I spent hours on a take home but still bombed the technical interview

Week 3 of my Machine Learning journey

What happened

This week I built an entire full-stack application for a startup take-home interview. Frontend, backend database, the whole architecture. I found the role just browsing a YC careers page, and startups move fast. I chatted with one of the cofounders, and then moved on to the technical interview quickly.

The take home itself went well. I kept really good documentation throughout the build, and during the live demo, I walked them through everything I built and why. That part I felt good about.

The live coding portion is where I fell apart.

Where I fell short

I am being honest with myself here. I do have technical gaps. I can build the thing, but I clearly need to lock in on working under pressure. When I am in my own flow, I get exactly what I want out of my codebase. Under a live timer, with someone watching, it is a different game. That is the gap I am now actively trying to close.

There was also a workflow mismatch. My process is system design first, then I convert the design into prompts, then I build in Cursor, and I unit test each phase as I go. The interview was not set up for them to watch that thinking process, and one of the engineers was firmly anti AI-assisted coding. So they never really got to see how I actually work.

I am not bitter about it. It is a learning experience. But it did teach me something about fit, which I will get to.

The biggest realization

I have been going down a rabbit hole this week, browsing VC firms, their portfolios, which startups got funded, and then checking what roles those companies have open. I am doing it for myself, just to understand the landscape.

A few things clicked.

I think I am mainly targeting Series C startups now. Companies that have raised money, have more runway, a bit more structure, but still move fast. Remote first, definitely. And companies that lean on take-home exams over live whiteboard grinding, because that is where my actual strengths show.

I also started questioning what the real difference even is between a full-stack software engineer and what I am learning as an applied engineer day to day. The more I look, the more they start to feel like the same thing.

I met my dietitian from Nourish this week, and I really like that company. I am drawn to companies working on emotional and mental health. That is the kind of mission I want to be near.

What went right at work

Not everything this week was a stumble. I had a meeting with leadership from other departments and showcased a scrubs application I built that automatically runs their data scrubs. They really liked it. There was real interest in sharing the tool with more people and figuring out how to scale it up.

So at work, I am doing well. And that matters. Regardless of how the job hunt goes, I have a job, I have insurance, and that stability is exactly what lets me keep learning, keep building, and keep applying without panic.

This week’s building and troubleshooting

Outside the take home, I spent a lot of time troubleshooting. My personal website had a shutdown issue, and my job agent website had functions that were not doing what I wanted. I dug into both, fixed them, and learned a lot in the process.

The take home itself taught me new tech stacks. I got introduced to Firebase, played a lot more with React and TypeScript, and got more comfortable with CSS along the way.

I also finished another homework assignment in my CIT 595 summer course.

This week’s networking

I have been reaching out to more people on LinkedIn. Not transactional networking, just genuinely saying hello and building connections over time.

I also helped out a fellow chemical engineering alum from UIUC who was looking to land a role at AbbVie. I mentored him and gave him honest, transparent advice about the company. Hopefully it was helpful. Paying it forward counts as networking too.

At work, I was able to volunteer myself to another team that has multi-variable model projects coming up and the tech lead enjoyed my projects show case and my enthruism of wanting to help; so I will be jumping into their ship and get my hands onto some sort of multi-variable work now. Not tech industry MLE, but the principles are there; so another solid project to add onto my portfolio.

Where I am

I see my gaps clearly now, and that is a good thing. I know what to work on. Series C, take-home friendly, remote, mission-driven companies are where I am aiming. More interviews, more experience, more skills.

I have a job. I have insurance. I am going to keep learning, keep playing, keep applying, and not give up.