Finding a job in North America can often feel like a long, winding road. Last year, I went through the rollercoaster of getting rejected by Amazon and, later, landing an offer from eBay. Looking back, the whole process has taught me a lot about how to approach job hunting.
The day I got the rejection from Amazon, I was at Starbucks, revising my resume when the email came through. I won’t lie, it stung. After months of preparation and solving countless algorithm problems, it felt like a blow. But instead of dwelling on the rejection, I decided to take a step back and reflect on the whole interview. I realized I rushed through the coding part, not explaining my thought process to the interviewer.
Rather than letting this setback discourage me, I used it to learn. I started dedicating two hours every morning to practicing algorithms, but this time, I made sure to talk through my thinking while solving each problem. On weekends, I dug into tech forums, reading about others’ experiences in big company interviews. I also took another look at my GitHub projects, made improvements, and surprisingly, I started getting more interview invitations.
One day, while I was at home in my pajamas, working on a recommendation system project, I got a LinkedIn message from an eBay recruiter. This time, I knew I needed to do things differently. I didn’t just focus on preparing answers for technical questions—I also researched eBay’s business and how machine learning could apply. During the interview, when asked how I’d handle real-time transaction data, I shared my previous e-commerce project experience and tailored it to their specific needs. I could tell the interviewer was engaged and interested in what I had to say.
The final round had a twist. The interviewer threw a system design question my way, one that I had seen recently in a YouTube video. But instead of using a pre-packaged solution, I first clarified the business context and then walked through my thought process step by step. At the end of the interview, the interviewer told me, “We need someone who thinks like that—starting with the real-world problem.”
When the offer email came through, I was grocery shopping, looking at discounted steaks. It was one of those moments where you realize life is full of unexpected turns. If you miss one opportunity, another might be even better. Now, six months into my time at eBay, I look back and realize that not getting into Amazon was a blessing in disguise. The team culture here suits me much better, and the work is more challenging and rewarding.
This experience taught me that job hunting is about finding the right fit, not just going after the biggest name. Rejections are just part of the process, helping to narrow down the best opportunities. The key is to keep going, learning from every interview. Sometimes, today’s failure is just preparing you for tomorrow’s success.
Release time:2025-04-28
