It's been a really shitty year in IT globally, with lots of layoffs so a lot of competition for the same jobs, and not a lot of hiring. I'd hate to enter the workforce this year when you are competing with much more experienced people for the same jobs.
Here in Finland in the IT consultant business (aka software developers for hire) went from "there's more gigs than can be filled with the people we have" to "companies have 100 people on the bench". The company I work for managed to handle the issue fairly well with only a handful of people on the bench, but there were some furloughs. My previous gig ended at the start of the year and it took me months of interviews to get the next one - just barely avoided being furloughed.
To get hired, I need to interview with the clients pretty much the same as if I were applying for a job. For IT these can be all over the place.
Some are asking "gotcha" type questions from Leetcode.com etc, which have very little to do with real world work. I hate these so much.
Some have ridiculously time consuming and rigorous interview rounds where you need to do n+1 interviews just to get an offer/rejection. I've noped out of some of these because I felt they were wasting my time.
The better ones ask technical questions but frame them around real world required knowledge - architecture, explaining how things work, reviewing some code, trying to figure out how you fit in as a personality etc.
It's possible that you get nervous and just forget all the knowledge you have. I have had this happen a few times and it becomes very awkward and you feel like crap for having bombed it so bad. It makes you feel like you know nothing, despite having over a decade of experience with glowing reviews from your clients. But every rejection should be considered experience that you can leverage in the next interview - what to do better, what pitfalls to avoid. The more you interview, the better you become at the interview process.
But ultimately interviews - when you can get past "the right CV" barriers - are all about people skills. Be personable, if you can get the interviewer to laugh while also presenting yourself professionally, you are doing well. Have some questions prepared for them to show interest - ask about how they work, the company culture, what an average day looks like in the role etc.
, but people should absolutely unapologetically affirm positive perspectives, and not be afraid to share them with other out of fear of some possible insult.
