How to Land 8 Job Offers at Once

In late 2019, I participated in 9 back-to-back onsite interviews (Mon-Fri and then Mon-Thu) to try and land a new Senior Software Engineering job.

I was able to convert 8 of those into job offers.

Here are 2 key strategies you can employ to maximize your next job search:

1. Be intentional with your job search

Conventional wisdom says to prepare and search while you’re working. Make money AND job search. Best of both worlds, right?

Nope, not for me!

I wanted large swaths of focus time to study algorithms and data structures. Squeezing time in the mornings or after work seemed less than ideal. And a suboptimal preparation seemed like a recipe for a suboptimal outcome.

So I quit my job first to prepare full-time. The bet was that focusing full-time on interviewing would be worth more in the long run than a couple months of lost wages.

2. Strategic scheduling

After weeks of deliberate practice and preparation, I flipped the switch and went into hardcore outreach mode. Referrals from my network, cold applications, and everything in between.

By attacking the search in 2 distinct phases, I could corral all of the opportunities into the same 2-week window.

This gave me 2 distinct advantages:

I could ramp up my “on-site” skills and keep them sharp
All the decisions came in at the same time giving me more choices and leverage

It’s not easy (I lost ~10 lbs because I lose my appetite when stressed 😅). But if you have the means to do so, bet on yourself and be deliberate with the things you can control.

A small amount of upfront planning can have an outsized impact on your outcome.