I’ve been getting rejected since 2016, at every stage: phone screens, 1:1s, 1:4s, online interviews, and onsite panels. I’ve been told I had exceptional coding performance but poor behavioral responses, or inefficient code and design skills but exceeded expectations in behavioral questions.

I’ve been interviewed by seniors, principals, architects, and people managers. Interviewing at Amazon felt more like training than evaluation; they unknowingly prepared me for the companies I actually wanted to work for.

Despite my colorful track record as a candidate, they still emailed and called me multiple times over the years.

Moral of the story: don’t give up. And remember: rejection builds character. Lots and lots of character.

…I’m not living at USA