‘tech job’ is a very broad term
Times like this I am glad I went into infrastructure/factory automation. The highs are nowhere as high but the lows are nowhere as low.
About 30% of my customers are governments. Sewage, garbage, traffic lights, recycling centers, incinerators etc. These are big contracts with complex requirements. Governments just go into debt when they have recessions. And the field as a whole moves at a glacial pace.
The other 70% is private sector. Big projects that can easily go on past the year mark just in construction alone. You can’t be fickle with this stuff. Had a bad business quarter? Sorry, not my problem, here is the bill and your million dollar metal stamping process.
In the beginning of my career I was in more of a pure software setting. Constant turn over. Don’t miss it at all.
Ah so you’re a consultant. That makes sense then. I was thinking you were a 9-5 FTE in some magical industry.
He estimates he’s had about three interviews a day
Bullllllshit. Three introductory calls with recruiters per day, maybe, but not interviews.
In my experience, good candidates (including interns/juniors) are still landing the roles. Hiring in tech/design/product is tough because there’s a deluge of applicants who’ve either coasted during the boom, or been sold a lie by an educational institution.
You can spot the ones who apply for 40 jobs a week, and those who’ve used chatGPT a mile off, and they’re usually the worst candidates, with long, bland, unfocused resumes.
LinkedIn is full of my worst ex-colleagues bemoaning the lack of opportunities, like they’re entitled to it.
Please tell me if I’m being unfair. Maybe I should be less cynical.
I’ve been saying for years that the market is saturated with too many people with too many expectations. Universities are out of touch with the actual job market and need to stop recruiting so many people into CS or engineering programs.
Unfortunately it seems there are no consequences for the universities, and it’s not hard to make those qualifications seem both alluring and lucrative.
There’s got to be a way to hold them to account for the countless graduates who don’t end up finding industry positions.
It’s the job of universities to recruit and train people. They are offering the degrees people want. Not sure why they should be punished for that. It’s really the students and families going in with unrealistic expectations that is an issue here.
You’re right in my experience, I graduated highschool in 2016 and I remember how hard they pushed comp sci as some sort of magic success bullet. I thought I was terrible at math and kids who I knew weren’t much better were choosing it as a major. I genuinely think in 10 years we’re going to find out guidance councilers were being paid kick backs by colleges à la the pharma industry.
You are being unfair. I have been searching for 6+ months for a position in IT, had 2 companies that paid $40k+/yr, 1st one didn’t pan out, 2nd one is in progress. Countless $15-20k/yr offers though. I am in Europe looking for remote only positions in any form of tech support, python programming but preferrably linux server/desktop support. I don’t use AI, all applications are written by me. My CV is 2 pages, modern theme. 10 years experience.
Where in Europe? Depending on the country the IT job markets are wildly different.
I’m probably in an echo chamber. I hope that 2nd application goes well for you.
I don’t believe you are in a bubble. My experience matches with your initial assertion. We just recently hired for 3 SRE roles.
Hundreds of applicants in a 24 hour window.
We had people using some kind of LLM tool during interviews, obviously so. Others were sharing the same resume with only slight modifications, and plenty of folks who couldn’t pass the screening call or a very simple tech interview.
We also had wildly unprofessional candidates who were no-shows, or had profane/NSFW desktops or couldn’t even use a terminal - for an SRE role.
So no, you’re not alone. The great candidates get hired, headhunted even.
