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Why I Succeeded In The Interview But Lost The Job!

MirAli Mobasheri on January 04, 2021

What did encourage me to write this post❓ Two weeks ago I applied for 3 companies. The job offers were aimed at junior Front-end develop...
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ecyrbe profile image
ecyrbe • Edited

This is sad. They want a junior developper and expect every junior developper to work like a senior one ?

Especially, you said that the job offers where destined to juniors and then this senior developper just said he was looking for experienced developper after you worked a week for them? did they lie in their job offer ?

From what you described, why this team rejected you do not seems like valid points. These are minor issues unless they have other rants they felt where not policitally correct to tell you.

Let me explain why :

  • clean code : expecting junior developpers to not reinvent the wheel, has nothing to do with clean code. The points he raised have to do with experience and library knowledge. These points can be learned, fixed in review easilly. Clean code is about good code practice like using code factoring, using good naming conventions, making unit tests... again, nothing related to knowing the langage and library in's and out's.
  • html / css : A good senior developper would have told you in a pull request review what he considers bad, what is good and tell you how to do responsive css with media queries, etc...these are also point you acquire with experience, not something you expect from a junior.

Just to be clear, if you sell yourself as a junior developper, i would not have nit picked on any of the described subjects.

what matters when i work with a junior developper (i'm tech lead, with 20 years experience on the field) :

  • i expect him to learn fast
  • i expect him to be curious, to be technology enthousiast
  • i expect him to not do the same mistake twice
  • i expect him to try to search for an answer before coming to ask for my help
  • i expect him to work with the team
  • i expect him to be professional

when i'm disapointed on any junior dev it's for these points:

  • repeat the same errors again and again
  • not listening to advices
  • working only for the pay check without even interrest for computer science (usually not working as a dev for long)
  • attitude problem (not listening, waking late, always on celle phone, playing video games during working hours, being rude, etc)
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alimobasheri profile image
MirAli Mobasheri • Edited

Your comment was very thorough and I think you are right. And I even told the senior developer that if he considered my code was bad he had to tell me and he was like that these are the basis of programming and that he didn't have to advise me about such things.
Of course it was a professional web design agency, so maybe you are right. They've been looking for a senior developer under the name of a junior one.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. 👍 👍

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald • Edited

Of course it was a professional web design agency, so maybe you are right. They've been looking for a senior developer under the name of a junior one.

Close. I suspect they were looking for a senior developer while only paying for a junior.

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Nathan Kallman

that these are the basis of programming and that he didn't have to advise me about such things.

That sounds like a junior has been given the title of senior! In no way is knowing that a certain library function exists in a particular language "basics of programming". Advising about details is exactly what seniors are to be doing for juniors.

I'm sorry that you've had a bad experience.

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald

Well said! One week is not enough time to give a junior developer to grow, especially when the company will not provide feedback. Clearly, they'd never even intended to tell him why he was being let go, until he asked.

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Erik O. • Edited

Honestly it seems like it wasn't a junior dev job. Juniors should be told about their mistakes and deficiencies so they can learn from that. Most companies search for experienced devs under the name of juniors so they can pay less to them so however I can't see your code it seems like it was the case.

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alimobasheri profile image
MirAli Mobasheri

Yeah, I can agree with you. Otherwise I did everything they asked me. They just expect too much.
And the thing about money isn't surprising. We're in Iran where the economy is just getting worse and worse. 😑 😑

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Anna J McDougall

I agree with others that these don't sound like reasonable expectations for a junior, however I think in the end you are bringing the correct attitude to it and learning as much as you can from the experience. That kind of attitude will lead to another (probably better) job and you will be better for the experience!

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alimobasheri profile image
MirAli Mobasheri

Yes, of course. I appreciate your wise words. ✌️ ✌️
I've been rejected for many things throughout my life. But in the end nothing seems to stop me, because in the end I know that the worst things have happened to me and yet I have survived.

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codemouse92 profile image
Jason C. McDonald • Edited

They did not do right by you.

I've had many interns join my company with bad coding habits, which they grew out of. This is what code review and mentorship is for. Any company which is going to hire for junior positions must be prepared to mentor.

What's further, all the points of complaint are things your supervisor could have brought up to you. You could have improved! One week is not enough time.

It's their loss. You can walk away knowing, it's not you, it's them. Yes, you have more to learn, but by their conduct, they don't deserve to be a part of that journey.

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alimobasheri profile image
MirAli Mobasheri

Of course it's their loss. But anyone can be a part of my journey, dear Jason. And I will gladly welcome everyone, even the sworn enemy. Just kidding! 😄 😄
And thanks for taking time to read this long story through and all the feedbacks you gave. ❤️

I would also like to delight your day with a poem by Hafiz:
The comfort of the two worlds, is the meaning of these two words:
With friends munificence, with enemies forbearance!

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kethmars

Thank you for sharing your story. It's inspiring and from your writing I see that you're quite mature.
The post actually made me really think about the topic, so I made a video about it highlighting what we should expect from junior devs and what not:
dev.to/kethmars/what-makes-a-great...

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alimobasheri profile image
MirAli Mobasheri

Thanks man. That's great! I watched your video and really liked your ideas about the topic. 👌
The programming world is one based on learning and improvements, people shouldn't really make it that hard! 😄

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kethmars

Thanks, and exactly :)! Tech skills are definitely needed, but it's also needed to give people time to acquire them on professional level.

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Manav Misra

Based on ur writing ✍️ here, I'd bet money that you'll be back in a new position within 6 months - conservativly speaking. Of course, provided you are doing all the things right like targeting and positive attitude, etc. as you have been doing. 🤞🏾

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MirAli Mobasheri

Thanks a lot. I'd bet too that I can do it. 💪 💪

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Rafael

That sucks that they let you go instead of telling you about your mistakes and give you a chance to correct them. I appreciate you posting this tho, it helps keep me in perspective for future interviews and job offers. Cheers!

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MirAli Mobasheri

Yes, that sucks. But posting this story and reading all the comments that everyone has written, helped me know more about my position in programming and what I should expect in an ideal workspace. Cheers!

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Eduardo Cookie Lifter • Edited

Thanks for sharing I enjoyed most of your experience and with great insight, I think you can only go upwards from these lessons. It would make sense to me that you have mixed emotions about what happened but don’t be discouraged. In local development it’s easy to not be careful, when you’re applying for a job, as you mention above, you have to write code that other people can understand. I guess that’s the lesson I can get from your story. Good luck in all future endeavors. 😉

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MirAli Mobasheri

Yes, Eduardo. I think with every new day that comes, there's also something new to learn. I'm glad that I was of any help to you.

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ravishankar

Hi, I think it is almost a month now Mir, have you got the job or still searching?

Because after reading this post, I think anybody will be impressed at the amount of knowledge you have about JS and other technologies.

There are both positives and negatives about your experience. Positive is they gave you a chance to work for 7 days at least, I have been trying for job since many months (i dont want to reveal how many) but nobody gave me a chance even.

The sad part is that you lost job after 7 days.

I totall agree with ecyrbe's comments and he/she is 100% right according to me. They want a senior dev in the name of junior dev. This is very unfortunate, but Mir, your post was really really good and by just reading this post itself people will understand how much you know about JS and other technologies, only seeing this post someone should hire you man. You are indeed a thorough professional.

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alimobasheri profile image
MirAli Mobasheri

Thanks for your feedback. Yes, I've got a new job as a frontend developer. Today is the fourth day. So I wish they don't kick me out after a week! 😄
And I wish you good luck. There is no reason to lose hope.
The best thing is to get more ready. Always learn new things. Dev.to is a great source.
In the weeks that have passed since the day I lost my job, I have learnt Typescript implementation into React and making cleaner structures by writing more advanced React custom hooks.
So keep learning and improving and someday you will achieve what you have always desired to. Wish you the best! ❤️

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MertSenel • Edited

You exposed yourself to a challange and learnt what you dont know and what you need to learn. You will eventually become a developer as you wanted to be. Just want it and put in the effort, it will rain on you.

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alimobasheri profile image
MirAli Mobasheri

"If you know the point of this secret, you'll also know", that's what Mawlana (aka Rumi) once said, "You are whatever you are looking for".

Thank you.

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John Peters

No failure here, just an experience in learning some more deep things. It's really nice that the developer shared his insight. Now, get back on that 'horse' and try again. To me, this was a hiring failure because they should have caught all that stuff ahead of time.

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MirAli Mobasheri

To me, this was a hiring failure because they should have caught all that stuff ahead of time.

That's a different view and also a right one.

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Graham Morby

As a junior developer, it is the employer's job to help you and progress you into the more complex coding issues. You should never be expected to know everything, even as a senior developer.

The beauty of development is that every day you learn something new, you progress and challenge yourself. That's why I love my job.

I think the spin here is that you got lucky my friend, lucky you never fell into a role that required you to overachieve to meet some subset of ideas on how code should be written.

You have a bright future ahead of you with plenty of opportunities to make the life you wish to create.

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MirAli Mobasheri

I think the spin here is that you got lucky my friend, lucky you never fell into a role that required you to overachieve to meet some subset of ideas on how code should be written.

I thinks that's totally right. Because I also remember that the same day the CEO was talking to me about the deal, I told him that I would like to work in a creative workspace. I love improving and generating new ideas, otherwise why even try programming?
Thank you, Graham. I too wish everyone a bright future and the life they desire. ❤️

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MirAli Mobasheri

Thanks for your feedback, Mr. Seritt. Of course I'm looking forward to whatever chance life may give me. There aren't plenty of them so I'm watching out sharply for anything that comes this way. 😅 😅

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Karan Gandhi

That was an interesting read.
Personally, I believe you have succeeded in your own way.
Good day, Ali!

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MirAli Mobasheri

Of course, writing is my most favorite hobby. 😄 😄
And thanks for your motivation. ❤️ 😉

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Daniel Einars

Your didn't fail the job. They failed you.

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MirAli Mobasheri

Thank you, Daniel. 😄

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hidden_dude

Keep trying and keep learning.
In the end, companies need capable people.
And the more capable you become, the harder it will be for them to resist hiring you.

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alimobasheri profile image
MirAli Mobasheri

I will keep these words in mind. 👌