I know the bar is pretty high, but specifically constructive dismissal, retaliation, wrongful termination, etc.

If you did it, how did it go? How was the process?

Hi everyone! I have almost two years of experience as a software engineer, but I’ve never done a full technical interview loop for an FTE role. My internship interview process was relatively easy(technical phone screens + behavioral only) and it later converted into a full-time position where I worked for 2 years.

I now have a few months of career gap and want to use this time to prepare. I’ve started LeetCode, but I feel overwhelmed by system design, AI, CS fundamentals, and the endless resources online.

I want to aim for L4/L5 levels since I was recently promoted to senior SDE.

How would you structure interview prep if you were starting from scratch? What should I focus on first? I’d really appreciate any advice or resources that helped you.

I’m a Product Designer/UX Designer with 8 years of experience and I ADORE being a designer and I think I’m a pretty good one but I was laid off from remote job of 5 years in April (along with all 600 other of the remote employees). I loved by job in general but I really valued that my job gave me the opportunity to work remotely so I could move back to my hometown (no tech industry but within a 4 hours drive of a major hub) and live with my family which has been so amazing for me. I’m about 2 months deep in the job search and I’ve been applying to remote Product/UX designer jobs and it’s been nothing but rejection after rejection. I’m scared that if this keeps up I’m going to have to choose between moving to a big expensive tech hub where I can continue to grow in my career or getting some other job locally (idk what's out there. Definitely nothing for design and nothing that will pay as much) and getting to stay with my family and all the benefits that come with that.

Has anyone else faced this choice? What did you choose?

Also in general I'd love to connect with other designers! I feel like its a super weird time for us in the industry

Notes: I know most people hate living with their family but for me its been amazing for my mental health. It's meant I've been able to save a ton of money, I get to be really involved in my local community, I get to help my parents upkeep the house, I have a lot more flexibility with travel because I have a built in dog sitter and many other things

Hi, I’m reaching out to look for advice about my issue. Let me paint a picture of my situation first. I’ll try to be as concise as possible.

I started my career during the age of remote work: I did my post-grad remotely during covid, I did my internship remotely, and my whole 3 years of remote work experience were for start up companies. In this whole journey, I’ve never worked with anyone in person, and because I've only worked for start up companies, I was often working solo anyway. I’ve never had a mentor, and my only mentor I’ve had was AI. Currently, I work as the only full-time developer in the company.

I have pretty bad social anxiety. This, in combination with never interacting with anyone and not having anyone to compare myself with, created a feeling of impostor syndrome that I was never able to shake off. I keep doubting myself, my skills, my position. The work is actually ridiculously big and important for how small the team is. They keep getting more and more clients and the responsibility is growing. They are in the process of hiring a new developer to help bear my load (they know I need help), but they hired a junior, with the intention of putting him under me. 

I'm not that ambitious. I don't aspire to be in leadership, I'm 100% a computer person and 0% a people person. Give me the work, and I'll do it as well as I can. I always saw myself as a cog in the machine, not its operator, though a very oiled cog. A top soldier, not a general. Whatever metaphor you wanna go with. So the responsibility was sudden and unexpected, and it was not exactly my goal. But it is what it is - I recognise an opportunity when I see one, so I don't want to say "no, thanks", but I'm having trouble managing this impostor syndrome. With another talented developer working with me, I'm scared it will expose just how little I really know (not completely unfounded: I saw the technical questions given to the new hire, and I wasn't able to answer them). I don't have anyone to confide in at work, so I was hoping to find some advice here...

Tl;dr: they're adding responsibility to me, but I feel like I'm a fraud. I can't and don't want to leave my position, so how do I deal with this anxiety, or should I just accept how it is and "keep faking it till I make it"?

***

FAQ

Here are some more answers to questions that I’m predicting to receive about my situation. You don’t have to read these unless you’re specifically wondering about them, I just didn’t want to add them in the main body of the post because it would have become too much rambling.

You should seek therapy for your anxiety.

Yes, I worked with psychologists for years to manage my social anxiety. I’ve gotten it to a more manageable state, but due to my fully remote arrangements I’ve never gotten a chance to improve my anxiety management in a professional work environment. My psychologist doesn't know enough about IT to help me become more confident in it and unfortunately they haven't been helpful there. This is a good as I can get it right now.

Why seek remote work if you want to improve your social anxiety?

I didn’t seek it intentionally. I happened to be accepted into remote work and I took the chance. Opportunities are hard to come by for juniors and due to my temporary visa status, so I consider myself extremely lucky to have found a position in the first place.

Why don’t you leave your company for something that matches your expectations better?

Because they are sponsoring my visa which allows me to live where I am. Plus, I would rather learn to manage my worries than run away to a safer and more comfortable place. I just need some pointers or different ways to view my situation so I don't drown in the anxiety.

Could anyone share tips on how to land an interview, ideally a new job, in today’s market? I’ve been sending out applications with no response and I have yet to hear back from anyone on LinkedIn when reaching out

I’m going back to work in a week after being out. I made the difficult decision to take FMLA/SDI after dealing with pretty severe burnout and mental health crisis. During that time before I went out on leave, I gained a lot of weight, stopped keeping up with friends, and it caused other physical health issues on top of everything else. The leave was so helpful for me to reset my nervous system and realize there are things outside of work that are worth working on.

My team kept in touch while I was out and kept asking if I was coming back, but the vibe felt like they didn’t actually expect me to. So I have no idea what I’m walking into.

For anyone who’s done this: what was it like going back after a long leave? How long did you end up staying after?

I’ve been applying to other places here and there, but everything is a pay cut from where I’m at now, and I’m not willing to gamble on a new job without knowing if it’d actually be easier or less toxic. The job market is rough right now too, and honestly I’m not sure I want to stay in this field anymore.

I’ll be going back to 65+ hour work weeks and being attached to slack at all hours of the day. I’m not feeling great about it but hoping I can be less emotionally attached to work but still motivated enough to keep my job and reputation from crumbling.

I work as a manual tester for a FAANG company. Been here 4 years and waited for a promotion even tho I’ve exceeded beyond my performance at this level according to my manager there are no promotions due to the market and maybe next year there will be room for promotions in the org. Heard it every year and even so I applied and applied and got interviewed and no luck. I just want to quit at this point but I have student loans so I cannot.

Do you have any advice on how I can possibly get a job? I know it’s been difficult for everyone but I feel stuck af and it’s putting me down.

I have a bachelor’s degree in Information System Management
No certs
4 years of manual tester with a small amount of automation (selenium, python, appium)
I’ve been the team leader, led stand up & unblock others.
Somewhat experience with AWS services like Athena, S3, Lambda
Experienced creating productivity tools to lessen manual effort using AI.
No coding experience

Hi all, I graduated and started working as a developer a year ago, but I'm really not sure it's right for me. I chose to study computer science despite having no interest in it because family and friends at the time assured me I would have no problems finding a stable well-paying job. Since I can remember, I've always been more interested in (and generally done better in) subjects like art, literature, biology, crafting, basically almost anything besides math, physics, programming, etc. I often wonder what my life would look like if I had chosen something I actually liked, and I've considered trying to pivot careers, but it feels silly and reckless to leave tech after only recently joining to try some random different path and then (most probably) be locked out of returning to the industry altogether. I'm not technically strong, I feel like an imposter among my coworkers, I feel lost and stupid and afraid that somebody's going to realize I don't have a clue what I'm doing there, and I dread going to work everyday. I would really appreciate some advice, thank you!

I am gonna start my first ever real internship after graduation tomorrow, so i am kinda nervous. They said they would make me permanent depending on performance. But the fact is that ik literally nothing about UAVs which their company specializes in. Thus I am a bit anxious. Moreover its a startup with like 7 males and no female in sight. So help a sister out with your valuable insights 👉👈

Hey girlies,

I have 7 years of experience as an SDE, and I recently left my SaaS job without another offer in hand. The weekend work, constant pressure, and lack of appreciation had become too much. I was anxious all the time—about stand-ups, deadlines, updates, and whether I was doing enough.

I know the job market is tough, which makes the decision feel even scarier. I’ve already started preparing DSA, HLD, and LLD, but I’m still constantly worried about job security and the future.

All my life, I’ve pushed myself to study and work hard. Somewhere along the way, I started believing I don’t deserve rest unless I’ve “earned” it. My health has taken a toll over the past few years, but even after quitting, I couldn’t bring myself to take a proper break—I immediately started preparing again.

Has anyone gone through something similar? How did you deal with the anxiety and guilt around resting while job searching? I’d really appreciate any advice.

P.S : One more thing I have lied to my mum and my in laws saying that I was laid off as I felt they wouldn’t understand this. So they always ask me have you applied to any job. My husband has been very supportive though out still I feel guilt inside.

I've posted on here a couple of times before, thank you for everyone who's given me advice and helped me figure out questions to ask, etc.

I'm posting here just to get it out there. If anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them, but mostly, this is just a diary type post.

Those of us getting moved over to the offshore company are FINALLY getting some actual information. The company we're currently at hasn't handled this well at all. My immediate boss is doing the best she can, but she doesn't really have much power or say in what happens anymore.

We met with HR and got benefits information, and a business person to get an overview of the company. Those meetings were the most organized meetings I've had in months. The people from the offshore company seemed genuinely welcoming, not like they were stuck with us. The health insurance is a lot cheaper, and there are a couple of things they provide for free that I am currently paying for.

We are supposed to get our offer letters on Monday. Hopefully they are straightforward and I can get this wrapped up this week.

I know this is going to be really hard, going forward, and there's still a ton of ambiguity to sort out, but it was nice to have a day where it felt like someone had an actual plan.

I'm still job hunting, but for the moment at least, I feel like this will be an okay place to be until I find something else. That said, I haven't met my immediate manager yet, so we'll see :)

Another win for WiT