typically part of the process and we can find the benefits from it and use them to our advantage. Stay positive. Keep interviewing. Don't give up.

P.S. - I started a website with coding shirts. So if you want some fresh dev swag check it out! https://www.scriptkitty.dev