In this blog post, we've compiled advice from dozens of Leopard members who shared their insights in the wins channel after successfully completing their job searches and finding their ideal positions. Our aim is for this collection of advice to remind you that you're not alone and that you'll get through this!

Positioning Yourself

Find Your Expertise

• “Really dig deep into what makes your technical and social expertise unique and find a place that fits those qualities and values that you offer. You will find a match.” - Kamilah Jenkins

• “Know your skill set and focus on your strengths.” - Gulnara Mirzakarimova

• “I defined what I wanted in advance, which really helped me identify which companies were a better fit than others. It also helped me curate my questions to make sure this was a role, team, and company that was a fit.” - Lauren M Carter

• “If there are any unique skills you have, don’t be afraid to play them up. I emphasized how my background in design helps me execute frontend development and it worked well” -  Vanessa Paolantonio

• “Identify what you want out of a job.” - Amy Arlin

• “Tailor your resume/interviews by asking yourself "What kind of engineer am I?" - Ally T.

• “Cover letter I basically said “I know you’ll get a lot of applications for this role, but I know I’m a perfect fit because of XYZ." - Sarah Jennings

• “I paid close attention to what energized me during the job search. or work on something that I was interested in or excited about. This approach led to new connections, job leads, and learning opportunities.” - Laryssa Husiak

• “Find what drives and motivates you. Once I was able to though, it really helped me figure out how to evaluate which opportunities were the most interesting to me” - Wren Hawthorne

• “Focus on what you can control and take it one day at a time.” - Sarah Shekher

• "In some ways, it was more about finding the right fit." - Katy Carr

• "At the end of the day, it has always been for me about finding a good fit; someone I can click with." - Miriam Hayes

• “Consistency over cramming.” - Amanda

• “It’s been a long job search but keep at it.” - Kate

• “The #1 thing that helped me was finding resources that catered to my learning style.” - Kristen Godinez

• “I looked for fit & impact over title.” - Rebecca

• “I prioritized studying things for things that would be useful for skill development eg. system design, new/modern frameworks, infra refreshers.” - Tiffany Tang

• “Don't be afraid to go for a position you might think you are under-qualified for!” - Kayla Fitzsimmons

• “Realize your strengths : Don't apply to roles that are not your area of expertise.” - Srilaya

• “If there’s a role you’re really passionate about, take a few other interviews first to refresh your interviewing skill set.” - Johanna Ratliff

• “Someone will hire me for my skills and I only need one place to say yes.” - Elle

• “My starting point would be focusing on  doing more to emphasize the technical skills and broadcasting more confidence.” - Janet Riley

• “Getting a job in this market is not any reflection of anyone's capabilities, just circumstances beyond your control.” - Ritwika Ghosh 

• “There's a fine line between selling and forgetting to listen attentively to your interviewers. Only by actively listening (and I've made this mistake countless of times), will you find the opportunities to sell your expertise where your interviewers are engaged.” - Huiru Jiang

• “Try to work out what feels right for you.” - Bj Pennington

• “Being realistic about which jobs I'm qualified for. I'm in the midst of broadening my skillset from data engineering to full stack.” - Rosie

• “Being clear on what companies I would want to actually work at.” - Diana Mauricio

• “If you’re failing tech screens, focus on your technical skills. If you’re failing on sites you should work on your storytelling or architecture. (Sometimes you can get signal on why you failed, this is the trickiest part!).” - Elizabeth Viera

• “ Focusing on the places where I felt like the interview process was a better fit for my skills.” - MB Burch 

• “Figure out what you want (generally) - always hard to do.” - Eva Yan

Use Leopard’s Resume Guide

• “Follow the Leopard resume style guide. Before I updated my resume I was getting very few responses. After I updated it I got a lot of positive feedback and a lot of interviews.” - Marly Puckett

• “I revamped my resume at least 3-4 times and changed my interview preparation strategy based on Leopard's guidance, which led to better results. They helped me refine my resume to highlight relevant skills” - Jenny Cha 

• “Networking is great but based on my experience it’s better to apply directly and improve your resume.” - Sarah Waseem

• “Ensure your resume clearly and loudly describes your impact during past roles.” - Rebecca

• “Format your resume well to highlight your relevant skills at a glance and don't be too fancy about it” - Jane Kim

• “I tried to be strategic and pursue the roles I could actually see myself in.” - Rebecca Green

• “Build a resume which gets traction. Super important to get calls otherwise there might be no motivation to keep going + you will feel you are going in circles prepping same topics and not knowing what are you weak areas.” - Srilaya

• “Tailoring your resume for the job app helps.” - Dorota Kopczyk 

• “The resume review/workshopping and other support was invaluable.” - Amberley Romo

• “I wrote out all the projects I could remember for the jobs on my resume. I followed recommendations for fine tuning my Linked In and resume. I wrote cover letters for most cold applications. I did a small number of applications, compared to recruiter queries, and this wouldn’t have scaled.  I tried to include a few personal sentences or story, if I could. “How to Make a Résumé Interviewers Actually Want to Read Hiring managers spend about 20 seconds scanning a résumé. Here’s how to get their attention. https://www.thecut.com/article/how-to-make-a-resume.html - Janet Riley

• “Simplifying my resume to be directly correlated to the roles I applied for was key.” - Rosie

• “Having a clear resume with your responsibilities/projects, it's easier for the recruiters to see if you fit into the role they're hiring.” - Balbina Santana

• “I fill out LinkedIn as thoroughly as my resume. I mostly keep it up to date. I ask for references occasionally from former coworkers. Once I turned on 'open to work' (but only visible to recruiters), I received a lot more interest. I had the most success with recruiters reaching out to me vs. cold applying.The resources here on Leopard were so, so helpful. Thank you all for being part of this community!” - Lacey

• “I updated my resume according to the advice on the Leopard portal and refining it with the Leopard ChatGPT both, I received a lot more interview offers than I had been previously!” - Jamie Politano

• “If you’re applying a lot and don’t get screens, check your resume.” - Elizabeth Viera

• “Use AI for your resume, interviews, and follow-up emails—but personalize it! When using AI for behavioral questions, make sure to internalize and adapt the answers to sound like you.I noticed that when I started using AI-generated responses without practicing enough, recruiters were quick to reject me. In my experience, they value authenticity.” - Nina R
  
  

Applying And Deciding Where To Interview

Be Open to Opportunities

• "Definitely apply for jobs you're not 100% a fit for" -  Jade Iden

• “Making a post saying I was looking for a job is how I was able to reach those people and be given this opportunity” - Melissa Moy

• “Interview with companies even if you're not super interested in them (it's good practice anyways) because they may end up surprising you!” - Veronica Shei

• “I think keeping an open mind to opportunities is great, as it led me to personally reflect on how close I was living to my own values, and what I wanted to work towards” - Miran P.

• “Being open to trying completely a new industry and a new path and being flexible” - Kourtney Reynolds

• “Don't burn bridges even if the recruiter ghosts you” - Channa S.

• “If there is a job that you’re not really all that excited about, don’t feel like you HAVE to take the interviews or prescreens. Unless, of course, you don’t have a job and need income as soon as possible.” - Vanessa Paolantonio

• “Keep plugging along. The perfect job for you is out there - you just have to find it! (It took me 9 months to find a job!)” - Amy Arlin

• “Take as many interviews as you can” - Ally T.

• “Take the time to explore what opportunities are out there” - Wren Hawthorne

• "Be open to new opportunities. I was dead set on a certain path but ended up someplace unexpected and that I’m really excited about." - Alecs Konson

• “It wasn't my favorite but it did relieve some stress for me and made the job applying process feel more casual. I didn't want to do it but I'm glad I did.” - Josey Kinnaman

• “Keep on trying.  Don't let a "no" drag you down. One has to go through a lot of interviews and rejections to land a job.” - Katherine Luna

• “Persistence, open mindedness. You should take the time to weigh pros and cons of a new opportunity. Many companies understand you need time to make a decision.” - Elizabeth Lingg

• “If anyone is considering contract work that has never done it before, go for it! There might be something out there that is actually a great fit, despite being temporary.” - Stacey Zander

• “Every interview was a learning opportunity.” - Laura

• “Apply for postings/say yes to roles on Leopard, even if your interest in them is small.” - Christine Sanderson- Movius

• “Keep making connections and putting yourself out there, especially in fields you're interested in.” - Anna Salatto

• “Spread your net wide, but narrow down when you get serious. Apply aggressively: I submitted around 20–30 applications at a time, interest started to trickle in over the next few weeks, allowing me to filter the leads I wanted to pursue.” - Kim Pham

• “I kept going (progressed in  baby steps) in spite of bad days :)  Learnt a lot :) not just technical skills , soft skills / influential skills are super important in these interviews.” - Priya

• “If there’s a role you’re really passionate about, take a few other interviews first to refresh your interviewing skill set.” - Johanna Ratliff

• “I finally landed truly made the previous rejections all make sense and I'm happy that I kept going and didn't settle.” - Jamie Yang

• “Sometimes talking about interviewing can be just as tiring as the prep.There are a lot of people in the same boat now but I believe we are reaching the end of the worst of it. Don't lose hope!” - Tabitha Kadima

• “Make yourself findable in the LinkedIn search: put the keywords in your about, and change your headline to the title you want.” - Janet Riley

• “Start interviewing earlier than later. I know it is easier said than done, but as someone who didn't interview in a very long time, I found this to be very effective.” - Vasavi

• “Apply even when you only have half the qualifications.” - Andrea Okerholm Huttlin 

• “Try interviewing for jobs that aren't ideal.” - Amy Galles 

• “Doing many interviews early really helped throw me back into the job hunt. I scheduled tech screens with every company who moved me to the next round and I kept every opportunity open.” - Angela 

• “I also didn't turn down any companies early on to get as much interview practice in as possible, which served as my interview prep.” - Ginny

• “Applying to multiple positions at one company can work out, as that is the offer I got and accepted!” - Elizabeth

• “It helped me to say yes to any company that was interested, have the intro calls and take it from there.” - Nikita Rau

• “Every experience becomes a learning opportunity. You’re not behind—you’re right on time. Your story—yes, yours—is being written as we speak. Every setback, every lesson, every “almost gave up” moment is shaping you into someone even more capable than you were yesterday. Keep showing up, keep learning, and keep advocating for yourself. I’ve had moments where I doubted everything. But I’m here. And if I’m here, you can be too.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “Take all the interviews you can.” - Balbina Santana

• “Keep iterating.” - Océane Vandame

• “In terms of getting initial traction, keeping my LinkedIn profile active.” - Jeanne Petralengo 

• “A new opportunity can pop up at any time, try not to get discouraged!” - Mujda Alamzai-Oh

• “Apply for everything and don't "should" on yourself leveling can vary drastically across companies and IMO its best to get a foot in the door and see what can come out of it rather than limit yourself based on what you think you should be doing." Shoulding” on yourself helps no one. The world of tech is so vast and expansive that it is impossible to know everything at once and its so easy to tell yourself that you "should" be somewhere you aren't. you are where you need to be at this exact moment.” - Charlotte Taylor

• “Know what you want and your timeline. Apply a lot! Even if a company doesn’t check every box on your list (or vice versa), apply anyway—for practice and because the company might surprise you. Treat every interview as an opportunity to learn something new.” - Nina R

Choose The Best Above All:

• “I didn't interview with all of them—only with the companies I was interested in or thought had a higher chance of success.” - Kim Pham

• “What was helpful was applying to a ton of jobs and seeing what sticks.” - Jennifer Abowd

• “Just remember that it's not you, it's the job market. If you are continuously practicing, seeking advice, networking and doing what you need to do, there's no reason to put blame yourself for every rejection.” - Tabitha Kadima

• “I avoided companies that did whiteboarding or asked for a take home instead (you'd be surprised how many places will allow this as an alternative, but you have to ask).” - Elle 

• “Alongside the job listing, I saved listings for other roles they were hiring for that told me something about them, like a developer role the next level up or down. That told me more about the stack and how they were dividing up responsibilities.” - Janet Riley

• “I was open to different titles, but only equal higher seniority level.” - Ritwika Ghosh 

• “Being more centered helped me be more patient and find a company I really wanted to join, rather than rush a decision.” - Linda

• “Know what you're looking for. I think it's worth putting more energy and effort into fewer opportunities and targeting what is most important to you, whether that be team, salary, location, etc. Get in a few low-stakes technical interviews if you can.” -  Nikita Rau

• “I was intentional about companies I applied to - I didn't want to waste my limited capacity on positions I thought I wasn't a good fit for or didn't interest me.” - Megan A

• “If you are not comfortable, withdraw.” - Olivia Crusoe

• “Rather than applying to new jobs as fast as I possibly could, I took the time to research and make sure I would actually enjoy working at each location, and when I got to the interview phase with companies, I’d put applying for new things on hold and give all my attention to the company I was interviewing for.” - Emily Eldar

• “Don’t be afraid to turn down interviews you know aren't a good fit.” - Aimee

• “I spent a lot of time seeking out companies that really aligned with my values.” - Daniela

• “It's probably okay to have maybe 1 or 2 companies that aren't the right fit for practice, but otherwise your time and energy is best spent with self-study or doing mocks.” - Vicky Enalen

• “There are lots of roles that may be great for someone but are not necessarily a fit for you. Having a prioritized list of what I was looking for made it easier to evaluate clearly.” - Mujda Alamzai-Oh

• “Set milestones. For example, I decided that if I didn’t have an offer from a company I really wanted by a certain month, I would start loosening my requirements and applying to a broader range of opportunities.” - Nina R

Take Care of Yourself

• "Take care of yourself, prioritize your mental health," - Ashley Eddleman 

• “Mainly to take care of your mental health as you persevere through your job search!” - Nichole Reyes

• “I wanted to quit at least 2 times during the 3+ month search. During those times I leaned on my friends and I pursued my hobbies.” - Christine Chapman

• “I'm coming back from a planned sabbatical and at first I psyched myself out with anxiety and self-doubt. Doing personal projects and making sure to take time for self-care helped a lot.” - Sarah Shekher

• “Don’t push yourself to rush through it. I would take a few days to decide which study guide or resource to use, then a week to figure out your learning pace. When you leave for the evening, try your best to completely detach and rest. Be patient, take care of yourself - you got this.” - Rachell Hong

• “Do not neglect your health. Get sleep, eat meals that include fruits and vegetables, take a walk outside every morning. It really can make a difference in how you perform.” - Tabitha Kadima

• “Be gentle when you're first getting started and find the pace that works for you.” - Daniela

• “Just remember to take care of yourselves, y'all!” - Vicky Enalen

• “Take care of yourself!” - Charlotte Taylor 

• “If you’re burned out, take a step back and recharge. You won’t perform at your best if you don’t take care of yourself.” - Nina R

Interview Prep

Organize your Schedule

• “Create a schedule that works for you and stick to it. After some trial and error, I realized that waking up early in the morning worked best for me and time blocking on the calendar to keep me accountable and provide me with a sense of progress” - Karen Zapata

• “If you can, make a consistent schedule for both individual learning and job searching. I have a full-time job so I would get up early and study skills related to the jobs I wanted for about an hour before my job started. This also ensured that I had the energy to  get it done, rather than wait until the end of the day when I was inevitably emotionally burnt out from work.” - Vanessa Paolantonio

• “I study system design when I am brain-fried (usually in the evening) because it requires a lot of reading. I don't enjoy ds & algorithm much so I'd usually do that first thing in the morning/evening to get it out of the way.” - Molly Li

• “Filling my schedule with as many interviews as I could handle. This way, I detached emotionally and didn't put all my eggs in 1 basket, so to speak. I tried to limit technical interviews to 1 per day, and recruiter screening calls to maximum 3 in the afternoons” - Lianna Novitz

• “Figure out how to effectively balance studying and interviewing.” - Hannah Kim Barton

• “Practicing getting the pieces done in a certain amount of time was really useful to me.” - Paulina Stancu

• “I just chucked up textboxes and sticky notes as needed to remind myself of things.” - Tiffany Tang

• “ I used a Notion table to keep track of all the companies I was speaking with, what my next steps are, and notes of every conversation I had!” - Christina Yang

• “I created a spreadsheet to document recruiters, companies, roles, interview processes, and important timelines. It kept my mind clear of all the tasks I had to do by having it all laid out in front of me.” - Kristen Godinez

• “Figure out what times of the day you feel more energized and schedule your interviews for them when possible.” - Christine Sanderson-Movius

• “I tracked my time each day and found that even if i was sitting in the library for 6 hours a day, i’d really only be focused on studying for about 3-4 hours MAX (and that’s where i got the 2 month number from) Studying and interviewing shouldn’t take over your whole life, otherwise you’ll burn out!” - Rachell Hong

• “I highly recommend you have a time sheet. It’s easy to feel you need to job hunt 24/7, but it’s a marathon not a sprint. You don’t want to burn yourself out when interviewing.” - Jennifer Abowd

• “I tracked all of my job interviews and progress in a spreadsheet, and it was an enormous help keeping myself on top of everything and following up with people at the right times. It was also really good for my morale to see how much I was doing, and how many leads were active vs. inactive.” - Monica Toth

• “Schedule out my day between applying, studying, and taking my mind completely off for self care.” - Jamie Yang

• “I kept a spreadsheet to track  status of companies and what was needed from me. Doing that and using calendar reminders was super helpful.” - Elle 

• “Good notes help a lot. I used Notion to make a dashboard, to save and triage copies of listings as they came along, and take notes on what I submitted and who I talked to.” - Janet Riley 

• “Acted as fast as I could to schedule interviews.” - Lori Kumar

• “I used Notion to help create a system for my interview prep, but this can be applied to any note-taking app. This system kept me on track, especially during intense study sessions.Use and adapt templates for different challenges, like coding problems or interview responses. Templates give you structure when things feel chaotic. Have templates for “how I approach system design” or “common coding problem steps. Build a centralized location for your notes, wins, and learnings. It’s easier to review concepts and track your growth when you’ve documented it. This also helps you recognize how far you’ve come. I’ve looked back at old notes and seen problems that used to stump me—but now I’m solving them with ease.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “I set intentions for the day and time blocked my calendar, which was a big unlock. I used Notion to stay organized and document everything. I kept a running page of every company I spoke to. I took notes during calls, and after each call, I wrote down all the questions I could remember.” - Christina

• “Google sheet to track each company, dates, where I was in the process.” - Lacey

• “If you are working while interviewing, I would not recommend final-round interviewing with multiple companies in the same week. I would watch KodeKarle videos while walking on the treadmill so I could be active and learn at the same time.Then 3 weeknights per week, I would do at least one leetcode problem to keep myself in that state of mind.” -  Olivia Crusoe 

• “Made myself a daily schedule for what I wanted to get done, with 'priority' items vs 'nice to haves'.” - Mikaella Miller

• “Taking one technical a day (take home or live) instead of stacking my days.” - Diana Mauricio

• “Know when you best perform interviews - I would aim to schedule interviews between 10 am - 1 pm because that was when I felt the most ready and relaxed.” - Aimee

Find Your Space, Organize:

• “Keep a tidy and organized workspace for each major focus area. When you’re in “algorithm mode,” focus on that alone. Create spaces—even digital ones—that set you up for success. Switch tabs, open the tools you need, and remove distractions.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• "Write down everything I do each day, no matter how minor. Anytime I was reading about something related to system design or learned something new, I would create new flash cards to cover it.” - Jess Blevins

• "You can use ChatGPT to help you summarize your accomplishments in STAR format.” - Michelle

• “Treated the Hello Interview system design modules like a college course; took notes as I read through a module, watched the videos, did my own research to fill things in.” - Mikaela Miller

• “Making flash cards.”- Merissa Weinstein

• “I paid more attention to my energy level; I'd put my adjustable desk in standup mode because it's easier for me to put more energy in when I'm standing.” - Jeanne Petralengo

• “If you have a project deep dive interview, even if they say that visual materials are not necessary, prep one!! It helps you stay on track with your story and helps the interviewer follow along.” - Aimee

• “I also made sure to schedule my lowest stakes interviews first (with the companies I was the least interested in) so I could treat those as practice if I didn’t do well.” - Helen Liu 

  
  

Practice How You Deliver Your Thoughts

• “I recommend practicing what you’re going to say over and over again to get the delivery more succinct.” - Mai Irie

• “Do mock interviews- they help get the nerves out of the way” - Gulnara Mirzakarimova

• “Practice interview questions. In the mirror.” - Amy Arlin

• “Mock interviews help a ton.” - Tessa Jones

• “Don't hesitate to ask for resume reviews or mock interviews – it can really make a difference!” - Jenny Cha

• “Always remember that YOU are interviewing THEM too.” - Renee

• “Mock interviews are so valuable!!” - Ellen Swatwout

• “The blind 75 is a great list to get a solid foundation for coding interviews. Even if you have no idea where to start, read the answers until you understand them, write the code, try the problem again in a couple days. Rinse and repeat. Keeping answers succinct.” - Paulina Stancu

• “Have a question bank if you're not good at improvising.” - Jane Kim

• “I put post-it notes underneath my monitor to remind myself of good technical interview habits, e.g. iterative testing, think of edge test cases, etc. They helped ground my thought process and get more consistent results!” - Christina Yang

• “When it comes to applying to jobs and responding to recruiters, i wish that i had spread a wider net right away. Once I did, knowing that there are a ton of companies out there helped take the pressure off for each interview.” - Rachell Hong

• “I highly recommend finding others in the Leopard community to prep with—it's motivating and more effective than going it alone, and normally you have to pay for mock interviews!” - Madeline Hanley

• “Custom cover letters (unfortunately) also scored me interviews at bigger companies like Mongo, Reddit and Elastic.“Just bite the bullet and start interviewing. It takes time to get into the flow and a lot of practice to make it seem natural.” - Dorota Kopczyk

• “I recalled more details, and noted all the details of the stack, the results, the challenges, who was on the team, and what I want to communicate about it.” - Janet Riley

• “I knew interview nerves and unfamiliarity with the process was my weakness so I wanted to start on that early to get comfortable with it ( those early interviews were my prep).” - Angela

• “ I tried to review mock interviews for a diverse range of products (tinyurl, uber, netflix, etc) where it covers different types of system design concepts.” - Nikita Rau

• “We also did mock interviews which helped calm my nerves for the real deal, and highlight weak spots.” - Christina

• “I listened to system design podcasts on Spotify. I think hearing others mock the interviews helped me articulate my thoughts more clearly in interviews.” - Lacey

• “Doing mock interviews rather than forcing myself to interview when I knew I wasn’t ready yet.” - Jess Blevins

• “Practice your answers out loud.” - Jennifer Byers

• “I did spend time pretending I was in a specific type of interview where I talked and timed myself.For coding and system design it helped me figure out where I was going blank or getting stuck, and where I didn't sound very confident.” - Mikaela Miller

• “Do mock coding or system design interviews out loud and timed.I’ve been doing timed leet code and also a few mock system design interviews with friends” - Maggie Lagos

• “ Mock interviews with others is a great way to study! I always recommend doing them from BOTH sides, getting to play the role of the interviewer is so valuable, building empathy with the person on the other side of the table is huge!” - Mikaela Miller

• “Practicing talking about technical topics out loud.” - Merissa Weinstein

• “For mock peer interviews i used exponent. What is 1 thing you can change today about your prep that you can gain from an earlier data point (like a fumbled interview or a mock)? I’ll also share some of my fav questions that helped trigger some nice discussion: What are your 3 biggest priorities this quarter? (to gauge what parts of my background would be most relevant to the interviewer) To potential managers: What do the people who you’ve given your highest performance reviews to have in common? (to get a sense of what types of things they value.” - Océane Vandame

• “Mock/practice interviews help a ton. Highly recommend doing a couple of these to build up your confidence before diving into your most “high stakes” interviews .” - Helen Liu

• “Lean on your communication/interpersonal skills. Do as many mocks as possible." - Charlotte Taylor

  
  

Take Notes

• “After an interview, write down all the behavioral interview questions you struggled with and brainstorm an answer for next time” - Christine Chapman

• “Spreadsheet with JD and dates and notes is helpful to keep track of people” - Channa S.

• “Take notes to commonly asked questions” - Lauren M Carter

• “Even if your first few interviews don't go as you hope, try to learn something from each one. I would reflect after my interviews and write down questions that I felt like I could've done better on and took time to think about how I could've answered it differently.” - Kelsey Kernan

• “I just looked at https://www.hellointerview.com/learn/system-design/in-a-hurry/introduction and took notes on key technologies https://www.hellointerview.com/learn/system-design/in-a-hurry/key-technologies. Taking notes on Doordash's real-time predictions platform the night before my interview. Doordash has YouTube videos on their system, explained by engineers.” - Lianna Novitz

• “Your preferred office suite or notepad for taking notes and keeping track of where you are in the process at different companies. For me, this was a spreadsheet tracking job leads and who needed to be kept in the loop and a series of docs where I kept company-specific notes.” - Jeri Sommers

• “A lot of the companies ask you to complete take home assignments so make sure you write all the tests, add comments on the code, do a11y testing, and complete bonus tasks as well.” - Sarah Waseem

• “I wrote out interview stories describing my values & achievements. When needed, I added to the stories after interviews.” - Rebecca

• “Story banks for leadership, behavioral panels and for any unfamiliar questions you come across in the interviews, write them down afterwards.” - Jamie Yang

• “Took notes during the interview. This one may be more specific to me, but may help others. To manage that, I prep to the extent possible before the interview, and take written notes on a piece of blank paper during the interview. I know that when the interview is over I won’t remember very much of it, and the notes help. It also gives me something to do with my hands, and listen without making eye contact the entire time, which relieves some of my nervous energy.” - Amberley Romo

• “I took notes after interviews on what went well and poorly, and what I wish I’d said.” - Janet Riley

• “Took notes as if I was designing it along with them. that helped master the formula." - Nikita Rau

• “Track your best solutions, strategies, and notes in a central “library” you can reuse. If you’ve solved a tricky coding problem once, there’s no reason to start from scratch next time. Your “aha” moments should be captured and ready for reuse.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “Compiled a robust and detailed story bank based on past accomplishments from my notes and work evaluations.” - Jess Blevins

• “Pen & paper notebook during interviews, just to jot down questions and notes as people talked. I'd add things from my physical notes after interviews.” - Lacey

• “While it can be demotivating to read what people post about company/interview expectations, I filed nearly everything new I read under 'my next interviewer may ask me this or something related, I better have at least a general answer or minimal understanding of it.” - Mikaela Miller

• “Make a list of what you’re looking for AND stick to it.” - Mujda Alamzai-Oh

• “Keep a tab open with notes on your previous experience during interviews. It's ok to say "let me take a second to check my notes.” - Colleen Bond 

• “Take notes before, during, and after interviews.” - Charlotte Taylor 
  
  

Study and Practice

• “Attend study sessions-- be in the hot seat as much as possible!” - Alexandra Dobkin
  “Do a lot of practice interviews so you don't get nervous” - Annie Bae

• “Be very well prepared and practice for the interview. It took some practice to get into the right state.” - Sonya Liang

• “I did leet code because it is a good practice to solve problems fast. And I read books on system design, but for system design, I had a lot of real-life experience.” - Gulnara Mirzakarimova

• “I would also set aside about two hours per day on the weekend for studying—depending on what social activities I had planned.” - Vanessa Paolantonio

• “Studying the main Leetcode patterns with time/space complexity. Focus on the patterns and don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t recognize a specific pattern. Often, you need to have seen a problem with that pattern to recognize it later. I grouped Leetcode problems by pattern instead of doing them randomly.
  For system design, I wrote out designs in detail, like Messenger, Realtime ranking leaderboard, and payment systems” - Kelsey Jones

• “Identify the weakest point of your interviews. Mine are the live coding sessions. So I spent an enormous amount of time on LeetCode, timing how long it took me to answer each question.” - Amy Arlin

• “It takes practice to represent yourself and your skills well and to know what sort of team and technical challenges get you the most excited” - Ally T.

• “Watch out for Leetcode and take-homes. look for tech screens that focus on practical skills.” - Ally T.

• “I used a combination of HackerRank and Leetcode to practice coding questions.” - Sylvia Lujo

• “I tried to be prepared for Algorithms, System Design, and Behavioral interviews. For algorithms, I really like the Design Gurus Grokking the Coding Interview course. For System Design, I used the System Design Interview book by Alex Xu and practiced whiteboarding the examples on Excalidraw” - Katty Polyak

• “I did do a lot of system design and “how the internet works” reading.” - Patricia Arbona

• “Find the time to practice and learn so that you can stay sharp.” - Wren Hawthorne

• “I'd do 1 Leetcode problem a day in Python. (From Leetcode 75 list). Neetcode.io is a great resource for solution explanations. hellointerview.com was also 100% helpful for my system design interview “ - Lianna Novitz

• “I learned that my favorite strategy with Leetcode (esp if you haven't done it in a while) is to pick a topic (arrays, two sums, dynamic programming, etc), do whatever form of refreshing your mind on the subject and all it's nuances that work for you (I like to read, but some people watch videos about the subject, etc) and then watch a couple of video solutions before tackling them yourself. Get familiar with the patterns!” - Sarah Shekher

• "I had practice! This job search took a lot of tenacity. Just keep at it." - Alecs Konson

• "Studying system design definitely helped, this guide especially" - Katy Carr

• "Submit your solution to get much better feedback back from the tool https://leetcode.com, do at least a couple of problems a week with a 20-25min timer on, or you'll get the same early interview feedback that I did: you were too slow to solve the challenge." - Jeri Sommers

• “I studied A LOT. “ - Josey Kinnaman

• “Lots of practice by doing interviews.” - Kristen Godinez

• “Once you understand when to use which storage for distributed systems, breaking down the application into multiple microservices, and how message queues work, you can solve a wide breadth of problems. Since all my interviews are online, I just keep this open during my interview and it keeps my mind clear and calm. I studied using spaced repetition. I would study no more than 4 hours a day to allow my brain to process the information in the background. I found the best time of day for me to do brain-intensive work was in the morning.”  - Kristen Godinez

• “If you need more help with the understanding of the design, DDIA is a great book.” - Paulina Stancu

• “I had a gigantic Miro board with a frame for each active opportunity where I pasted the JD, notes from previous rounds, my talking points/examples tailored to the role and anything else I felt I might want to reference during conversations.” - Tiffany Tang

• “Creating flashcards for tricky questions—both behavioral and technical.” - Laura

• “You'll get some free practice interview experience that will later come in handy when you're in higher stakes interviews.” - Christine Sanderson-Movius

• “Buy Neetcode and practice interviewing (use this community if you can!)” - Christina

• “Take a solid 2-3 months just to study and get confident before even responding to recruiters or applying to postings. Find a free place (such as the public library) to go during the day and study there.” - Rachell Hong

• “I did not know python much but I started coding my solved problems in Java to python for a day or two and I realized how fast to code in Python was. I felt much more confident after that shift.” - Niyati Joshi

• “Resume help, mock interviews, leetcode and negotiation advice.” - Ahava Morse

• “ For system design, I have a written outline on my desk to help me keep moving, for behavioral interviews I keep a shortlist of projects up on my screen so that I can quickly scan if my mind goes blank, and for tech screens, honestly just practice, and asking for a minute to read instructions helps” - Becca Barton

• “ I am talking 6 hours studying + 30-40 mins just applying jobs. Motivated me to spend some time to study React - which was a good break from constant leetcode + sys design.” - Srilaya

• “Applies to interviews as well--staying in the practice of interviewing helps interviews to not feel so daunting.” - Katie Hughes

• “I spent time to study up on system design which I enjoyed way more.” - Jamie Yang

• “Used all resources available.” - Amberley Romo 

• “Lennysnewsletter.com How to pass any first-round interview (even in a terrible talent market).” - Janet Riley

• “If you have  the ability and means to take time getting back into the job search, I think studying first and waiting on applying to your top choice companies after some prep also makes sense” - Angela

• “I worked on interview preparation every day. Practicing system design interviews from hellointerview and exponent (one person would look up the system design problem/video and the others would solve).” - Ritwika Ghosh

• “I loved the LTK channel with leopard.fyi! So much detailed support there.I took preparing for interviews and applying to jobs as chances to learn more things.” - Lori Kumar

• “ I walked through parts of hello interview's system design section and found it helpful and also the free interactive practice was very kind and encouraging!” - Elizabeth

• “Created and studied flash cards for system design every single day. Even if I wasn’t planning on doing additional reading or practice problems that day, I would spend 5-10 minutes reviewing my flash cards. I used Anki for this. I was better off spending my time studying.” - Jess Blevins

• “I practiced a LOT with ChatGPT. I'd try to look over this doc before interviews. I have a similar Google doc with links to study resources I've found, so I can revisit the ones I like the most.” - Lacey

• “Study in little chunks over several (3+) months if possible, and aim to do or review 1+ problems a session. If you only have 15 minutes, you can attempt an easy problem. If you don't have access to a computer all day, you can still look at an interview problem on your phone and mentally walk through how you would solve it.” - Michelle

• “Just brain dumped examples and asked ChatGPT to help me format them into the STAR format.” - Jennifer Byers

• “I spent the majority of my prep time working through a few of each of the problem types in the Leetcode 75. I also spent a lot of time watching CodeKarle videos, writing his designs in a notebook to make the information stick.” - Olivia Crusoe

• “Go to study sessions (or any of the other online events Leopard puts on)! Or at the very minimum watch recordings.” - Mikaela Miller

• “I used ChatGPT a lot to help give me some general questions that I’d be asked, and then I’d add to that list from what they asked me in actual interviews too.” - Merissa Weinstein 

• “Studying is good, algorithms are fun, system design without time pressure is fascinating and useful.Doing all this under social pressure and time constraints is bonnnkkkkerrrssss.” - Lynnae Bryan

• “Using the studying resource materials.” - Diana Mauricio

• “Lean into interview formats that allow you to show off your skills the best—I don’t take interviews using technologies or skills outside of my normal wheelhouse.” - Elizabeth Viera 

• “I would have spent more time preparing for technical interviews before really diving in.” - MB Burch

• “Let interviewers guide the interview if you're unsure.” - Colleen Bond 
  
  

Do Side-Projects

• "Do side projects to hone technical skills -  At my job, I was a lead and did less hands-on coding hence I was a little rusty. After building a side for the project for a few weeks, I was on fire and was able to navigate coding challenges. Lots of nuances were uncovered. My project was a whole new web app so I brushed up on some backend skills as well." – Nhi Dao

• “Coding fun side projects like Brain Dump” - Lianna Novitz

• “Engage in hobbies and volunteering in between the job search.” - Kristen Godinez

• “Having a lot of options made the rejections easier to deal with (though still difficult), and over time interviewing became easier and easier.” - Ginny 

• “You can apply to the companies on this list https://github.com/poteto/hiring-without-whiteboards.” - Michelle
  
  

Pick Stories for Behavioral Interviews in Advance

• "Pick 1-2 projects to talk about that highlight your strength for behavioral and outline them in a doc so you can quick glance as a reminder during interviews. All the behavioral interviews are mostly the same. They want to understand if you're a company fit based on your past behaviors and sus out red flags." – Nhi Dao

Behavioral Interview Preparation

• "I only started to make progress using the ChatGPT Leopard bot. I uploaded my resume and asked it to generate 10 behavioral interview questions for me. Then I asked it to go through each of them one by one to help me craft responses in the STAR format. This was super helpful, as it would ask me a question, I'd tell a story, and then it would rewrite it into STAR format. I copied and pasted that answer into a notes sheet, to study and rewrite in my own words to rehearse." - Caitlin Woodward

• “Behavioral questions/answers - these I got from the interwebs which I answered in my own words in a STAR format” - Michelle Dotzenrod

• “I found Neetcode/Leetcode very helpful, but I really loved HelloInterview. It was the best with the AI questions.  It helped me hone my system design skills and my answers to behavioral questions.” - Lauren M Carter

• “For Behavioral interviews, I wrote out a few example questions I might get asked along with my experience framed in the STAR method.” - Katty Polyak

• “Improve my behavioral interview responses, which made a huge difference in landing offers after the long search.” - Jenny Cha

• “I think the hardest part right now is managing your own attitude so you don’t get down.” - Becca Barton

• “I also kept a page of all of my stories for behavioral interviews, and used ChatGPT to refine them.” - Christina

• “Used ChatGPT for prepping for each round of behavioral interviews.” - Jess Blevins

• “Keep a doc of your projects and accomplishments at your current job in STAR format, and reference that when preparing for behavioral interviews.” - Michelle

• “I tried to tailor my behavioral responses to situations that I felt like could be more relevant to the company I was talking with.” - MB Burch

• “I started getting more traction when I changed tactics; when posed with a behavioral interview question, have a Situation / Action / Result answer that is high level and brief. Like one minute or less. If they want to know more, they'll ask.” - Jeanne Petrangelo

• “Keep a STAR+Learning chart for all your key experiences to talk about in behavioral interviews.” - Eva Yan

• “In behavioral interviews, if you have a tendency of being long-winded, write down the questions they ask you and refer back to it as your answering to make sure you answered the question.Have a "quick reference" list of stories that you can reference during behavioral interviews in case your mind goes blank have a list of questions ready for any interview. make sure to do your due diligence before the interview and cater the questions to the specific company and the role of the person you're interviewing with” - Charlotte Taylor

Reframed the Process

• "Reframed the process in my mind that the interviews were conversations, and that I was also interviewing them. I asked about as many questions as they asked me. I think my questions showed that I had an interest in the company. I think this helped me with my confidence, and not to be so nervous." - Caitlin Woodward

• "I had to be real about my weaknesses in interviewing and brush up on tech skills after a sabbatical. I tried to keep a growth mindset and keep learning as I stumbled my way through some bad interviews reminding myself I was improving." - Alecs Konson

• “I shifted to focusing on the process and what I can learn from each interview I did, not the outcome of my interviews (def easier said than done).” - Christina Yang

• “Be engaged and genuine in interviews” - Anna Salatto

• “If you’re unemployed like I was, treat this process like a 9-5, because finding a job is almost as involved as having a job! “ - Rachell Hong

• “Hold firm on my salary as lowering it was causing confusion about my level and I could afford to wait.” - Jennifer Abowd

• “Coding prep was burning my energy but switching to python for coding interviews was a game changer. It helped me finish the coding in time and gave me a lot of confidence. Talk about design choices and tradeoffs you considered for product design interviews instead of just talking about your great design” - Niyati Joshi

• “ I made an excel where I would track the problems and where I failed etc. Neetcode.io gives you that excel in one of the videos of Blind 75. Follow that so you have a map of your progress. Re-doing the same and within a timeframe of 1 week is important to remembering and forming those patterns.” - Srilaya

• “Interviews are like pancakes--the first one is always weird and wonky and not your best, but they get better and easier as you go along.” - Katie Hughes

• “Reframed feelings of interview failure  into practice (as much as possible). Easier said than done, but helpfulReframed feelings of interview “failure” into practice (as much as possible). Easier said than done, but helpful.” - Amberley Romo

• “The wins channel shows people coming out on top, but you don't necessarily see the struggle it took to get there. Interviewing is a crapshoot in the best of times; try not to take rejections personally.” - Elle 

• “Focus on the things you can control.” So I tried to look at this search as a quest to get good at interviewing, and fuss only about the parts I could control.” - Janet Riley

• “Understand that the interview process is a learning process for both yourself and people at the company.” - Huiru Jiang

• “Always have a pipeline, you never know what is happening internally, even when it seems that you're close to an offer.” - Dasha

• “Interviewers are sometimes/often not very good at interviewing. I started keeping track of if the interviewer passed or failed "my interview" (did they try to connect as a potential colleague, did they explain the task and what they'd be evaluating well, did they answer my questions thoughtfully, etc), and it was surprisingly helpful as a thought exercise.” - Lynnae Bryan

• “I reflected after each and if there’s something I can do better or ask.” - Emily Herr

• “Keep your pipeline going until your offer is actually signed.It can be pretty tempting to take your foot off the gas as you get to the end stages with a company. But anything can happen.” - Mujda Alamzai-Oh

• “Don’t stop interviewing until you sign an offer.” - Nina R
  
  

Narrate Your Thoughts

• "In the live coding sessions, I narrated my thoughts the whole time. It gave me natural moments to point out what I was skimming over, how I would optimize with time, etc. I believe if they're doing it right, they're purely just trying to see how you approach and solve problems. It doesn't have to be perfect, just as long as they can follow along." - Caitlin Woodward

• “I usually communicate my thought process out loud during the interview, even if I don’t have the solution to the question asked. Whatever solution I am considering for the given problem, I will think out loud so the interviewer can correct me if I am going completely off track” - Chaitanya Kola

• “I treated every interview as a conversation which lifted a lot of pressure off.” - Kristen Godinez

• “You have to decide if you're going to play along or not.” - Christina

• “I got asked in several interviews about an app I like to use or a feature I’d add and I was able to share little parts of my life that genuinely excite me and I don’t know that it made the difference for them but it definitely made me feel more human in the process.” - Ahava Morse

• “Actively focusing on slowing down my breathing. These helped me stop blacking out and not being able to regain my train of thought.” - Becca Barton

• “Focused on communication and connection.” - Amberley Romo

• “Listen to your intuition. If something doesn't feel right and you have the privilege, don't continue with the interview process. You will save time/heartache for them and yourself.” - Huiru Jiang

• “ I reviewed Blind, levels.fyi, and glassdoor to compare my compensation and make a good point.” - Santana Balbina

Send Follow-up Message

• "Followed up every meeting with a quick message, along the lines of "Thanks for meeting me, I enjoyed our chat. Looking forward to (whatever the next step was)". After one of my technical interviews, I stepped away from the computer and my brain was flooded with a bunch of realizations about what I forgot/should've said. I took the opportunity to show off my written communication skills, and in my follow-up email, I said that I had fun with the exercise, explained a bug I just realized (clarifying that I would've caught it with proper testing and thinking time), and suggested one additional improvement. When scheduling the second technical interview, I asked for feedback based on the first one. They said they didn't have any, but they also included what they appreciated about me in the first one (specifically calling out how I talked through my thoughts). This was a major confidence boost going into the next one for me." - Caitlin Woodward

• "Asking for feedback. I got some super helpful constructive feedback from folks who rejected me. Sending nudges after the last interview step." - Jeri Sommers

• “ The most positive feedback I received from interviews was about my communication skills. I believe this was a significant factor in receiving offers, even more so than technical skills.” - Kim Pham

• “Always ask for feedback. It can be a bit painful, and usually you're straight up ghosted, but once in a while, you'll get genuine and very constructive feedback.” - Huiru Jiang

• “Feedback is your fast track to growth, even when it’s tough to hear. Reframe it as guidance, not judgment. Remember, feedback isn’t a reflection of your worth—it’s a tool to help you get better. Your future self will thank you. When you’re in interviews that end with reject, ask for feedback from the recruiters. This way, you’re still growing even if you don’t land the role.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “Keep the interviewer in the loop.” - Megan A

• “After interviews, retro on what went well, what you could improve, etc. and take those learnings into the next interview.” - Charlotte Taylor

Make a Cheat Sheet About Yourself

• "I kept an open note that I called a "cheat sheet" - it was basically an outline about myself so I had an easy reference to check. I had a few sections with maybe 5-10 bullets each. Sections were:
  1. History - How I wanted to tell the story of my career so far
  2. Why I'm leaving - Highlighting what I like about my old company, how I want to phrase the answer to the question

  3. In a week - just a list of various responsibilities I have in any given week

  4. Culture - what I'm looking for in a company culture-wise, including a distinct list of values

• "I had it open during every interview but found I actually rarely referenced it during them. I think the act of writing the info out helped me feel comfortable with how to answer these questions if they came up. I'd review it between interviews." - Caitlin Woodward

• “One thing that really helped me during interviews was to have a copy of my resume and some pre-planned STAR style answers pinned to the wall in front of me to fall back on if I was drawing a blank.” - Kira W.

• “Making a cheat sheet of basic formulas to be prepared to use.” - Olivia Crusoe
  
  

Research and come up with questions

• "Before every intro chat with a company I met, I did thorough research. I checked out their site, and relevant LinkedIn profiles, searched their name on Glassdoor/Reddit/Reviews, and everything I could find. For each position I was interviewing for, I had a dedicated note with a quick summary of what the company was, a link to the job posting, and then a section for questions I wanted to ask. These were divided into four sections: Software, Process, Company, and Culture. I had probably 5-10ish questions in each section. This allowed me to have the questions ready when the opportunity to ask them came up. And again, I think the simple process of doing the research helped me get into the right mindset for chats. Each question had a checkbox next to them, so I could mark them off as they got answered."  - Caitlin Woodward

• “Ask a lot of questions about the team, the role, the culture, and the mission,  this can show your interest in the job.” - Sonya Liang

• “Reading technical blogs and white papers by companies is very helpful” - Gulnara Mirzakarimova

• “Asking here, Glassdoor, LinkedIn... this helped me find interviewing tips and gave me a glimpse into the culture so I could tailor my interview question responses to that. I think the biggest difference this time for me was really researching the company.” - Josey Kinnaman

• “I put together a job matrix to identify what was important to me.  I compared orgs and roles with my matrix.” - Rebecca

• “Research the companies. I don’t pretend to know about the companies, but I do check out their websites, read their tech blogs, and watch their YouTube videos to get a sense of their products and culture. In interviews, I mention things I found interesting or impressive, and I’ve noticed that companies respond positively to that. Reading a company’s tech blog also helps in interviews—I've been able to incorporate best practices mentioned there in my interviews, which I believe improved my chances.” - Kim Pham

• “I made an effort to look into my interviewers before interviews (in fact, several processes shared my interviewer’s LinkedIn ahead of time) to familiarize them and find bits of commonality. It not only helped me connect with them better, but it helped me look at them as people, instead of just a scary interviewer. And I do think it helps differentiate from other candidates in the pool.” - Amberley Romo

• “The Job Decision Matrix | tig.log A Job Decision Matrix will help identify what is actually important to you in your career (and life). Gaining clarity on what is important to you, right now, will help you identify new job opportunities, avoid wasting time on job opportunities that are not right for you, and make a job decision with conviction.Why are you interested in COMPANY, What stood out to me about COMPANY was, Story from the cover letter, or some way this is just like my XYZ qualification, and a couple choice things to show I read their website. I didn’t have to pretend to be sincerely passionate about the widget industry, I could tie it to real interests.” - Janet Riley

• “ I really looked at whether the company I was interviewing with was growing. Not just stable, but growing.” - Claire Woods

• “ I wouldn't advise having a very low comp expectation or stating it in interviews, that can raise red flags in potential employers.” - Ritwika Ghosh

• “ALWAYS negotiate salary, worst case they say no, or they could meet you halfway, or they could accept!” - Balbina Santana

• “I'd ask if there were any further specifics, like the general topic of an upcoming coding interview, or what they were looking for in a candidate. Research on companies.” - Lacey

• “Research the company and ask thoughtful questions, especially in the non-technical interviews.” - Megan A

• “Take their 'you can just tell your interviewer X in this case' statements with a grain of salt. Oh and read comments on their articles and videos...some pretty interesting questions get asked there sometimes!” - Mikaella Miller

• “Interviewing each company as much as they interviewed me (asking detailed questions about their engineering practices/ infrastructure, as well as culture/how people work with one another, reviewing their Glassdoor and bringing up any red flags throughout the process).” - Diana Mauricio

• “Make sure you do research on each company so you can connect and discuss their values in the interview, and have good questions for the team.” - Emily Herr

• “Be invested in companies proportional to how far in the interview process you are. If you applied, it doesn't mean anything. If you have a recruiter screen, read the job description and skim some info about them. Before an onsite though, scale up your research a lot, prepare all the questions you might have to know if this is a job you’d want by the time the onsite is over.” - Elizabeth Viera 

• “I made sure to really read up on every company before meeting and have a list of questions I wanted to ask.” - MB Burch

• “ I did research on the company and made a free account for myself to see what the product is and how it works.” - Karen Liang

• “If being interviewed by an engineer, ask about deployment processes and engineering workflows. If being interviewed by a manager, ask about their leadership style. etc. showing you did your research into the company is a great way to stand out.” - Charlotte Taylor

Practice your case studies

• "A good idea is to write them down and make sure you've hit all the points you want to hit, and that everything is clear." - Lori Goldberg

• “What I found interesting is that the majority of my interviews were conversational- no live coding. Some incorporated very little system design.” - Merissa Weinstein

• “Be prepared to talk about projects you worked on, have 30 second summaries and 5 minute summaries. Common things people want to know are how long the project took, how many people worked on it, what would you change if you were doing it again.” - Elizabeth Viera
  
  

List of Study Resources

• "Take advantage of the list of study resources (and contribute back if you find anything cool). There were so many helpful books, websites, guides, etc etc that I would never have been able to find on my own. There's also a lot of helpful columns on Leopard's blogs for tips on behavioral interviews and resume writing." - Lauren Centa

• “When I started this job search I was really struggling with how to sell myself, both in written communication like my resume, and also in interviews. ChatGPT definitely helped me refine my resume and that knowledge helped me everywhere else. I also basically copy-pasted an email template from the Leopard blog when I was negotiating” - Natalie Jane Edson

• “I received a bunch of great resources here on Slack that helped me prepare for interviews! I used:hellointerview.com, greatfrontend.com “ - Sylvia Lujo

• “I found chatGPT to be super helpful. If I had an interview in a different language or on a topic I was less familiar with, I would have chatGPT give me summaries of key information and practice questions.  I also used educative.io to do a course on system design that was quite helpful.” - Kelsey Kernan

• “Figure out what resources are available for you and how you can use them effectively. The library was so helpful as a free co-working space when I would have trouble focusing on the job search” - Wren Hawthorne

• “Coding Practice: Neetcode, LeetSync, AlgoExpert System Design: Learn in a Hurry, Delivery, Core Concepts, Key Technologies, Patterns, Redis Deep Dive, DoorDash System Example for Machine Learning “ - Lianna Novitz

• Tools I recommend: Calendly for low-effort resume sharing and intro call scheduling (Put your PDF resume in Google Drive, share it with anyone with a link, and link it in your scheduling intro blurb. Then you don't even have to bring it up in conversations; recruiters will see it when they go to schedule. or use whatever cloud PDF storage you want, really) ChatGPT for getting first draft emails or cover letters or revising resumes, especially if you tend to overthink, https://interviewing.io/guides/system-design-interview, https://adventofcode.com, and Sankeymatic.com is my jam. - Jeri Sommers

• “ I thrived a lot by watching videos and seeing each step play out. So anywhere from YouTube to Exponent. I also did a lot of reading. If I were to pick one resource to start off with, it is the System Design Interview book. I also reference the System Design Primer often.” - Kristen Godinez

• “For systems design, there’s really a formula to it. Learn the different parts — functional/non-functional requirements, estimation, db/api design, high level diagramming, and drilling into pieces for depth.” - Paulina Stancu

• “I admittedly was not much of a technical book reader before this job search (would lean more into online tutorials), but books really worked for me this time around because I could learn without needing to be glued to my desk or computer.” - Christine Sanderson-Movius

• “The neetcode roadmap was all that i did for coding interviews” - Rachell Hong

• “I found ChatGPT incredibly useful for providing learning resources. It gave me the most comprehensive but to the point "SQL vs NoSQL" rundown and provided concise answers for questions” - Kim Pham

• “I also found this article motivation and useful https://medium.com/geekculture/acing-the-software-engineer-interview-5851d4488267” - Srilaya

• “https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/121-applications-later-adapting-learning-staying-merisenda-alatorre--rggic” - Merisenda Alatorre

• “Leveraged ChatGPT in thoughtful ways. I used it mostly as a starting point. For example, sometimes I’ll give it a couple bullet points of what I’m trying to say, and ask it to formulate it into a paragraph, or whatever I’m trying to do. Or I’ll give it a paragraph and ask if I could make it more concise / impactful. Sometimes the response is quite useful. I don’t use its responses verbatim, I use it as a jumping off point to edit.” - Amberley Romo

• “Articles on the Minimum Viable Interview Process and how to pass first round interviews helped me with basic preparation. The Job Decision Matrix  helped me understand what I was looking for.In the exercise, you make basically a kanban board of your search criteria.  Each column is something important to you ( location, salary, stack, company size, industry, scope) in how you’re evaluating a role. thecareerwhispers.substack.com Crafting a Strategic, Compelling Career Story (MVIP part 1 of 4) Learn the 4 high ROI activities that got 93% of my clients through their first-round interviews at top-tier companies like Apple, Airbnb, Uber, Stripe, and more.ps://thecareerwhispers.substack.com/p/001 Quastor Blog Blog for Quastor https://www.quastor.org/.” - Janet Riley

• “The SWE prep helped me clarify thought process and the same principles of narrowing scope , simplifying the problem, and structuring responses while targeting your area of expertise worked for me on the PM interviews as well.” - Ritwika Ghosh

• “This community is a fantastic resource. Use it. There's also Women in Tech and Rands leadership slack. All excellent resources.” - Huiru Jiang 

• “https://interviewing.io/guides/system-design-interview I found these guides (part 2 & 3) really helpful to read as good background on a bunch of topics. https://www.hellointerview.com/learn/system-design/in-a-hurry/introduction I found the videos specifically here to be extremely helpful. I watched a bunch of them after I felt comfortable with the topics in the first resource, and I really feel like the videos gave me muscle memory for something I actually haven't personally practiced enough to have muscle memory for.” - Stacy Curry

• “Use all the study resources leopard has to offer; I don't think I would have made it through the interview process without them! The company who offered me a job after using the resources recommended in this community to prepare” - Rachel Charow 

• “The Leopard network and resources are really awesome! Whether it’s interviewing, negotiation or resume, there’s so many awesome resources here.” - Linda

• “For system design there's a method and you just have to learn it! i watched several youtube videos running through practice problems” - Nikita Rau 

• “I used ChatGPT heavily in seeding prompts. Resources I liked: Ben Lang and Wendy Sacuzzo on LinkedIn for jobs, DiversifyTech, Tech Jobs for Good, BuiltIn for jobs, GreatFrontEnd for technical practice, HelloInterview, NeetCode, and Jordan has no life on youtube (he’s kinda annoying but his points saved me for a couple interviews) for system design and ofc, Leopard for creating this community.” - Christina

• “I would give ChatGPT a description of each interview I was doing and ask it for example questions. I would then spend a few hours going back and forth with ChatGPT asking for more questions and refining my above story bank, noting which stories applied to which questions and how I could answer them using the STAR method.” - Jess Blevins

• “System design - only a few episodes on this podcast, but several are system design interview format. Ladybug podcast, system design - Lots of useful SE topics, a few were interview focused.” - Lacey

• “Use ChatGPT to help with interview questions.” - Megan A

• “If you are in a rush and don't have months to study, I recommend doing the easies and mediums in Blind 75 Leetcode question set and studying system design thru https://www.hellointerview.com/learn/system-design/in-a-hurry/introduction and Hello Intervew's Youtube system design problem videos.  And also listening to the Learn System Design podcast on Spotify while commuting or doing chores.” - Michelle

• “If the company has "core values" posted anywhere, try to think of STAR questions that align with them!” - Jennifer Byers 

• “If I was absolutely stumped on why my leetcode wasn't working - chatGpt or JDoodle (online java IDE) were great resources to ask "why isn't this working?" allowing me to learn faster.” - Olivia Crusoe

• “Before I joined I didn't even know System Design was a thing in interviews, and had to do a crash course using the specific resources I jived with. I literally opened up every SD link in the doc and once I found a few things that seemed to fit my learning style, I went with those.” - Mikaela Miller

• “Neetcode youtube channel: invaluable asset for me, he does so much practical explanation of how to solve a problem before even getting to the code.” - Mikaela Miller

• “For technical interviews, high-key I found this YouTube video by Stoney Codes, it's called 70 leetcode problems in 5+ hours. “ - Irene

• “The best resource for getting ready for technical interviews (at least for me) was neetcode, absolutely great resource for learning and reinforcing all the concepts you might need for a leetcode style question, as well as some good system design prep.” - Emily Eldar

• “A few resources I found particularly helpful (all of which are in the Community Study Resources): AlgoMonster, HelloInterview, LinkedIn interview prep.” - Maggie Lagos

• “I dished out for a mock system design interview on HelloInterview.” - Helen Liu 

• “As someone who isn't a LC genius, target your LC practice - find company questions on lc premium, glassdoor. otherwise, blind75 is good too. Similarly, target system design practice - glassdoor occasionally discusses system design as well.” - Eva Yan

  
  

Vetting Companies

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions

• “It’s always good to ask how your future manager will help support your growth, and their style of management” - Ashley Qian

• “Once you're at the offer stage, do your due diligence! These are good opportunities to ask all the questions you didn't have time for during the interview process” - Veronica Shei

• “Pay attention to what your interviewers say about themselves and their company. ask relevant questions, and don't be afraid to ask tough questions either!” - Ally T.

• “If you are fortunate to have a good job then you should remember you are in control and can walk away from an offer.” - Elizabeth Lingg

• “If you agree to a take home assignment, ask them to agree to a follow up code review before you start.” - Ali Hobbs

• “Always ask for more money on a negotiation; a good recruiter starts you at the bottom of the band so that you can ask more and they won't break the bank by giving it to you. ALWAYS ASK.” - Elle

• “Be polite when you ask, and recognize that they might say no, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.” - Elle

• “Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.” - Brielle Harrison

• “I think pushing on it to give better questions/answers was helpful.” - Megan A

• “Doesn't hurt to ask! This applies everywhere. Doesn't hurt to ask about any extra time you can get. Doesn't hurt to ask about other jobs they may have, etc. Just ask, you never know!” - Valerie

• “I reached out to a founder that had openings but you can do either. Lexi has templates for either case!” - Mujda Alamzai-Oh

Ask Questions

• "Ask lots of questions - if it seems like there's a question behind a question, clarify. Ask them what they're trying to understand. Sometimes interviewers don't ask good questions and you're both disengaged. This helped me a ton because it just uncovers a lot of topics to talk about and learn" – Nhi Dao

• “For iOS roles, interview styles vary based on the company. Sometimes, recruiters say it will be an iOS-style interview, but I might get LeetCode-style questions. I still ask the recruiter what to expect, and 80% of the time, they are right.” - Chaitanya Kola

• "I keep a bank of generic questions which I pull from in the 15 minutes before an interview to have a list that seems relevant to the interviewer or their role or based on answers I've gotten in prior interviews." - Jeri Sommers

• “I asked for accommodation.” - Josey Kinnaman

• “Before hopping on a call with a recruiter, I would ask the following: Would you be able to send me the full job description for this role? What is the interview process like?What is the compensation range for this role? Would you be able to send my profile to the hiring manager to see if there is alignment? I notice the job description requires experience using X, is this a hard requirement? I don’t have experience using this technology.” - Kristen Godinez

• “Communication is how you convey your ideas. This doesn’t mean giving elaborate speeches—just ask questions about the problem, think aloud, clarify assumptions, and ask for help and feedback from your interviewer.” - Kim Pham 

• “Tips from recruiters.” - Lacey

• “Also here are some questions that I ask at the end of interviews which help me interview the company/team better and find out about my day-to-day more specifically:

  1. How do you feel about the current CI/CD on your team or in your org? Is it helping you catch bugs or issues?

  2. How confident are you that you can test your code properly before it makes it to Prod?

  3. What level of observability is in place for services and is it helping with on-call?

  4. How mature is the infrastructure surrounding <insert something specific to their tech stack that you're curious about?

  5. How are you using version control for code and do you feel like it's helping or hurting right now?” - Mikaela Miller 

Leaning On Your Network

Study Buddies and Accountability

• "Highly recommend finding a study buddy!...it can also be really helpful to have someone that you meet with regularly." - Veronica Powers

• “Practicing with another Leopard job seeker helped me build confidence doing behavioral interviews.” -Maggie Sheldon 

• “It was so nice to commiserate with other software engineers about the job search. We have been meeting weekly online for the past 10 weeks. We also started weekly 2-hour coding nights, holding each other accountable for coding fun side projects.” - Lianna Novitz

• “Having a weekly 1:1s with my friend who was also laid off” - Laryssa Husiak

• "Finding people willing to do mock interviews with me helped so much. I got some great feedback. I think it's generally better if it's people you don't know since that's a little closer to the interview experience." - Tara Yoo

• “Attending Leopard.FYI study sessions, finding a study buddy from those sessions.” - Laura

• “We met up once a week and having the recurring time to study really kept me diligent. We were doing a practice question on how to return the longest palindrome from a string and that was in an interview the following week! This group has been a super great resource and helped keep my hopes up since I could see people here in this wins channel getting offers.” - Monica

• “Be a friend first, meet people in this group and build your network.” - Kayla Fitzsimmons

• “Having accountability partners not only made it more fun but also kept me consistent and focused. Networking doesn't always mean cold emailing people or going to a networking happy hour, truly just staying in touch with coworkers you liked working with can open doors in ways you would NEVER expect.” - Madeline Hanley

• “So grateful for Leopard, the community, resources and especially Lexi & Danielle who answered my many questions and gave their thoughts as I went through the process. I really appreciated the moral support and confidence it gave me in addition to the practical help and steps.” - Ahava Morse

• “Don't feel like you have to settle for a team that won't be a good fit. If they're jerks in the interview, they'll be jerks to work with and you don't want that at all. I'm really happy that I found a team of kind and collaborative people that I can grow with, and I wish you all the best of luck!” - Rebecca Green

• “You can not do everything alone.The weekly study groups are your best bets to feel less lonely in this process.” - Srilaya

• “Don't be afraid to reach out for emotional support but be careful of who you reach out to. Some people are well-meaning but will accidentally make you feel worse.” - Tabitha Kadima 

• “Prioritized nurturing my network.Reached out to old colleagues and folks in my network to reconnect. Had good conversations with people that those folks connected me to. This didn’t always lead to an interview process, but kept the door open.” - Amberley Romo

• “I benefited from being open to roles at smaller companies where my specific combination of experience is very valuable.” - Andrea Okerholm Huttlin 

• “I relied a lot on my network and the leopard and the women in tech slack communities for insights on companies' interview processes and culture (and to commiserate and vent about everything!).” - Ginny

• “Nurture your relationships.” - Jing

• “I relied heavily on my friends, family and network for moral support as well as referrals, and never isolated myself.” - Ritwika Ghosh

• “I found a couple study buddies and we started practicing one (hard) or two (medium)  problems from the neetcode roadmap daily.” -  Ritwika Ghosh

• “So one takeaway is your network is really valuable, beyond just direct referrals.I really benefitted from having accountability buddies. I had a few in-person coffee sessions with friends, and some zooms as well, where we just did independent studying/work at the same time.  It helped to keep me accountable and prevent procrastination.” - Amanda Morris

• “Join support groups, Discord communities, or find an accountability partner. Having someone in your corner makes a world of difference.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “Having a study buddy was a game changer! We met weekly to catch up, share challenges, and set goals.” - Christina

• “Fill your cup with friends, community, meditation, hobbies, exercise, etc!" - Megan A

• “For systems design, I spent some time looking at people's results from the system design practice sessions in this group.” - Olivia Crusoe

• “Being a part of the community other than interactions in Slack was really helpful.” - Mikaela Miller

• “Never underestimate the power of your network.” - Kylie Wu

• “Going to the system design meetings and participating in them to refresh how I would approach a live session.” - Diana Mauricio 

• “Jumping into some of the Leopard meetings for technical interviews and system design was really helpful.” - MB Burch

• “Workshop your project with someone.” - Aimee

• “Having a strong ability to problem solve is obviously necessary, but they can teach anyone a new technical skill, but they can't teach someone how to be a good person or a teammate.” - Charlotte Taylor

• “Find a study buddy. I connected with someone through Leopard who was at a similar stage in their job search and had the same availability as me. This was a game-changer when I felt stuck or unproductive—my buddy pushed me forward and remained super supportive, even after she got an offer while I was still in the process.” - Nina R

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help

• “Don't be afraid to ask for help or ask someone for some time to practice interviewing with, i think everyone here would be very open to help whenever they have time.” - Esraa Afifi

• “Don’t feel afraid to reach out to people for help” - Christine Cheung

• “I asked for help from my network AND strangers to make contacts where I had none. It paid off in spades. People are eager to help.” - Michelle Dotzenrod

• “I was really helped by advice and practice questions with EM women in my network who understand the gendered nuance and getting their advice on how to reframe my experience for interviews.” - Elia Grenier

• “I had a ton of emotional support from my support system, was very existential” - Patricia Arbona

• “When I was having trouble coming up with behavioral stories, reaching out to former co-workers helped jog my memory of the impact of my prior work” - Wren Hawthorne

• “Asking for help is a critical skill when you’re job searching. I asked my community to help me by encouraging me to get off the computer and go outside the apartment (coffee chats, brunches, thrifting, picnics, alpaca farm visits) Helping me prepare / mocks for job interviews, Writing LinkedIn recommendations, and referring me for jobs and Giving me resume advice and perspective on the job market (this was so crucial)” - Lianna Novitz

• “I worked with mentors, colleagues, and the Leopard community for feedback on how I could stand out as a candidate.” - Jenny Cha

• “Reaching out to my network played a key role too.” - Laura

• “Reach out if you have any questions, curiosities, or need a connection or study buddy.” - Melly Beechwood

• “If you feel hopeless, really immerse yourself in communities like this one (I'm in a handful of others too — Women in Tech, Rands Leadership, a11y, Out in Tech, etc. DM me if you want into any)! It helps not to feel alone.” - Anna Salatto

• “Even when you're rejected, you can still expand your future network and make connections with good people. If there's an interesting role, I do think its best to query linkedin and reach out to people who work there for a warm lead.” - Huiru Jiang

• “I reached out to friends (including brand new ones made through Leopard.fyi) and received and gave support.” - Lori Kumar

• “You’re not alone! Sharing openly with friends (new and who I have known for longer) about what was going on in the job search (and hearing their stories too) made the whole process feel supportive and happy.” - Lori Kumar

• “I started involving other people (like joining this community which I am super grateful for), asking for help, and refining my recruitment strategy along the way, things got a lot easier.” - Rosie

• “This community was of great support, it helped me get through some days where I saw no hope or had any interviews lined up.” - Balbina Santana

• “Don't be afraid to reach out to people on LinkedIn. I think it gives you a leg up in showing you're interested in the role as well as humanizing your application.” - Megan A

• “I think, definitely utilize your network.” - Daniela 

• “I also used what the recruiter told me about what the team does to do more deep-dives into how the app currently functions and where there’s room for improvement, and looked into its competitors to see how they have certain features.” - Karen Liang 

• “Lean into your network. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. I know it feels strange to reach out to acquaintances you barely know or even strangers but that's where the opportunities are.” - Valerie

• “Lean on others for support!” - Helen Liu

• “I HIGHLY recommend searching for whatever company you are interviewing with's name in the slack and gather as much information as possible about other people's experiences.” - Charlotte Taylor 

Referrals

• “Don’t be afraid to ask here, or on LinkedIn, or in any other backchannels you have access to, for an intro to someone that works for that company. If you can have a good conversation with a trusted insider, it can lead to a very strong referral, giving you a huge boost at the start of the interviewing process.” – Denise Yu

• “Referrals are incredibly helpful… Everywhere I interviewed I either had a referral, or a recruiter reached out and I replied to that, or once I reached out to a recruiter for a company I found on BuiltInNYC via LinkedIn.” - Tessa Jones

• “Lean on your Leopard network!” - Frances Jurek  and Jade Thornton

• “Casual networking paid off for me” - Katie Claiborne

• “Referrals were my best friend in this process” - Emily Jaffe

• “Maintain relationships with old managers (if they were good). They’ll write better references / be a better-sounding board if you don’t only hit them up during job search time” - Veronica Shei

• “Leverage your network as much as possible - people generally appreciate being reached back out to!” - Miran P.

• “Stay in touch with your network. reaching out to my network directly helped with referrals.” - Gulnara Mirzakarimova

• “Lean on your support network” - Channa S.

• “Referrals are so important. recruiters are your point of contact within the company and can refer you or pitch you to the hiring manager.” - Molly Li

• “Spend a significant amount of time each week networking” - Amy Arlin

• “I kept in touch with my old boot camp teacher who knows me and is a veteran in the industry and could help me figure out if a company I had an interview with would be a good or bad fit for me.” - Patricia Arbona

• “Reaching out to someone who works there for a referral via LinkedIn.” - Sarah Jennings

• “I received my current offer six months after applying, thanks to a referral.”  - Laryssa Husiak

• “Connect with your network for opportunities, study groups, and other forms of support.” - Wren Hawthorne

• “My job search support group  (Never Search Alone), Job Search Community for Women and Non-Binary Engineers: Leopard.fyi Cold messages on LinkedIn for referrals and Less cold messages on LinkedIn to school alumni for referrals” - Lianna Novitz

• “Having a community and people cheering for you is crucial! Thank you, Leopard.FYI for helping me find mine!” - Sarah Shekher

• “Casual networking and community. Support network” - Celena Toon

• "Grateful for the Leopard community" - Vicky Lai

• “A lot of amazing advice has been shared by other Leopard members on this channel, which has tremendously helped me in my interview journey. I encourage everyone to leverage this supportive community and your communities beyond.” - Jenny Cha

• “The Leopard community helped so much though.” - Josey Kinnaman

• “They weren’t scary at all and they actually helped my confidence so much! This community has been sooo supportive and helpful for my confidence - thank you all so much!!” - Ellen Swatwout

• “Thanks a ton to this community for the support and resources .” - Paulina Stancu

• “I was referred to the company where I accepted an offer by a former colleague.” - Laura

• “ I want to say thank you to the Leopard community for all your support!! It felt easier going through the job search this time around.” - Kristen Godinez

• “Huge thank you to the whole Leopard team for your support during this process. It meant a lot to know that I wasn't going through this on my own ” - Christine Sanderson-Movius

• “I’m so grateful to Leopard! it was really nice to have a community for sharing resources and advice.” - Rachel Hong

• “Listen to everything @Lexi Lewtan (Team Leopard) says and read her phenomenal decks.” - Madeline Hanley

• “I found my new job from LinkedIn with filtering for jobs posted within 24 hours.” - Jennifer Abowd

• “Try to achieve “all star” status on LinkedIn. To do that, you’ll need to show you have a current thing, which could mean putting in a “job hunting” job. That will help more recruiters find you.” - Jennifer Abowd

• “Also use your connections.. I reached out to my old boss to refer me when I saw the position open up. He was able to vouch for me and it really helped.” - Carolyn Lynch

• “Focused on referrals. Referrals are the most important thing right now, in my opinion, in successfully entering hiring processes.” - Amberley Romo

• “Requested and gave recommendations.” - Amberley Romo

• “Referrals and networking are key, especially in a difficult market, and just started nurturing my small network.” - Christina

• “I focused not only on re-connecting with people already in my network, but asking those folks if they knew anyone I should be connected with that they could introduce me to.” - Amberley Romo

• “My role ultimately came through a friend's referral. If you know anyone at the hiring company, definitely ask if they'd be willing to refer you.” - Elle

• “I wish I’d read Tanya Reilly’s or Will Larson’s staff engineer books already. They would  make it easier to talk about the work I’ve been doing.” - Janet Riley 

• “Taping my network talking to recruiters who work with vc’s and their portfolios. i thought this was a waste of time but the job i got was intro-ed from a recruiter connected to the company (via their investor). able to reach higher level folks at the company and get intro-ed before jobs are posted.” - Tamar Ben-Shachar

• “Referrals were key for my job search!” - Jinsung Park

• “ I’m positive that referrals had probably the highest percentage of getting an interview (other than internal recruiters directly reaching out to me).” - Ginny

• “It helped to have expert advisors and spend time with this community.” - Jing

• “ Got a couple offers from those referrals. Leopard actually matched me with one of my top choices, but there was a mismatch in time zones.” - Ritwika Ghosh

• “Thank you Leopard.fyi for providing such a fantastic supportive community for the job search process. And for the hard work the recruiters here did to find me job opportunities. I remain very grateful to have found Leopard.fyi and will happily recommend it to others.” - Lori Kumar

• “Referrals, and the network really helps! A lot of my most promising opportunities came from referrals from previous coworkers.” - Linda

• “Employee referrals and peer references made a big difference in my job hunt, and a large part of my success came down to having people eager to help me out when they heard about me being laid off.” - Jess Blevins

•  “Referrals work best for sure!” - Balbina Santana

• “Leopard provided an amazing support community, and they were very helpful with interview prep + sharing job opportunities catered to my preferences!” - Michelle

• “The Community Resources doc Leopard maintains is amazing and if you have no idea where to start, it's just such a good hub of info.” - Mikaela Miller

• “All of the support, encouragement, workshops, articles, study sessions and other valuable resources! They were all so helpful for staying motivated and flexing those technical and design muscles for the arduous climb that is the job search these days!” - Sharlee Bryan

• “I referred to this book a lot: Inside the Machine Learning Interview. it clearly outlines a lot of interview expectations & practice problems for each interview type.” - Océane Vandame

• “My best interviews and opportunities came from referrals.” - Valerie

• “If you’re interested in a company/role, try to find the recruiter/hiring manager on LinkedIn and reach out directly to get their attention.” - Helen Liu

• “apply asap! Use lots of channels for possible openings. I used Leopard, Welcome To the Jungle, LinkedIn jobs, and referrals.” - Colleen Bond

• “Referrals can go a long way for some companies - leverage your network, any in mails you get.” - Eva Yan

• “Always network. Ideally, keep networking even when you’re not job-hunting—it helps maintain connections and can lead to referrals, recommendations, and new opportunities down the road.” - Nina R

Confidence, Impostor Syndrome & Mental Health

• "Know your worth, keep your head up, lean on the community when times get tough, and practice, practice, practice." - Allison Inouye

• “Trust your gut and be an advocate for yourself.” - Kimberly Brown

• “Being yourself is key and makes the interview process much more enjoyable.” - Katrina Schwark

• “Take the best offer, not the first offer. Don't forget you have value and learn to be comfortable with marketing yourself!” - Natalie Hanisch

• “You only fail if you quit. After every rejection, give yourself a moment, then get back on your feet and keep trying.” - Julie Lin

• “Keep learning, keep trying, when the right company comes along, it will happen.” - Krista Calderon

• “Don't compare to others, compare to yourself. The more things you learn, the more prepared you are, more likely you'll land a good position. You are growing no matter what.” - Rachel Gao

• “Always negotiate. The extra informational interviews after also give you more time to negotiate your offer / demonstrate your worth (of course, always do this graciously and emphasize that it’s more about the right career choice and not the money).” - Veronica Shei

• “It's okay to trust your gut and not continue interviewing if you're getting bad vibes” - Miran P.

• “Technical interviews are not a good representation of your abilities or self-worth.” - Channa S.

• “Pay attention to how hiring managers speak to you if they are not treating you like a person, that’s a giant red flag.” - Vanessa Paolantonio

• “Don’t give up. I’ve seen a lot of rejections which left me in tears but don’t let it determine your value or self-worth. The interview process is completely flawed but with perseverance, studying, and a bit of luck you can make it.” - Kelsey Jones

• “You really have to believe in yourself and trust that there’s an opportunity out there for YOU. Eventually, you’ll get there. “ - Molly Li

• “Just keep at it... it's exhausting and emotionally draining to keep interviewing, but you only need to find one company that appreciates you for who you are for it to make it all worth it” - Shawn Tabai

• “It gave me a lot of doubts about my abilities, and I questioned the validity of my previous successful job interviews and promotions. It really is about finding the right match." - Tessa Jones

• “Don't get discouraged! if a company made you feel bad or dismissed during the interview, that probably clues you into what it would be like to work with them!” - Ally T.

• “Try to stay patient if you can and just like anything else, interviewing is a skill that takes practice and will get easier as you go through more interviews.” - Kelsey Kernan

• “Keep on going even when things feel a bit dire and hopeless” - Wren Hawthorne

• “I found it really helpful to go over subjects I felt more comfortable with first. This helped me solidify confidence before tackling something difficult and new.” - Sarah Shekher

• “Don’t give up! I know interviews can be very stressful from my experience, but one failed interview doesn’t define you because bad interviewers do exist(and a lot). So don’t lose faith!” - Ruo Hong

• “Each interview I make some mistake which I know after the fact and I try not to repeat the same mistake.” - Chaitanya Kola

• “Don’t give up, and don’t take the rejections too personally. It’s really tough out there right now, but there is definitely a company that will take you as you are! Also, you are absolutely worth what you set your salary requirements to be!” - Celena Toon

• "It’s not me, it’s the job market. I tried not to let rejections be a reflection of my worth. It’s very competitive out there and the job market is tight. Jobs used to practically fall in my lap. It’s just not the case right now. Not your fault." - Alecs Konson

• "Just keep persevering!! I think it gets harder to find the right company as you become more senior, but it really takes just one company to see the real value in you. You can do it." - Beckie Choi

• "Don't give up! The market's definitely slower than a few years ago, but there's still plenty of stuff happening." - Petra Jaros

• "For anyone who feels hopeless/defeated by the market and interviewing process right now, keep going; it will work out for you." - Amrita Shanaaz Deo

• "Keeping positive energy and finding things to like about interviewers/companies." - Jeri Sommers

• “I strongly encourage everyone to be open to constructive feedback.” - Jenny Cha

• “I just tried to keep the mindset that something would work out. And it did! And it will for you too.” - Josey Kinnaman

• “Don’t give up. Be persistent.” - Sarah Waseem

• “ I volunteered and such to give me a feeling of purpose while searching.” - Rebecca

• “Confidence in my experience, confidence in my knowledge, and practice in any extra time I had.” - Paulina Stancu 

• “I really feel like I got this offer because I finally relaxed in the interview and was able to be myself and confident in my answers.Try to be you as much as possible. It's hard when you have a lot on the line but authenticity is really hard to fake.” - Courtney White

• “Try to not let the tough times and rejections diminish your confidence.” - Ali Hobbs

• “Apply to roles yourself, I got my offer from a direct application. Take risks and accept that you will fail along the way.” - Christina

• “Have an online presence, even just a simple website — it will do a bit of work for you in representing yourself.” - Anna Salatto

• “Don’t procrastinate on interviewing under the guise of preparation.” - Rachell Hong

• “Give yourself time to feel the losses, how hard it is, to breathe, and then continue. Other people's subjective opinions may hurt, but don't let them deter you.” - Caroline Scavotto

• “Tech interviews are tough cookies. But you do get better with every interview.” - Niyati Joshi

• “Be ready to express interest and excitement in the company and the people.I also appreciated the advice from here on being yourself.” - Ahava Morse

• “Rejections initially hit me hard if I let myself focus on them. This sounds small but honestly when I got rejection emails, I just immediately deleted them. It helped me not dwell and take it less personally.” - Becca Barton

• “It’s wild out there right now so don’t get beat down. Keep going! You’ll find it.” - Johanna Ratliff

• “Believe in yourself.” - Rebecca Green

• “I started attending interviews even tho I was not prepared. This can be very difficult as you feel vulnerable to fail in front of some strangers. But trust me you might fail even tho you are prepared because the interviewer was a jerk, so change that mindset that you should be prepared and interview to know your weakness and work on it and feel confident about your strength.” - Srilaya

• “Don't give up : Whatever you do, don't give up. In the end when I actually thought to myself I don't care about the outcome and just care about me getting better at this process.” - Srilaya

• “It’s wild out there right now so don’t get beat down. Keep going! You’ll find it.” - Johanna Ratliff

• “Keep your hopes up and know that the rejections don't define you, just because you don't fit in what they're looking for, doesn't mean that you're capable and smart and it's simply just a tough market right now.” - Jamie Yang

• “Simply believe in yourself and let your confidence show.” - Carolyn Lynch

• “Do the best you can within your control to shift the numbers in your favor, but know that unfortunately it’s a numbers game right now. You’re doing great and don’t give up.” -  Amberley Romo

• “I did my best not to compare myself to my peers - it's a good way to be down on yourself. Keep going even when it feels futile.” - Elle

• “ The emotional set-down from a rejection made it harder to interview well. Good news will wait.” - Janet Riley

• “Staying stuck in preparation mode did little to boost my confidence after a point. After every interview, think about what went well and what can be done better. Use these learnings in subsequent interviews. Over time, it helps build confidence.” - Vasavi

• “The best of these was a role that Leopard sent my way and I feel much more confident that the role in front of me will be one where I won't have to experience that sort of instability.” - Claire Woods 

• “Have patience! and trust yourself.” - Ginny 

• “Believe that you are valuable and can provide value.”  - Huiru Jiang

• “I prayed and worked with the determination that I get a job offer. Be strong, don’t give up, and follow your own path while openly taking inspiration and ideas from those around you! Best of luck everyone, you can do this!!!” - Lori Kumar

• “Repetition/practice makes a tremendous difference in confidence.” - Nikita Rau

• “Believe in yourself and trust your gut on what feels right even if it’s nerve racking to do.” - Katie

• “Keep your head up and don’t deviate too much from what you think you’re worth. The right jobs out there for you.” - Blaise Perennial 

• “The job market is tough. Rejection can feel personal. But it’s not. Every “no” is pushing you closer to a “yes.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “Know what you’re worth, and know what you’re willing to compromise on and what you aren’t.” - Rachael

• “There has been an increase in contract and recruiter companies that rely on desperation tactics and 'negging' candidates to make them feel like they would be 'lucky' to take the deal they are offering.I've been personally insulted and condescended to way more than I can count this go-around. Please don't fall for these tactics. Know your worth, know what you are capable of, and know you are better than dealing with an abusive recruiter.” - Gwen Gullet

• “Start interviewing as soon as i can even if i'm not ready.” - Océane Vandame

• “Don't give up!! Everyone's going to get rejected a lot, resume rejected, recruiter screen rejected, technical interview rejected etc. Don't let it bog you down, keep your head up!” - Irene

• “Easier said than done, but try not to get too discouraged if you don’t do well in an interview! 

• Treat every “failure” as a learning opportunity/practice.” - Helen Liu 

• “Don't panic, you're probably doing better than you think.” - Eva Yan

• “Don’t take rejection personally. The job market is tough, companies are selective, and sometimes interviewers just have bad days.” - Nina R

Set your Goals, Purpose:

• “Stay true to your professional goals and needs, even when things seem bleak.” - Laura

• “Keep your chin up, study, but know that it’s a numbers game.” - Melly Beechwood

• “Keep up as many of your normal routines and hobbies as you can.” - Rachell Hong

• “You will find the right opportunity for you and at that time, you will shine bright!” - Niyati Joshi

• “If you do apply for such roles, don't beat yourself up if you fail.” - Srilaya

• “Know that there are SO many different kinds of EM roles out there, and really know what your ideal role is (hands on? more people leaning?).” - Jamie Yang

• “Keep sowing seeds. They add up. Even if you don’t see immediate results.” - Dorota Kopczyk

• “Focused on quality over quantity. The quality of the opportunity and potential match was more important than volume application numbers.” - Amberley Romo

• “This stuff is hard, y'all. Do the best you can and forgive yourself for the rest.” - Elle

• “Learn how to get that strong yes without burning yourself out with interview prep.” - Janet Riley

• “The best help was having something in progress with another company, which was a hard lesson in keeping the pipeline going. Important note for Future Me: do not schedule a status update  about one company before an interview with another company.” - Janet Riley

• “Know what you want in your next role. And if you don't. Decide on something, test, and iterate.” - Huiru Jiang

• “Anything to keep you strong, positive and happy.I worked on my outlook, staying appreciative and positive.” - Lori Kumar

• “Break your study into key sections—algorithms, system design, technical communication, etc. Don’t try to master everything at once. Focus on one area at a time to avoid being overwhelmed. Your “why” is your compass on this journey. When things get tough (and they will), your “why” will remind you why you started. For me, it’s about making a positive impact through tech while staying true to my values. It’s about helping people and building a better world, and that’s what keeps me going on hard days. Your “why” might be different, but it’s just as valid.Take the time to write it down and reflect on it. You’ll be surprised how often it recharges your motivation. It’s easy to get caught up in “what’s next,” but your “why” will center you and remind you that every step—even the hard ones—are part of something bigger. If you’re gonna fail, fail big. If you’re gonna dream, dream big. Go out and do great things.” — Major General Michael Lehnert (Ret.) There’s no “perfect” way to break into tech, but there is your way. If you’re still on this journey, keep going. You’re not behind—you’re right on time. Your story—yes, yours—is being written as we speak.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “Mindset was also important - focusing on what I wanted in a role over the fear of not getting a job fast enough.” - Rosie

• “Focus on quality over quantity.” - Rachael

• “Started too ambitious (because of course) and scaled back once I knew my own limits.” - Mikaela Miller

• “You may need to cast a wide net but make sure you are absolutely certain what your necessary salary range > needs < (not want) to be and don't accept less.” - Gwen Gullet

• “It’s valuable to continuously reflect on what is/isn’t working for you along the way.” - Océane Vandame

• “Remember my goals.” - Lynnae Bryan

• “Figure out where your bottleneck is.” - Elizabeth Viera

• “Be honest with yourself about how much work you're putting into studying.” - Valerie 

Impostor Syndrome: 

• “Imposter syndrome: I am surrounded by beings of impossible, cosmic intelligence. Also imposter syndrome: I, an incompetent, have tricked them all.” It helps me so much to see myself through the eyes of people I greatly respect, and it’s something I refer back to consistently.” - Amberley Romo

• “I struggle a lot with imposter syndrome and doing mock peer interviews helped me soo much. It made me realize that everyone interviewing is learning and growing like me.” - Océane Vandame

Self-Care and Mental Health

• "Just keep going! Know your worth! Do lots of self-care throughout the process to help regulate your nervous system," - Candice Haddad

• “I definitely think taking care of mental health is huge during interviewing - there’s a lot of mental tools that can come up, so never feel bad about taking some extra time for self-care!” - Sylvia Lujo

• “Going to the gym twice a week and many many evening dance classes was how I de-stressed, I recommend some form of movement that brings you joy with some amount of social component.” - Elizabeth Viera

• “I also tried to take advantage of the flexible time to do some mid-week hikes, take a pottery class, and do more yoga and meditation!” - Elia Grenier

• “Prioritize your mental health. I did not do enough of this—I will admit—but I’m a runner so I made sure to exercise and go to the gym regularly.” - Vanessa Paolantonio

• “Practice thinking and speaking about yourself in positive ways. I have serious imposter syndrome as I’m a self-taught engineer who was a designer for a long time before switching careers. This can be very challenging but know that you deserve a great opportunity, doing what you enjoy.” - Vanessa Paolantonio

• “Doing job-related things I enjoyed when I felt burnt out” - Laryssa Husiak

• “Water, don't forget to drink water. Going outside, even if it's only for 10 minutes to get Chick-Fil-A” - Lianna Novitz

• "Have fun and find things to appreciate in your life. is your dog or kid or friend cute? Then go hug them (if you like hugs) This is not a joke! Job hunting is mentally taxing. Take care of your brain and heart." - Jeri Sommers

• “Gather all the data you need to evaluate if they will be a good environment for you entering the meeting with that attitude really shifts things.” - Renee

• “Prioritize self-care, whatever that looks like for you.” - Tiffany Tang

• “Constant reminder to be kind to myself and to just try my best!” - Christina Yang

• “I also joined a few casual sports leagues to meet people and create community.” - Kristen Godinez

• “Take a break when you need to.” - Ali Hobbs

• “Don't work too hard in a direction that doesn't feel true to yourself.” - Anna Salatto

• “Don’t even look at job postings until you’re done. For me personally, interviewing while studying felt like building the tracks while the train was already coming. It's possible, but avoiding that situation is significantly less stressful.” - Rachell Hong

• “If you hear about someone getting laid off and you liked working with them, send them a short note on LinkedIn to let them know you'll miss them. It can make a big impact on their mental health, and you never know how your paths may cross again.” - Madeline Hanley

• “Basically mental perseverance and cutting yourself a break is so important. Give yourself some patience and compassion in this.” - Johanna Ratliff

• “Practice self-compassion.” - Tabitha Kadima

• “Keeping Emotional Equilibrium and Managing Disappointment.” - Janet Riley 

• “Taking time for yourself is so important! Whether it’s spending time with loved ones or taking a walk in nature.” - Linda

• “This job market is TOUGH!  I am so happy that I had already been working with a therapist - I found her really helpful for talking through the job search, especially managing all of the rejections.It was so easy for me to take rejections personally, but she was great at reminding me that companies are not rejecting me, they're rejecting my application.  And that my performance in a particular interview is often not representative of my abilities.” - Amanda Morris

• “Burnout is real, and it’s sneaky. It’s okay to pause, step away, and recharge. You’ll come back stronger and sharper. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, start with just one of these principles. The momentum will build, and before you know it, you’ll be in a rhythm.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “Letting go of worrying if I was doing the job search "right" (while still reflecting on and adjusting my process and plugging away at the things I had some control over) was one less stressor on top of an already wildly stressful situation.” - Bj Pennington

• “The whole search is an emotional rollercoaster and I tried to be cognizant of my mental state, taking breaks when I felt burnt. Of all the catchphrases, “you only need one” was one I found helpful and grounding through scores of rejections. I tried to keep looking forward and keep applying.” - Christina

• “Taking time off from interviewing helped me recover.” - Lynnae Bryan 

• “Be kind to yourself! Job hunting can be super stressful and demoralizing and exhausting. Remember to be gentle with yourself. Take breaks, try not to beat yourself up.” - Helen Liu

• “Apart from all the studying, I think for me it was more about managing my mental wellness.” - Vicky Enalen

• “As long as you’re mentally prepared that it may not turn into anything, maximize the chances for serendipity!” - Mujda Alamzai-Oh

• “Be kind to yourself.” - Charlotte Taylor

Don’t forget to Rest

• “It's easy to feel guilty about taking full days off from studying or prepping, but your brain needs time to rest, and it will help you be more resilient in the long run.” - Raquel Silva

• “Remember to take breaks from interview prepping” - Renee Huang

• “I also took a total break for the holidays and January which helped my mental health during the slog, and moderated a Never Search Alone Job Search Council which made me feel less isolated in the search." - Elia Grenier

• “Meditate- I started doing a short breathing session and a short meditation before each interview from the Headspace app. It helped a lot to calm down” - Gulnara Mirzakarimova

• “Don’t be afraid to take breaks.” - Tessa Jones

• “I took some time for self-care and to disconnect. This stuff is nerve-wracking and is so emotionally involved. It really helps to unplug and do something you like to do or want to do to feel good and recharge.” - Sylvia Lujo

• “I took a few weeks off to decompress and spend some extra time with my kids. If every single job description I read sounded terrible, I knew I had to take a break” - Laryssa Husiak

• “To decrease the misery of the job search, I immersed myself in my hobbies of anime and video games! Don't ever feel guilty for taking breaks from the job search!” - Celena Toon

• “Keep up with a life outside of job hunting!” - Amanda

• “Taking breaks ( even like 3-4 days with no studies ) really really helped me to get back. Take a break, take a weekend trip , enjoy long weekends like you would when you had a job.” - Srilaya

• “Basically mental perseverance and cutting yourself a break is so important.” - Johanna Ratliff

• “Take breaks when you need to but, Keep. Going.” - Elle

• “Progress isn’t always a straight line, and rest is part of growth. For example, out of my five months of job hunting, I took two months of vacation. Those breaks gave me the energy to push forward when it mattered most.” - Adrianna Guevarra

• “I did take a month off for my mental health, I was so burned out, so I definitely recommend you take some time.” - Balbina Santana

• “Remember to find joy every day and give yourself outlets so that you can disconnect and recharge.” - Rachael

• “Make sure you're giving yourself time to rest throughout the interview process!” - Kylie Wu

• “Keep going but make sure to not apply 24-7 take breaks.” - Emily Herr

• “Take plenty of breaks.” - Daniela