What Two Months of Job Hunting Taught Me About the Broken Tech Hiring Process

I recently spent two months looking for a new opportunity.
I didn’t solve a single binary tree problem. I didn’t do any live coding.

And yet, I landed a Tech Lead position.

This post isn’t a flex. It’s a reflection, on how the hiring process in tech is still broken, and why filtering great engineers through outdated rituals is holding companies (and candidates) back.

💣 The Problem With “The Process”

Most hiring pipelines rely on:

• Timed coding challenges

• Leetcode-style algorithm problems

• Live coding under pressure

• Rigid screening steps that reward performance under artificial constraints

I’m not saying these methods never work. But they often filter for the wrong thing:

• Performance under pressure ≠ long-term thinking

• Cracking a problem fast ≠ solving real-world issues

• Polished answers ≠ building maintainable software

🧪 My Own Experience

• 2 months actively searching

• Applied to 100+ roles, interviewed with 30+ companies

• Got ghosted, rejected without context, or strung along by long processes

• The ones I was most excited about? Often the worst experiences

And then, out of nowhere, a conversation with a hiring manager turned into a role.

No live coding. Just real talk about architecture, communication, decision-making, and team dynamics.

🧑‍💻 What Companies Should Be Doing

• Look at portfolios, side projects, GitHub, not just brainteasers

• Talk about architecture decisions, tradeoffs, past failures

• Pay attention to communication, curiosity, and product thinking

• Use take-home assignments only if they respect the candidate’s time

Senior engineers are not auditioning for a school play. We’re bringing experience, judgment, and context to the table.

🎯 Key Takeaways

• Not getting through Leetcode rounds ≠ you're bad

• Being good at interviews ≠ you're a good engineer

• Real-life engineering is collaborative, messy, and filled with tradeoffs, not 45-minute puzzle rooms

💼 For Hiring Managers & Devs Alike

• If you're hiring: challenge your assumptions about what makes a “strong candidate”

• If you're job hunting: don’t tie your self-worth to arbitrary tests.
  Talk to people. Reach out directly. Share your story.
  The best roles often come from honest conversations, not perfect answers.

✍️ Final Thoughts

I’m glad I didn’t get some of the jobs I interviewed for.

I’m even more glad that someone took a chance on who I am, not just what I could do under a timer.

And if you’re out there grinding, feeling disqualified by a 3-hour tech screen you flunked:
You’re not alone. You’re not broken. The system kind of is.

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