-2

I send cover letter and resume to the company through career email. Shortly after I was given an assignment. The task was covering full stack development of web app. It was up to me to choose what frontend technologies to use. Due to poor judgement, I choose to explore completely new Javascript framework which led to many hours learning to wrap my head around it and trying to implement the app. After a week I had a problem with this framework that it would need some advanced (hacking) understanding to cover all needs of the web app.

I ditched this framework after 1 week and went with more popular one that was a better fit and better community support. The person who gave the assignment asked about the status of assignment after 2 weeks. I replied that it took time to learn and implement frontend but later I had to abandon the first framework.

A week or two I was working on the solution but later on, I discontinued the work. The company still appears attractive to me.

During this whole time I was unemployed for more than 7 month. How this situation would appear to company given abandoned task? Would being unemployed appear as I have lots of free time but was not motivated to deliver results?

What would be the best way to approach company for the position for the second time?

Blade Runner
  • 9
  • 3
    If you were unemployed, with lots of free time, why didn't you finish the task? – Patricia Shanahan Oct 02 '16 at 09:49
  • 2
    They may still be attractive to you but I doubt you are still attractive to them. – paparazzo Oct 02 '16 at 16:44
  • Did they give you a deadline to finish the task? – Brandin Oct 03 '16 at 06:53
  • @Lilienthal How is personal advice off topic? There are plenty of questions asking for personal advice that are not downvoted. – Hobbes Oct 03 '16 at 17:36
  • @Hobbes See [help] and meta. The relevant distinction is whether the advice is useful to others in a similar situation (i.e. there is a generally useful answer) or whether the question is too personal (i.e. "Should I contact person X at company Y since I know B at J and given K, L and O?"). There's some overlap with the "what should I do?" close reason as well. – Lilienthal Oct 04 '16 at 08:12

2 Answers2

2

Due to poor judgement, I choose to explore completely new Javascript framework which led to many hours learning to wrap my head around it and trying to implement the app. After a week I had a problem with this framework that it would need some advanced (hacking) understanding to cover all needs of the web app.

First of all, when applying somewhere you should rather show what you are mastering at. Trying a new Javascript framework that you still had to learn about must have not appeared to the company as something smart for you to do... It was a bet that you lost it.

A week or two I was working on the solution but later on, I discontinued the work.

Why would you not finish the work that was assigned to you ? Was it because of demotivation, because it was getting to hard or because of the fear of not fitting to the job requirements ?

How this situation would appear to company given abandoned task?

For your future jobs or future experiences in general in life, what you did has three outcomes :

  • You did not get a job and feel unmotivated
  • They did not get an applicant and will remember you as someone who does not go further when things gets complicated.
  • You will leave a negative touch

When applying somewhere always try to give the best of you, even if it takes time cause you should never leave a negative trace of your application. Who knows you might work for them or with them in the future !

What would be the best way to approach company for the position for the second time?

They might see you as a quitter. If you come back and nothing has changed, they might not see the potential in you. After all of that you can come back to them saying that you took some time to master this Javascript framework and that despite your abandon of the project which you considered as a fail you are still eager to learn and to show the company you are motivated for such a position.

Companies value self-learning as we live in a world where everything evolves so fast and you have to catch up very quickly on technologies that can be used. They will value the fact you have evolved in order to work for them and that you will still be eager to learn if you get a position in that company even though you don't master everything - which is totally normal.

MopMop
  • 1,634
  • 1
  • 11
  • 24
0

Look for similar opportunities elsewhere. They gave you an assignment which they probably expected back in a few days, to measure your experience and expertise. You responded by telling them that you were going through the process of learning the skills needed to complete the assignment, and then never finished it.

They are not going to consider you for any position with their company. Sorry if that's blunt, but they are looking for people who have the skills, and the fact that you were going to attempt to learn what you needed to complete the assignment and never even finished it will probably be a red flag for them for anything, regardless of explanation.

Chalk it up as a lesson learned. Devoting more of your time and energy there will only be wasted effort for you. If you are determined that this is the one for you, you will need to call and speak with an HR person, possibly convincing them that you would be good for a much lower level position than the one they think you tried to bluff you way into (not accusing you of doing that, but it's probably how that is interpreted from their end).

PoloHoleSet
  • 10,633
  • 6
  • 27
  • 38