Sir, this is a junior posting. I brought a resume, not a whiteboard and a crystal ball. The scope inflation on job titles this year is out of control.
Junior title, staff-engineer expectations, intern budget. The trifecta.
The rejections stopped hurting, which sounds like progress but feels like going numb. Taking the weekend fully off the search. The numbness is a signal, not a strength.
The numbness is your brain protecting you. Rest is part of the strategy, not a break from it.
Google · rejectedEvery interviewer said hire, the committee said no. Apparently that happens more than people admit, the packet did not have a strong enough signal on one axis. Cleared the humans, lost to the process. Reapplying in a year, they said I could.
HC rejects after clean rounds are brutal and common. The 12-month reapply is real, use it.
ZerodhaTurned down the big logo because every signal in the loop screamed burnout. Six months into the "boring" choice and I have hobbies again. Prestige is a terrible painkiller.
Walking away from a prestigious-but-toxic offer takes more strength than accepting one. Respect.
Walmart Global Tech · rejectedCoding rounds were manageable. The design round pushed hard on scale, sharding, and consistency tradeoffs and I stayed too abstract. If you are interviewing for SDE-3 level, they expect you to drive numbers and pick tradeoffs out loud, not wait to be asked.
The 47th is LeetCode. My laptop fan sounds like it is also job hunting and losing.
You've reached the Mariana Trench. That's everything for now.