The blog about the time I had 13 interviews in 25 days.

Hello readers! Although if we’re being honest, it’s more like “Hello reader!” — no “s”, in case you missed the difference..

Any ways, kind of a follow-up post on previous one about my job search but I wanted to talk about the time I had 13 interviews in 25 days. Be prepared for A LOT of rejection and never hearing back.

Rocks that were not rejected for the building of these structures.

Let me start off by saying how exciting it is to receive so many interviews in less than a month. It’s a good feeling to know that out of 50+ applicants who applied for the job, you were 1 of 5 that were chosen to move forward to the next step.

It’s fascinating to do a deep dive into a company you’re interviewing for and learn about their culture, the people, and the work that they do. Maybe it’s just me, but I fall in love easily. I found that every time I researched a company, I would say “Oh, I really want to work there!” or “OMG, I really like the people and the work they do!”. During this time, I learned that I really didn’t know what I wanted in a company yet — “Did I value doing meaningful work or a good culture more?”, “Did I want a structured 9–5 or flexible hours?”, “What industry did I want to be a part of?”. I think this is all normal because I’m just starting out in my career but for some reason, I always thought I knew what I wanted. Turns out I didn’t.

I remember there was one company that worked in the micromobility industry (that’s like e-bikes, scooters, etc.) and I really wanted that job because I’m a cyclist myself. It seemed to me that our interests and values would align and it’d be a great fit. I didn’t get the job in the end but that’s not the point.

I had two interviews with this company and I learned that one of the hardest things in a job search was the waiting period. I hated waiting to hear back from my interviewer because I wasn’t in control — it’s their decision now. I can follow-up with an email to say thank you but I don’t have much influence over what they say at this point.

I did learn two ways to deal with the anticipation of waiting to hear back though. Firstly, always ask your interviewer, “What is the rest of the hiring process like and when can I expect to hear back?”. This will give you a sense of what to expect and a definite date so that you’re not completely unaware or lost. Secondly, distract yourself. Go do something that will take your mind off it. I found that when I applied to other jobs and got excited about those, it would ease the anticipation anxiety. I guess it’s like I have all this job-searching energy focused on one job but if I spread that energy over 5 jobs, then it’s less overwhelming.

“Unfortunately we will not be moving forward with your application..”

When I say I had 13 interviews in 25 day, what I really mean is I had 12 rejections in 25 days. I talked about rejection last time and I still don’t know a good way to deal with it.

I don’t really know why I brought this up. I did end up getting a job at the end of this and I guess I wanted to write down my thoughts from the past few months of job searching. It’s an exciting time because you don’t know where you’ll end up but it’s also a tough time. I think it all works out in the end — one way or another. I’m happy to be closing the job search chapter for now and starting a new one. I’ll continue writing here as my UX career changes and grows in order to capture my thoughts and feelings in one place.

Thanks for reading and happy searching!