In previous years, when my senior classmates were looking for jobs, it seemed quite relaxed to me. But when it came to my turn this year, I realized that it was not the case at all...
Spring Recruitment#
In March, most internet companies started recruiting for summer internships. I also immersed myself in the campus recruitment competition with various talented individuals.
Thanks to one of my senior classmates, who urged me to submit my resume in my sophomore year and told me about the daily internship opportunities at many companies. However, I was not proactive enough and ended up waiting until the second semester of my junior year to start applying 😅
Since the summer internship period is not long, I decided to focus on internet companies in Guangzhou (which turned out to be a very wrong decision because there are very few internet companies in Guangzhou).
Being a novice, I didn't have the intention to practice beforehand and planned to aim for the top right away (but that would be embarrassing if I failed). I directly submitted my resume to Huya, Huanju, and Bigo, but I didn't even get a chance to meet the interviewers as my resume was rejected.
After that, I revised my resume multiple times and then submitted it to ByteDance and NetEase. Fortunately, I received a notification for a written test.
"What is ACM mode?"
"Why is this question so unreasonable?"
"Why is the difficulty level of the questions I did on LeetCode different from this?"
When it comes to algorithms, there are three types of people: those who can solve problems without much practice, those who can solve them with practice, and those like me who can't solve them no matter how much they practice.
Unfortunately, I still didn't get a chance to meet the interviewers. After a month, I received a thank-you letter. It turned out that I was the clown 🤡
Without much hope, I submitted my resume to Tencent and Alibaba, and surprisingly, I got an interview opportunity.
The night before the Tencent interview, I could hardly sleep. It was my first interview in life, and it was with Tencent. My weak heart couldn't handle the pressure, and I couldn't contain my excitement either. After the first interview, I checked the process and found out that I failed 😭. Later, I learned that Tencent's department in Guangzhou was WXG, which is the most difficult one.
Life has its ups and downs, and it seemed like I had another chance with Alibaba's interview.
During the interview with Alibaba, I failed without understanding the technical principles and some basic concepts. The interviewer tried to make it less awkward by having a casual conversation with me. I felt sorry for putting them in such a situation 💀
Life has its ups and downs, but why does my life have so many downs?
Afterward, I realized that I was not an ordinary person but a super rookie. After discussing with my senior classmates, I decided to intern and learn more before trying for big companies again ✋
While browsing Weibo, I came across an interesting law called the "Law of Attraction." It states that when you focus your thoughts on a specific field, people, events, and things related to that field will be attracted to you. So, I set a clear goal for myself - "to join a big company through autumn recruitment" - and believed in it. I added the goal of "joining a big company through autumn recruitment" in my Notion.
It seems that when you are desperate, you start believing in superstitions.
Internship#
When I first arrived at the company, I followed the company's tutorial to install some internal tools. However, I was later told that my workstation was not there... So, I had to move again and went to Huangpu. I realized that the tools I had just installed were useless, so I deleted them angrily 😤
After arriving at my new workstation, I briefly introduced myself to my colleagues and received the project's address and some documents. I also managed to get a cup of milk tea from my boss, hehe.
Alright! It's time to start working! I will write beautiful code, solve numerous bugs, follow good coding practices, and understand technical documents at a glance!
Clone the project: git clone xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Install dependencies: npm install
I did it in one go!
Well, I'm quite tired from running around today. I'll work harder tomorrow 😋
The next day, I started feeling restless. My colleagues were all focused on coding, while I had nothing to do. I felt out of place and frustrated. But I came here to learn, so I should take the initiative!
"When can I start making mistakes?"
"You need to familiarize yourself with the project first."
Alright, I've worked hard today. Since my boss said so, I'll work harder tomorrow.
The turning point that made me stop slacking off came one day when I was bored and decided to help a colleague with a bug. Since then, I started receiving bug assignments, and later I was assigned to a new project team. I returned to the company headquarters with my boss, and the days of slacking off were gone forever. Oh, Huangpu, my Huangpu 🤧
As a frontend developer, I not only had to collaborate with backend developers but also with UI designers.
While reviewing the UI of a project in Lanhuhu, I noticed a 404 error. I thought to myself, "I can't let this slide! Lanhuhu is owned by Sina, so they should know how to design properly, right?" As a member of the team, I couldn't resist the urge to fix it. But as an introvert, I chose to pretend that I didn't notice it for 5 minutes. Maybe the UI designer would notice it and fix it?
After 5 minutes, the 404 error was still there, mocking me. Unable to resist any longer, I privately messaged the UI designer and found out that it was intentionally designed as a default image.
Two months passed quickly, and at the end of August, I resigned. I even had some unused time off. It was frustrating! After completing the necessary procedures and handing over unfinished tasks to a colleague, I said goodbye to my two bosses and colleagues and left. These two months were more fulfilling than I had imagined. My bosses and colleagues were friendly and took care of me (I lost count of how many cups of milk tea my boss treated me to). I also learned something, and at least I had a real project on my resume, not just toys I created for learning or fun.
Alright, let's open up the job search platform and see if there are any referrals. "4399 Autumn Recruitment Last Chance"... Wait, it's already the last chance for autumn recruitment??
Autumn Recruitment#
As I mentioned earlier, when I opened the job search platform, I realized that it was already September, and it was the last chance for autumn recruitment. Companies like Xiaomi and SF Express had already completed their written tests 😨 I started to panic and felt that I wasn't fully prepared, but I had to push through and submit my applications.
Tencent was always the fastest in processing applications. I received an interview invitation the day after I submitted my application. Tencent was the first company I interviewed with during the spring recruitment, and now it was also the first company I interviewed with during the autumn recruitment, although it was in Shenzhen 🤔
"Do you have any other advantages or strengths that I haven't asked about?"
"I don't have anything special. I feel like I'm lacking in many areas."
I should have talked more about what I had reviewed, but my mind went blank, and I blurted out something that made the interviewer laugh... Or maybe it was because I made him laugh that he invited me for a second interview. However, I failed the second interview 😂
The following days were filled with anxiety and sleepless nights. I felt like a failure in autumn recruitment, and I lost count of how many rejection emails I received. I wished that HRs knew that my inbox could receive offers, not just thank-you letters.
As the days went by, September passed, and October arrived. My mindset became more relaxed (I'm just a failure in autumn recruitment! Yay!). While reviewing and practicing on LeetCode, I also applied for some additional positions. Unexpectedly, I got an opportunity with Xiaomi.
During the interview, the interviewer asked me, "Why did you choose Xiaomi?"
As a long-time fan, I couldn't contain my excitement and honestly said that I was a Mi Fan.
"Then, how many years has Xiaomi been established?"
"I don't know 😂"
The interviewer probably thought I was a fake fan.
After the first interview, I kept checking the status, and it always showed "interview" without receiving any thank-you letters. It made me feel uneasy. Every time my phone rang, I checked my emails, hoping it was an invitation for the second interview from Xiaomi. But it was always Alibaba Cloud Security Weekly Report, game news from Nintendo, Quora, and others.
!#@&#@(&@#(@@#&**&^&@@# (It frustrated me!)
One night, I even dreamt that Xiaomi sent me an email. When I woke up and checked, there was still nothing.
On the fourth or fifth day, I finally received an invitation for the second interview. After the second interview, it only took one hour for the offer to arrive. The offer was satisfactory, and I was happy with it. We discussed for five minutes, and then the offer was sent 😋
The interview experience with Xiaomi was the best. The interviewers explained the questions I struggled with and summarized my answers using professional terms. I really liked this kind of communication.
Conclusion#
With this, my autumn recruitment journey should come to an end. I never expected that the flag I set months ago could be moved from "Doing" to "Done."
My senior classmate once said, "Come to Beijing, there are more opportunities here."
Now, it seems that I will be moving to Beijing after graduation. In the coming months, I will complete my graduation project, finish my studies, recharge myself, and enjoy the remaining time of my university life.
This article is just a personal record of my job search journey in 2021. I hope it can be helpful to those who are reading it. I also wish everyone can find a job they truly love and become the person they want to be.