Anyone else finding it impossible to land a job?

Question

I rang in the new year this January with 1.5 years of unemployment. (yippee...)It's not like I haven't been applying to jobs. At this point, it's actually part of my daily routine to log on to various job sites every morning and go on an application spree. But, usually, I never hear back from any jobs I apply to, or if I do hear back, it's a rejection email 3 months later.In total, I've had 1 interview through traditional job applications in the past year, and 2 interviews from talking to people on HN. (thanks HN!)This is just crazy to me. Back when I properly got into the industry (circa 2022) I could land an interview every couple of weeks. But now, there's nothing. As far as I can tell, my resume and CV are both good (I've received feedback from several different people), and I think I'm OK at writing cover letters. It sort of feels like nobody is looking at my applications or anything. I'm curious if anyone has some insight into this beyond "there's a recession"?It's getting pretty bad out here y'all, I'm running out of instant ramen and my wife's boyfriend says I have to stop asking him for money.

mmarian · Accepted Answer

Had a look at your resume: https://resume.kurtisknodel.com/. I'm struggling to figure out what you're good at; is it C#, is it PHP, is it React, or is it something else. I'm suspicious of the 7-years programming exp as well; the freelancing gigs with little specifics seem to do the heavy lifting for that statement.Are you going for junior dev roles? If you're not getting them, maybe consider applying to tech adjacent roles (IT, customer support at tech companies, etc)?

austin-cheney · Answer

I was unemployed for six months in 2023. Some of that duration was self-induced. My wife did not want to relocate across the country and I did not want to go back to being a junior web developer, or senior positions that sounded very junior, as I have 20 years experience. Fortunately, I landed two opportunities unrelated to writing JavaScript at once and I took the lower paying one because it was fully remote.
Here is a list of things not to do:
* Don't waste time using employer online career portals. These only continue to exist to satisfy EEO legal requirements. Most employers don't respond to these.
* Don't pad your resume. Make every line of your resume count as if it were being read by a human. With AI tools now filtering resumes they are getting better at bullshit detection.
Things to do:
* Upload your resume to places like Indeed, Zip Recruiter, Dice.
* Be very specific on your resume. Yes, you should state something about your tech stack in the fewest possible words, but anything related to competences should be expressed in quantifiable terms only. For example you saved the company billions of dollars, or shipped 200 features to production, or reduced execution speed by 50%
* Be clear about your experience and what you are looking for.
* Have external credentials like PMP, CISSP, security clearance, and more. These open doors for you that you currently don't realize are closed to you and likely pay more.

WheelsAtLarge · Answer

Pick a place you want to work at and get any job you qualify to do and once there work your way into the job you want. 2 advantages, you get a paycheck and you prove that you are a good employee. Plus you can continue your search too.We are at a strange time in tech. Companies are being very cautious about who they hire and even if they want to hire anyone at all.

codyklimdev · Answer

I sent out roughly 1,000 job apps last year and I had maybe a dozen interviews. Expecting worse hit rates this year. For reference, I'm a mid level web dev with 4 y.o.e. I have lots of friends with similar resumes (or better in some cases) who can't get a call back to save their lives. So no, you're definitely not alone. Unless you have a best friend somewhere, or already have a senior title with more than 7 y.o.e., the door seems to be shut.But hey, keep on paddling! We'll get there.

hnthrowaway0328 · Answer

IMO do not submit unless you have an insidet referee. Even that does not always guarantee an interview, but still better.