The Job Hunt is Driving me Mad

I've been looking for work since the layoffs at Code for America last September. Even when I briefly secured a role at Plural, I didn't stop looking for work because of the climate I was alerted to after taking on the role. I had anxiety about my public points on the tech industry contributing to my inability to secure a role, my sparse GitHub account, lack of collegiate or accredited backgrounds and so many other things. I occasionally snap out of this main character effect because no one cares that much. Or do they?

That's part of the problem. I can't tell what's the issue is. Around 2017 or 2018, I got way more actionable feedback when I pushed for it in the job process. I was able to rewrite parts of my resume, tailor what was needed to be more clear. Today? I get a combination of the following:

"We have now filled this role" (without rejecting you first) "We have moved on with people with higher qualifications" (how high?) "We have a competitive market we exist in" (makes sense with 10% layoffs + retention difficulties)

I've gotten suggestions on resume rewrites from about 11 different people - which is making me feel like a particular fable now. I'm specifically referring to folks asking me to revise my software engineering resume for engineering. It's gotten to a point where I'm asking people to just e-mail me their suggestions because I can't keep joining 30-minute calls to have the majority of them be about adjusting adjectives. It also ignores the fact that you can have a stellar resume, the matching qualifications and still be rejected. The issue is the lack of communication about the reasoning about the rejection. To really drive the point home, here's a list of some (11%) of the rejections I've gotten with companies and roles attached:

Jack Henry, Senior Software Engineer: "At this time, the position has been closed." Launch Darkly, Senior Software Engineer: "Unfortunately, we have made the decision to move forward with other candidates whose experience more closely aligns with our team's needs." TechStars, Staff Platform Engineer: "Although we were impressed with your qualifications, we have decided to pursue other candidates who are more closely aligned with our needs at this time" AdHoc, Senior Software Engineer: "Although we were impressed with your background and experience, we have decided to pursue other applicants who more closely reflect the needs of this position. We will keep your resume on file for future opportunities." SoFi, Senior Software Engineer: "This role received a great deal of interest and we have decided to move forward with candidates who more closely align with expectations for the position. That being said, we very appreciate your interest in the SoFi family and we invite you to keep an eye on our career pages for other current openings." Grammarly, Software Engineer: "We know a lot of thought and consideration went into your application, and we genuinely appreciate your interest in joining the team here at Grammarly. Unfortunately, we have made the decision to move forward with other candidates whose experience more closely aligns with our team's needs." Meedan, Senior Devops Engineer: "After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that you have not been shortlisted for this position. We received a large number of applications, and although your qualifications and experience are impressive, we have decided to pursue other candidates who more closely match our current needs." Code.org, Software-Engineer: "We wanted to let you know that although your application was very competitive for the Software Engineer (Mid-Level), Platform Team position, we have filled the role and the position is closed." dbt Labs, Software Engineer: "While your experience is certainly impressive, we’re moving forward with a few folks who more closely align with the team’s requirements. We know this isn’t the news you were hoping to hear and this decision in no way reflects your abilities or potential." Webflow, Principal Engineer: "The Principal Engineer role has been highly competitive, and after reviewing your application, the team has decided to move forward with other candidates who are better fit for their current needs." Nava PBC, Software Engineer: "Thank you for your continued interest in considering a career at Nava. Our team has reviewed your application and at this time we have decided to move forward with other applicants. " 10UP, Software Engineer: "We reviewed your application carefully and have considered all of our open roles. Your professional background/skill set is not quite the right fit for any of the positions we are prioritizing at this time." Imagine Pediatrics, Software Engineer: "Unfortunately, we will not be proceeding with your candidacy for Software Engineer" Atlassian, Software Engineer: "Thank you for your application for the Senior Software Engineer, Core Product role at Atlassian. We've had a fantastic response to this opportunity and have now filled this particular role." Wipro, Software Engineer: "Unfortunately, we will not be moving forward with your application, but we appreciate your time and interest in Wipro."

Of this list, I can understand, at max, two of the rejections. I've applied for roles below my level as well which all mirror the same responses above. But what is routinely confusing to me now, is that for an industry that allegedly drives on data, is able to discern excellent market fit, is also extremely incapable of communicating why the fuck why I was rejected. LinkedIn is the primary place to find a lot of folks who'll do everything to defend this lack of transparency. I also apply for jobs on about 11 other job boards including Monster, Dice, Indeed which are all recycling the same things between each other in some cases. Occasionally, you'll find nuggets of empathy leak through. You might even find a mention of the case of false job postings, mainly to keep current employees more active. It doesn't help that since generative AI is being used more and more that there's a chance applications might be prematurely rejected by ATS systems because of the use of them to build resumes.

I don't expect many people to even want to write something like this. With the flag of meritocracy in the industry and despite the few folks who do understand, the larger banner and sentiment for folks who are unable to secure a role in this industry will be that of a branded mark. And losing my last role will not help my chances at all because of the soft prejudice against short tenures. I don't also know what to expect from this post itself outside of it now being something I can link to the next time someone asks me to change the adjective or size of text on my resume for the 27th time.

What job seekers need is a shot. If your company is not capable of providing that; do not post a role. If your interview process is incapable of discerning the technical acumen of a candidate, get a better process. When a car stops working and the wheels roll away, you don't just get out and try to push it — you get a new fucking car. Most constructively, I've seen folks ask about past work and projects I've had. Like I mentioned above, my GitHub contributions at companies are private but even then, I as an interviewer would only be able to tell what you pushed and not ascertain the process that led you to get to that code, what documents and processes convinced you that this was the right path (and so many other things). That partly requires me talking to you, assessing your skills with a take-home or examining some code you've worked on recently that you can share. You know, actually seeing the person.

Maybe I'm just exhausted. It's frustrating enough to stress if I can keep things going in the coming months to even find a role. I'm over the bullshit that companies have been parading. Maybe it's me! Maybe I'm just that bad of a developer that people can smell it coming the minute my resume lands. If that's the case, I'll leave the industry by the end of the year with nothing to show for it and no regrets. I got into software because I thought it was cool and I did to for work because I grew up in poverty, was kicked out of high school and this was my best shot. A decade later, it's as if it wants me to regret entertaining it. I don't regret the relationships I've made with the people in my time in it and am still very close to a lot of people who've helped me become the person I am today. Thank you also to everyone who's been helping out and solidarity with the job seekers in this hellish job market.

But fuck - and I can't express this enough - fuck off with the inability to give feedback. It's some of the laziest shit I've seen defended since George Bush tried to claim that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq - and I was a child when he said that.