What do you do if your job interview as a programmer doesn't go as planned?

If a programmer's job interview doesn't go as planned, assess what went wrong. Reflect on areas of weakness and areas to improve. Seek feedback if possible. Enhance skills through practice and learning. Stay positive, maintain persistence, and continue applying for opportunities while refining interview techniques.

If I made it to the interview phase and was rejected afterwards, I would reach out to the person who contacted me initially, send them a thank you message about the opportunity, and then ask if there was something about myself during the interview that caused me to get rejected. Usually, most companies won't reply to this sort of message, or they might mention how another candidate was stronger than yourself. If that's the case, you should reach out to family, friends, or people in tech groups for help. Have them look over your resume, and do practice interviews in front of them.

When it comes to practicing technical interviews, I recommend you use a text editor/IDE. First you want summarize the prompt. For example, let's take "Given an array of n elements that contains elements from 0 to n-1, with any of these numbers appearing any number of times. Find these repeating numbers in O(n) and use only constant memory space". It's asking given an array of unknown length, find repeating elements with at most one non-nested loop and minimizing variables used. Then you'll want to decide on your programming language, and write pseudo-code. Pseudo-code is standard English sentences that describe what you want to accomplish, such as "Use a for in loop on the array". Lastly, write actual code for your pseudo-code.

If your resume is the problem, feel free to reach out to people for help. That can include friends, family, or people on the internet. A common area to check is Reddit. I believe there's a section that checks resumes. Alternatively, here's some advice for your resume: 1) You want to include as many of the technologies listed on the job description. It should be listed in your skills section and at least in one bullet point within your work experience. 2) Follow the X, Y, Z method. I used X to fix problem Y which did Z. 3) Use quantifiable metrics. Saying "Containerized apps with Docker" does not sound as convincing as "Containerized at least 20 apps with Docker". 4) Lastly, use action verbs, such as "Led". You can google some words.

The most important part of the application process is to stay positive to avoid burning out. Especially during this economy (speaking from April 2024), the tech market is especially difficult to navigate. You'll find that constant rejection will take a mental toll on you, especially when you find yourself committing to looking for jobs, customizing resumes, writing cover letters, contacting hiring managers and recruiters, practicing algorithms, going through rounds of interviews, etc. During those times, you'll want to do other things that are both enjoyable and productive. Join and participate in technical groups, volunteer, learn new technologies, etc. These are great ways to network and upskill yourself. It's also okay to take relax.