technical interview shame
Want to know the worst part of falling a technical interview was for me? It wasn’t losing the opportunity… Or the job offer. Or the technical knowledge I missed. I knew I could fix that. The worst…
Nov 18, 2025 · 2 MIN READ
Want to know the worst part of falling a technical interview was for me?
It wasn’t losing the opportunity… Or the job offer.
Or the technical knowledge I missed.
I knew I could fix that.
The worst part of falling technical interviews was… How it made me feel about myself.
Sure, I felt stupid during the interview when I didn’t know something.
But afterwards it got even worse.
I felt miserable.
Every rejection opened an old wound of failure in my soul.
It reminded me of everything I messed up even since I was a kid.
My math exam in secondary school… My failed uni assignments… My first internship.
So my brain went bananas.
“You suck”
“You are not enough”
“You will never make it”
For hours, I suffocated between shame, self-guilt and fear of failure.
Instead of thinking about what truly went wrong during the interview… And fix it. I would binge on Kentucky Fried Chicken, cheap beer and Netflix series.
Which only made me fat, lazy and even more depressed.
(in my third year coding, I got close to 100kg - that's obese for an average height male).
The solution was simple.
Separate “who I am” from "how the interview went".
Software dev is a skill. Technical interviews are a performance of that skill.
Skills can be learned and improved.
The better your skill, the better your performance.
(we can help you fix that and level up to Senior, check it out here)
Next, I fixed my sleep and my diet. Then, after a few weeks, I went back to interviewing.
But this time, I didn’t care.
Rejected or not… I congratulated myself on showing up and moved forward.
I even had a ritual… No matter the outcome of the interview, I would go to a fancy coffee shop in town and order my favorite cappuccino (caramel flavor).
Did my technical interview performance got better overnight?
Nope.
I still had to fail. And learn. And try again.
But… What got insanely better was my mood.
I was able to finally enjoy life, no matter what. I finally felt free… Free from the fear of failure.
Whether you are interviewing or not… I invite you to do the same.
Remember, you are not your job (or your interview performance).
And if you want help to get better…
Bogdan and I will help you avoid all the countless mistakes and get to Senior with a clear roadmap, accountability and feedback.
Book a chat with me here to see if we could help you.
Let’s have an amazing week, folks :)
Few of them left in 2025.
Best,
Dragos
P.S. Ohh I promised pics from our birthday party. Here’s Bogdan and I kicking ass at around 3 years old… And the b-day celebration, which ended up with too many tequila shots 🤪
