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Comment by acjohnson55 | Hacker News Reader

I hear of people interviewing regularly and I honestly don't get it. I couldn't be motivated to go through the process without the intent to leave my job and take one at the new company. It's very binary for me, I'm either definitely looking or not looking.

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Me too that's just masochism to me. Begging for acceptance in a constantly shifting system with no feedback is my hell. I will only do that when highly motivated.

The best time to look is when you have a job.

You beg for acceptance when you need the money. Companies smell your desperation. When you have a job, you can be picky.

I’ve had a job for every new job I’ve had since my first one. I have enough money saved to not work for a few years. I could probably be making more money if I switched, but ugh.

Some of my friends make it a priority to switch jobs every 2-3 years, they think that's the fastest way to get ahead. I don't necessarily agree or disagree with that, but if that's one's priority, one would practice interviewing so one can ace the "real" interviews when it's time.

I switch jobs every 2-3 years, historically. Not because I inherently want to, but because that has historically been when I'm ready for a new challenge. But when I start interviewing, it's with a lot of intent to move, if the situation is right.

Interviewing is a skill like any other. You have to practice to be good at it, and actual interviews are good practice.

But I wouldn’t go out and interview a lot unless I was planning or willing to leave.

But once a year it’s probably a good idea to do it to keep from getting rusty. It also helps keep a healthy perspective that you actually can change jobs if you wanted to.

I've pursued a different strategy, which I feel is more effective once one has built a track record. I haven't had an interview where I was a cold intro to the management of the company in more than a decade. If there's already a pretty good feeling of mutual fit before the interview, the interview becomes more of a formality than a test.

I wouldn't be in an interview where I'm trying to impress the interviewer because that would imply that I'm shooting in the dark for the job, and I frankly don't have the time for that. Not trying to say my time is oh so special, but I have 4 young kids and a track record.

If I had to find a job today, I would use my network to source opportunities and also would find ways to reach leaders at companies I admire. I'm senior in my career now, but this is what I did when I was at the mid-level, too.

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