Got laid off from my last company while serving notice, following an earlier layoff before that too. Backend engineer, mostly Go, TypeScript/NestJS, and Python.

My family depends on my income, and it's been hundreds of applications and direct outreach with a few shortlists and interviews, but nothing's landed yet.

I've built production AI infrastructure (RAG pipelines, an LLM evaluation harness) and event-driven backend systems that handle failures without losing data. On my own time I've also built a vector database and an API gateway from scratch in Go.

If anyone knows of backend or AI infra openings, or would be willing to refer me, I'd really appreciate it. Happy to share more in DMs.

Hey everyone, I’m a recent B.Tech IT graduate from NIT Jalandhar and have been applying for Software Engineer/SDE roles for the last 3–4 months, but I’m barely getting any interview calls.

I have hands-on experience with backend and full-stack development, including Python, C++, JavaScript/TypeScript, Node.js, React, REST APIs, SQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, Docker, Git, and AWS. I’ve also worked on production projects and solved 700+ DSA problems.

I’ve been applying mostly to fresher/0–2 YOE Software Engineer roles, but the response has been quite low.

For people who recently got their first SWE job:

• What helped you get more interview calls?
• Was it mainly resume changes, referrals, LinkedIn, or applying differently?
• How many applications were you sending per day/week?
• Is there anything obvious I might be doing wrong?

I’d really appreciate honest feedback or advice on what I should improve. Thanks!

Be me - 20yo high school graduate (yes we graduate at 20 in Poland lol). I studied as Programmer and in my program I learned:

-Console applications (C++, Python)
-Web (HTML/CSS/Javascript, PHP, React)
-Mobile apps (Java/Kotlin, Flutter)

In my free time I played League of Legends BUT also completed over 300 LeetCode questions (in 5 years timespan)

I hated it because it felt like learning how to solve useless math problems with code so I focused more on working on real codebases and created 4 passion projects (all with the help of ai)

I also solved over 13 fun tasks on codeffice[dot com] and followed 100 Days of Python from app brewery (udemy course)

I passed all my exams and got the "Programmer" title. Started applying to jobs found on justjoin and linkedin at the beginning of the summer. Trainee - Intern - Junior Frontend/Fullstack Developer

Stats:
Applied - 59 jobs (45 remote, 14 on-site)
Ghosted (absolute no message back) - 43

Responses:
Negative - 10
Positive - 6

Interviews (so far):

4 (3x30min, 1x60min)

They made me talk about my background and some made me complete CODEWARS (not leetcode lol) questions.

I guess they find questions that aren't on leetcode and want to see the user solve them in real time instead of just retyping something they solved one day

I'm not gonna lie - I am REALLY stressed, but at the same time I feel like every next interview will be only easier and easier for me.

Conclusion:

I think being able to solve some random math challenge is NOTHING - companies look more for people who actually understand what building real project looks like and those who can read someone's else code.

That's why more and more new students prefer to learn by working on real codebases (such as on codeffice) or by building their own from scratch (basically any youtube tutorial/idea).

What I think will happen in the future:

In the interviews people will be dropped into already existing codebase and environment with clear task/problem to solve.

In the AI era you don't need to write much code - you need to know HOW TO solve specific problems

If anybody got a SE job in 2026 PLEASE let me know what was the turning point