Seven days of prep, two interviews, and the lesson that isn't about hours or question counts.
One week ago, I started this journey with a simple goal: find a new job in 2026.
Seven days later, I don't have the answer yet—but I do have something that feels just as important: momentum.
Over the last week, I managed to build a routine of sitting down for roughly four to four and a half hours every day. I completed around 30 coding questions and worked through two design questions. More than the numbers, I'm happy that preparation has started becoming a habit.
I'm also slowly changing how I approach DSA. Instead of blindly solving as many questions as possible, I'm trying to understand the patterns behind them. My approach is simple: take a problem, understand the possible patterns, and focus my effort on the problems where I can't arrive at the solution quickly.
The week wasn't only about preparation. I also built my personal website, bringing together my portfolio, projects, blogs, and now this journey. It feels good to have a place where I can document not just what I know, but also what I'm learning along the way.
And the job search has started moving too.
I received around six to seven calls, with two interviews getting scheduled. I cleared the first round of both, which covered React, basic DSA, and JavaScript-related questions. The second rounds started getting more interesting—system design, optimization, and performance discussions.
Those interviews also showed me where I need to improve.
For the coming week, I'm planning to increase the intensity. The target is around 50 LeetCode questions, three to five design questions, some machine-coding practice, and potentially a few hackathons. I'm also aiming to gradually increase my daily study time to around seven hours.
But the biggest lesson from this first week isn't about hours or question counts.
It's about direction.
I know how this journey will end — I just need to sculpt my way there. There will be mistakes along the way, effort spent on things that don't matter, interviews I struggle through. But that's also why I'm documenting everything.
If something doesn't work, I'll understand it and change course. If I find a better way, I'll share it.
I'm not documenting this because I already know the formula for getting the next job.
I'm documenting it because I'm trying to figure it out.
Seven days down.
The journey continues tomorrow.
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