I was under the impression software engineering, despite the layoffs, was still a pretty liquid market.
I went to pick up an order at Walmart not too long ago (months), and the guy who brought it out was chatting me up. Apparently, he’s a software engineer, but could only find work at Walmart.
I’ve been in software engineering for far too long at this point and it’s always been a relatively easy jump from one job to the next. Luckily, I’ve dodged the recent layoffs, so I’m pretty shocked to hear that there is a lot of difficulty in the market now.
Although… some days… a job at Walmart doesn’t seem like too bad of an idea.
I think it’s difficult because companies know they can hire someone with 2 years of experience to do similar work.
In his experience a lot of the job postings are not real or have hundreds and hundreds of applicants and multiple rounds of interviews. I’m not quite sure how to help and I’m trying to be patient and go easy on him. It shouldn’t be this hard.
For what it’s worth, there’s a big difference between a 2 year front end engineer and someone who has been doing it awhile. I’ve worked with both and the product from higher end folks is usually much better. Whether companies know that or not, I’m not so sure. On the downside, the front end stack seems to change every 2 years so it can be difficult to keep up. I’m more of a backend person that writes front end when it meets a need.
Wish I had some advice for him. Best I could say is to jump into some open source work (or pet projects) and make sure he understands whatever framework companies are looking for. It’ll help keep his mental health up, build his skills, and look good on a resume. Pretty sure React is still the main framework. Whenever I’ve interviewed folks I always looked kindly on anyone who could talk passionately about any project that they’ve worked on. He should have someone go over his resume as well to ensure it has the right keywords or at least no red flags (And maybe tailor it a bit to ensure it references what that specific job is looking for) HR is notorious for filtering out resumes for otherwise qualified candidates. Finally, he shouldn’t filter himself out from any jobs. Even if he looks unqualified he should make his resume look as qualified as he can and take a shot. Maybe also reach out to some headhunters. They take a cut of your pay, but it can be helpful to get in the door.
I assume he’s probably doing all of that, but figured I’d type it out just in case.
The economy seems to be extremely slow and everyone that looks for a job, regardless of the field, have problems.
This is anecdotal, but I usually get the typical recruiter in my inbox twice or month at least, but lately, I don’t have any. It usually means less hiring.
Tech, from my experience, has a lot of job postings, but its very difficult to actually get an interview nonetheless a job. I’m not entirely sure why its so difficult, as there does seem to be a pretty big need for it across the board. My best guess is mix of companies needing employees but not being willing to hire/train them leading to “fake” postings (alongside those just meant for data collection), and just a generally competitive market right now.
Out of curiousity what role does he have? I was under the impression software engineering, despite the layoffs, was still a pretty liquid market.
9 months is a long time. That’s rough. Hope he’s keeping his mental health up.
I went to pick up an order at Walmart not too long ago (months), and the guy who brought it out was chatting me up. Apparently, he’s a software engineer, but could only find work at Walmart.
These are grim times.
I’ve been in software engineering for far too long at this point and it’s always been a relatively easy jump from one job to the next. Luckily, I’ve dodged the recent layoffs, so I’m pretty shocked to hear that there is a lot of difficulty in the market now.
Although… some days… a job at Walmart doesn’t seem like too bad of an idea.
Web developer, heavier on the front-end side.
I think it’s difficult because companies know they can hire someone with 2 years of experience to do similar work.
In his experience a lot of the job postings are not real or have hundreds and hundreds of applicants and multiple rounds of interviews. I’m not quite sure how to help and I’m trying to be patient and go easy on him. It shouldn’t be this hard.
For what it’s worth, there’s a big difference between a 2 year front end engineer and someone who has been doing it awhile. I’ve worked with both and the product from higher end folks is usually much better. Whether companies know that or not, I’m not so sure. On the downside, the front end stack seems to change every 2 years so it can be difficult to keep up. I’m more of a backend person that writes front end when it meets a need.
Wish I had some advice for him. Best I could say is to jump into some open source work (or pet projects) and make sure he understands whatever framework companies are looking for. It’ll help keep his mental health up, build his skills, and look good on a resume. Pretty sure React is still the main framework. Whenever I’ve interviewed folks I always looked kindly on anyone who could talk passionately about any project that they’ve worked on. He should have someone go over his resume as well to ensure it has the right keywords or at least no red flags (And maybe tailor it a bit to ensure it references what that specific job is looking for) HR is notorious for filtering out resumes for otherwise qualified candidates. Finally, he shouldn’t filter himself out from any jobs. Even if he looks unqualified he should make his resume look as qualified as he can and take a shot. Maybe also reach out to some headhunters. They take a cut of your pay, but it can be helpful to get in the door.
I assume he’s probably doing all of that, but figured I’d type it out just in case.
Thanks for this - I’ll try to forward it on in a gentle way.
The economy seems to be extremely slow and everyone that looks for a job, regardless of the field, have problems.
This is anecdotal, but I usually get the typical recruiter in my inbox twice or month at least, but lately, I don’t have any. It usually means less hiring.
Tech, from my experience, has a lot of job postings, but its very difficult to actually get an interview nonetheless a job. I’m not entirely sure why its so difficult, as there does seem to be a pretty big need for it across the board. My best guess is mix of companies needing employees but not being willing to hire/train them leading to “fake” postings (alongside those just meant for data collection), and just a generally competitive market right now.
Its Mexican stand off about Comp
This cycle SW devs are the target but this shit happens ever cycle.
Wages got to too high, the regime is trying to fix it.
Demographics ain’t in their favour so they are pumping migrant numbers ways up