Blew it again (I think)

LegacyUser

I work as a software developer in a small company, I've been trying to get a better-paid job but have failed so far. Mainly because I don't want to move outside of my current city (in Ireland but not Dublin).
It's not that I haven't tried hard; I've been to loads of interviews. I have used up a lot of my annual leave doing so.I got my current job by creating a website in my spare time while I was working in my previous job (which was better-paid but not great experience-wise).
I don't want to bore you non-IT people with technical terms but have to give a bit of background so you understand.
I work in ASP.NET in my current job. I learnt it by doing the website I mentioned earlier.
However I went for an interview yesterday for a job that required knoweldge of the next version of ASP.NET (ASP.NET MVC).
I can describe it, I know what it is and have been trying to learn it over the past few weeks but was so busy I didn't have the grasp of it to impress. I was asked a few questions about it and answered as best I can but I didn't have any practical experience of it to talk about, all I could say was "I've been looking at that"
I have now decided to learn this ASP.NET MVC technology in my "spare time" (ha, that's a good one) but I am "in my head" about not knowing it in time for yesterday.
It's very upsetting and frustrating. If only I had started to study it three or four months ago, I would have had it in my locker for yesterday.
I was under savage pressure in work for a couple of weeks there and couldn't bear to look at a PC in the evening. I suffer from depression so I have been advised to exercise, which I do by going to the gym three or four evenings a week.
By the time I am back from the gym and have cooked and eaten my dinner there is little time to do anything else.
I could do it at weekends but I have a problem with OCD where I have to go home to my parents to do gardening, tyding up etc. (which they keep telling me there is no need to do).
It's alright to say "I'll learn it now" but it's a bit late now after the interview is over.
I think I didn't do enough to get the job even though I spent all of Sunday studying for it and got up early on Monday to study some more.
I might not get another chance like this for a good while, I feel like such failure.

LegacyUser

Hi OP,
I'm a software developer too so I'll just share my experience with interviewing process.

A lot of companies are very grueling. I'm not sure if you've heard of Googles' interview process (very detailed and obscure questions, etc.) but a lot of companies try to emulate that now.

You may not have done all that badly. What happens a lot is that interviewers keep on pressing topics until you hit a brick wall. They might start with simple questions and keep on questioning your answers for more detail, adding more things to it and my favourite "Are you sure?" to make you doubt yourself even if you got it perfectly correct. It's all just to see how you are under pressure and just how far they can push your knowledge. Its perfectly ok and expected to the the wall with some questions the more they push, they are just seeing how far you know the topic before changing to a new line of questioning.

The next thing is studying. It's definitely a good thing to do before these types of interviews but don't beat yourself up too much. Again, they like to keep questioning you until they find things you DON'T know. That's fairly normal. And given it's such a broad topic it's hard to know where they'll pull questions from so even the most experienced guys can end up not having a clue how to answer some questions.

All you can do, is do your best. Keep up the study, even doing little mini projects on your own can be better than reading books but the books are good for being familair with the correct terminology for the concepts you learn.

Often, be ready for whiteboarding. It expected some places and really good if you can get up and write sample code as you talk. It doesn't need to be real code, just say you'll write pseudo code to demonstrate your point... like....

if (X happens) {
...do Y....
}

exactly like that, and they will be happy.

Overall, don't stress yourself out. You could go to the same company tomorrow and interview with a different guy and his interview will be exactly what you studied... it's tough going but just the way these jobs are.

On a side note... do you have a computer degree or diploma or is it all self taught?
Just wondering, ASP.NET is still used by many companies but not loads or just just in isolation. It's also good to get some knowledge of similar topics like web technologies etc. Don't get TOO bogged down in that though, every company has their own technology stack and it's not really possible to learn it all up front for every interview. Often your knowledge of one topic just shows it they think you'd pick things up well if they wanted you to try something else.

Head up, it's a tough industry, especially if you want to stay at home. Even the best of us have to go through multiple interviews to find the right fit but you will find it.

HowItIs

OP you need to accept that you can only reach on so much. You're punishing yourself for not being ready and yet you acknowledge yourself that you're working full-time and have very little time to commit to anything outside of work.

But then in the same breath you're chastising yourself for not being up-to-date with the next version of ASP.

You're working OP, which is a real achievement at the moment and better still you're working in your chosen field, (although I understand you want to move on), so all in all you're not in a bad position. Decide that this job you interviewed for is gone and put it out of your head. The more time you spend beating yourself up over it the harder you make it for yourself next time.

The only other thing I can offer is this; if it takes you 3 months, 6 months, or a year to find a position that suits you; so what? You want to be in a different situation, I understand that, but it will be easier to deal with if you accept that it may take some time as against putting all your faith in every single interview and then being crushed when you don't get it.

Remember OP in life the number of times we don't succeed will ALWAYS outweigh the number of times we do.

G-Money

I work in software and to be honest, I'm close to giving up when it comes to preparing for technical interviews. It's such a complete shot in the dark that I find you've very very little chance of researching the right stuff ahead of time. I don't mean you should sit back and do no prep. Definitely go over your CV, know what you've done when and where. I also try and go over what I think they'll ask me, but I find that 9 times out of 10, what I've researched beforehand has been totally and utterly useless.

LegacyUser

G-Money wrote: »

I'm close to giving up when it comes to preparing for technical interviews. It's such a complete shot in the dark that I find you've very very little chance of researching the right stuff ahead of time.

I find that too but I am not going to give up preparing for the technical questions as that's a bit defeatist. Because I am working I find it difficult to prepare properly as I usually only get a couple of days notice for the interview and I have to swot up at night which means I only have four or five hours of preparation which is nowhere near enough.
That's why I was so upset at yesterday's one not going well as I had the whole weekend to study and still even though it helped me a little it still wasn't enough.
I come out from the interview with the overwhelming regret of not knowing this, not knowing that. I pull out the phone and google it and find the answer and say "damn I should have known that". Like yesterday he asked me what was SQL injection. I couldn't think of it at the time but the very second I stepped out of the room I remembered what it was. I suppose on the law of averages I will get the questions right one day eventually if I keep going to interviews and taking notes of what I didn't know so I know for the next time. But every job I don't get means it's an opportunity lost and then the next one won't come maybe for another six months.

G-Money wrote: »

I also try and go over what I think they'll ask me, but I find that 9 times out of 10, what I've researched beforehand has been totally and utterly useless.

I find that happens all the time.
The other thing is that since my degree I haven't really got a good "prestigious" job. I only got this one because I was on the dole for six months before and the company got a 12 month tax break on me because of that. I was also a bit of a dosser when I was younger and I feel guilty about that so I want to make up for it. That's what drives me every day.
Also I have to take money from my parents every week to keep me going. They can afford it and they want to do it because I'm a good son (even if I say so myself), I come home every weekend and do stuff for them. I hate taking the money, I want to get a better paid job not for myself but so I can pay them back (they won't accept it but I'll put it in their account without them knowing). I would say they have given me the bones of 20k between my time in college and supporting me in this job. They are in their mid-seventies so there isn't much time to pay them back, I have to hurry up and get a better job soon.

beentherebefore wrote:

On a side note... do you have a computer degree or diploma or is it all self taught?

I have a degree from one of the lesser know IT's (five years ago)