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I have a solid work history up until this coming week when my current employer (a small startup) is set to let me go. I've never been unemployed before, so I took my resume and sent it to all of my contacts while I was still employed.

I'm getting lots of callbacks which is great, but I can't seem to use my time effectively to do the CS 101 review that I need to do in order to get good at doing interviews.

Today an in house recruiter let me know that 3rd party recruiters are submitting my resume to him and that I should be more careful about who I send my resume to. Should I pause sending out resumes and calling contacts to focus on interview prep? I am concerned that if I stop, companies will see too large a gap on my resume.

Update: I was able to find a job in about a little over a month.

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    I'd try to find out who is sending it out and why - with or without your permission. If it's with your permission you just come across disorganized, which seems may be the case.
    – Raystafarian
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 18:59
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    How much work experience do you have? If you have a decent amount and you are still getting asked entry-level CS101 style questions, that's a red flag in the interview process and the kinds of people that work at the company.
    – Thomas Owens
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 19:00
  • Don't let recruiters send out your resume willy nilly. Get the recruiter to OK each company individually with you so that you and the recruiter don't send your resume to the same company. You will loose a signing bonus to a recruiter if they have sent your resume to the company first.
    – Loki Astari
    Commented Oct 19, 2016 at 12:42
  • similar to workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/77915/…
    – A.S
    Commented Oct 19, 2016 at 13:22

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Seems like the dilemma is: you feel that you need CS review to prep for interviews, but don't have time to do the prep due to work demands.

I would think your time crunch will resolve itself once you are let go, giving you plenty of time to focus on interview prep. So I consider the lack of time a non-issue.

The other issue you seem to be raising is whether you are "putting the cart before the horse" (my metaphor) by applying before doing due diligence on interview prep. That is something you are going to have to determine on your own. If I were you, I would make interview prep a priority: no TV, eat dinner at your computer while studying. If family demands take your time, work with your family members to achieve understanding that you absolutely MUST dedicate your free time to interview prep, since the family's welfare partly (or fully) depends on it. If no family, then you only need to convince yourself that this is more important than anything else. Strap yourself to your desk for 2 weekends -- go to the office and do your studying there if it helps, or use local library, if home is too distracting. Find a way. Within 2 weeks of daily study you should be in a better situation.

Should you postpone sending out resumes until you complete your interview prep? That's up to you. I would not. Sometimes it takes weeks to setup an interview, which buys you prep time. However, if you get extremely quick responses from recruiters and the process moves fast from there, then it might be a good idea to put active search on hold until you feel ready and confident. Good luck!

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