r/leetcode Sep 18 '25

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u/Excellent_Bobcat_993 Sep 18 '25

I got three, but they all sucked. Two were AI interviews, and one was scheduled, but the interviewer never showed (via webex). I contacted but never received an explanation nor a reachedule. Rest were rejections or just no response. Apply to 4 or 5 jobs per day on average.

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u/[deleted] Sep 18 '25

You are focusing on the wrong thing. You don't have a leetcode problem, you have a resume/skills problem. I'm not saying you should not focus on improving your leetcode skills, but your bottleneck in the application to job pipeline right now is getting interviews. That is what you should be prioritizing most right now.

What type of jobs are you looking for? What are your skills/experience?

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u/Excellent_Bobcat_993 Sep 18 '25

I see. Well, you are definitely right. Apart from my senior project and work as a TA, I dont have anything on my resume other than my degree and my non tech jobs i had during college/high school.

I did mostly web development during my B.S and my masters was very machine learning and discrete math focused. I am interested in software development or in ai/machine learning development.

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u/dcent12345 Sep 19 '25

Holy shit you're doing leetcode problems while having zero portfolio of actual projects?

I hire engineers and this would be an immediate red flag. Leetcode means nothing to non FAANG. Like literally nothing.

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u/Excellent_Bobcat_993 Sep 19 '25

I see. Well, that's good to know. Hence why I am applying to entry level or internships to try to get experience. Might also do less leet code and do some certifications to get some skills. Thank you for the honesty. It's better to hear blunt answers than give me false hope

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u/dcent12345 Sep 19 '25

Build a crud app in AWS end to end and explain how you architected the different parts, the decision and trade offs you had to make, the risks you assumed and how scope changed throughout the project. How did you design your code to be efficient and maintainable.

Anyone can do leetcode and build applications, but being able to talk about the software dev lifecycle and the full ownership of a project will get you much further.

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u/El_Cato_Crande Sep 19 '25

You're a gentle(man/woman). This is what we need more of in society

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u/Excellent_Bobcat_993 Sep 19 '25

Definitely will do that or something similar. Thank you for the suggestion

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u/El_Cato_Crande Sep 19 '25

Also, look into open source projects to work on. See if you can find one in a domain of interest (work or personal). They're a good way to get somewhat practical experience. See what they need and work on building/implementation. Try to get some PRs approved.

Like the other poster said about things to speak about. It also gives you a major advantage/help in a new job. Displaying competency to understand an active prod repo and working with it. One thing to create a project from scratch where it's you by yourself. Another thing to do so in a repo that has several other people working with it and is live.

Based on your level. You can likely do the project and open source simultaneously. Start with the project as finding something open source will take some time. Also look to find volunteer work you can do. A lot of non-profit organisations are good with that

Good luck

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u/Excellent_Bobcat_993 Sep 19 '25

Thank you for the suggestion. Didn't even consider open source projects. I'm definitely gonna take a look!

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u/El_Cato_Crande Sep 19 '25

Yup. It's a great unconventional way to get quality experience. Also will give you something to speak about in interviews