Learning as an adult with a stable job really does take motivation. Set yourself a goal with a clear timeframe and build up your professional skills step by step. The trend of frantic “achievement hunting” is fading, because we all know where it leads: to burnout.

“If you work in IT, prepare yourself for an interview at Google (Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, etc.). Maybe someday you will want to get in there. Even if you do not, believe me, this kind of preparation will not hurt you. Once you realize that you could pass an interview at one of these companies (even if only with a lucky break), many more roads will be open to you than before you started preparing. And all you need along the way is a goal, persistence and time.”

This is part of a real story of a failed Google interview, told by the candidate himself online. Yes, you could call it “failed,” and it sounds like an epic fail, but in reality it is not so clear-cut.

At some point the IT specialist realizes that his knowledge is not enough and he needs to study:

“One day it suddenly occurred to me that my knowledge of classical Computer Science was far below even average, and I had to do something about it. I needed a goal, because studying for 12 weeks of evenings with no goal is rather hard. And what can the goal of gaining knowledge be? Applying it in practice, of course. In everyday life that is quite problematic, but in an interview at a big company it is easy. After finishing the courses I realized that much knowledge brings much sorrow. Before, I simply knew that I knew nothing; now I began to understand what exactly I did not know.”

A year after the Google failure he wrote these lines: “Yes, I failed the Google interview twice. That is sad. It would probably have been interesting to work there. But you can look at it from another side.

  1. In a year and a half I learned a huge amount about software development.
  2. I got a great deal of enjoyment from taking part in programming competitions.
  3. I spent a couple of days in Zurich. When will I get there again?
  4. I gained interesting interview experience at one of the biggest IT companies in the world.

So everything that happened over those year and a half can simply be considered learning, or training. And the results of that training made themselves felt. My idea of moving abroad matured, I successfully passed several interviews at another well-known company, and 8 months later I moved.”

Our hero turned the circumstances in his favor, made interview preparation a learning experience and an interesting stage of life, and found the motivation to keep growing even when it seems that everything has already been achieved. Incidentally, the head of Google in Russia, Yulia Solovyova, said in an interview that she had to go through 25 (!!!) interviews before she was appointed to that position.

Have a great day and easy learning! And we would be glad to discuss any of your career counseling questions in person.