21 Fall PSW | Two years of job hunting, switched to coding, successfully secured a work visa.

Author: Xiaohongshu (RED) creator HypBetmo (Successful Landing Edition)

I don’t want to glorify hardship, but I also can’t say things like “life is easy.”

It’s just that for the decisions I’ve made, the path I’ve chosen, and the goals I want to achieve — no matter what, I will see them through.

When I first graduated and started job hunting, pressured by reality and society, I forced myself to mass-apply everywhere and job-hunt like I was rushing through a market, pushing myself to find a visa-sponsoring job as quickly as possible. For every company I applied to, I checked whether they offered sponsorship. I also doubted countless times whether my decision to stay was the right one. Watching friends around me land jobs one by one, I questioned my abilities, felt lost, anxious, and even thought about giving up.

But when I realized there are thousands of evaluation systems in this world, I finally broke free from a single standard of judgment and chose to live in a way I enjoy most and would regret least. It wasn’t until I followed my long-standing interests and switched into tech that things truly started to get better.

Especially after failing many interviews, I stopped caring whether a company offered sponsorship — every interview became a learning experience and a gain. I also stopped obsessing over whether my applications received responses. After all, every role I applied to was one I genuinely wanted, and every resume was carefully tailored — each one carried a precious bit of hope.

I also got used to rejection letters. They’re not that important — I only need one offer. No matter how many rejections I receive, it’s no big deal. (Though if you’ve applied a lot and received zero interviews, it might be worth reviewing whether your resume is well-written and whether you’re applying in the right direction.)

After doing more interviews, I realized every company and every role looks for slightly different things. Who would’ve thought SDE roles might require case studies or even GMAT-style assessments 😇? Each role hires the best match. Not hiring you doesn’t mean you’re not good enough — it just means you’re not the best fit.

So there’s no need to doubt yourself because of rejections or failed interviews. Interviews are simply a way for you to discover your gaps. What you need to do is fix them and let each failure bring you closer to an offer.

There’s also no need to be overly fixated on the grad schemes of big companies with OTs, VIs, and ACs. Among the seven companies I interviewed with, four didn’t even have VI or AC stages in their grad schemes.

And remember — you don’t have to solve everything alone.

When you feel lost or stuck and can’t figure things out, go socialize and talk to friends or seniors. Listen to different perspectives, but always make your own decisions.

Finally, if you’ve read this far: no matter what you’re worrying about right now or striving for, as long as you truly want it and put in the right and sufficient effort, you can achieve what you hope for! 💪

Heaven notices and favors passionate, resilient souls who shine for themselves. May we all get what we wish for. Passing on good luck — whoosh whoosh whoosh!