The trajectory of the tech industry in this year and the years to come looks scary. With the constant layoffs, reduced salaries, and higher competition to secure jobs, it makes sense that people aren’t too excited about tech job applications.
Back in the day, people were applying to loads of companies for a few offers. This became such a normalized thing to do, and it’s seen as strange or “unfair” to get a job offer without this.
We can all agree that companies are being a lot more stingy with hiring. That’s evident with the layoffs and the hiring freezes. So, it makes sense that people think that they must apply to even more companies: hundreds or even thousands.
As someone who only applied to one internship in 2021 (Google) and secured it, I feel there’s another way to approach the job search. The current method is extremely impractical, and a huge waste of time.
Lack of personalization.
If you’re sending loads of job applications, you probably aren’t tailoring your applications to the company in question. High chance you are just spamming it anywhere with the hopes that it will be seen by someone, using tools like Indeed, LinkedIn Easy Apply etc.
By sending your unedited CV to a lot of different companies, you’re not able to stand out from the crowd as it looks generic to most companies. Some companies might value one skill over another, and if you’re sending the same CV to them as you are to other companies, there’s simply no way you’re going to get noticed. It makes sense why most companies don’t respond.
Hard to manage follow-ups.
Suppose you send loads of applications and about 20% of them come back with an interview offer. That’s around 15-20 interviews, in the span of a few weeks. I don’t know about you but managing and attending that many interviews is a recipe for disaster.
There’s just no way you’re going to perform at your best for every interview. Especially if you’re still studying whilst doing the application search, you’re going to burn out very quickly. You won’t give you all to the interviews because there’s not enough time in the day for that.
This may lead to companies rejecting you, even though you may have been a good fit for them.
What’s the solution?
Where everyone is greedy, be fearful. Where everyone is fearful, be greedy.
The state of the application process nowadays is a manifestation of fear. The fear of not getting a job. The way to win is to be greedy. Or rather, be very picky.
Determine your specialism.
In a world where there are a lot of people who can code, the riches are definitely in the niches. Targeting any old SWE jobs will have you competing with the coding nerds, who may well outperform you.
Perhaps it’s time to decide where you want to use your coding skills. This can apply to any tech skill in particular.
There are so many intersections within technology, that are desperate for people to work in. There are a lot of people going for SWE, but right now DevOps, QA and MLOps are popping off. Many people aren’t as aware of these fields, and thus there are fewer applications for them.
Being specific helps you define your USP, and it also reduces competition. Where the barrier to entry is higher, competition is much lower. Specialising can mean pairing your skills with another skill set. Or it can focus on a particular part of the SWE lifecycle.
Someone who’s targeting SWE at finance companies is going to have a much better success rate than someone who’s targeting SWE everywhere. Someone who’s going for Data Science in healthcare will fare better than someone applying for Data Science at every company.
Back when I was applying for tech placements, I made it my focus to only focus on placements that combined SWE and Music. That might seem like I’ve let go of so many other opportunities, but I knew that I had the musical background to stand out within those applications. Someone who’s only good at SWE won’t have that.
The intersection of the two made me a competitive candidate, and I was able to progress to the final interviews.
Identify your job requirements.
Defining your specialism is one thing. Determining your job requirements is another. You want to make sure that you aren’t selling yourself short. Before you send any application at all, write down the following:
What salary do I want?
Do I want to work remotely? Hybrid?
Where do I want to work?
What company perks are important to me?
Do I want to work at a big company? Small company?
What application process fits me?
You need to define these requirements from the start.
The last thing you want to do is waste time on applications that aren’t even what you want for yourself. People might say that the job market doesn’t allow for people to be picky. Well, if companies get to be picky with who they hire, why can’t we be picky about where we want to work?
Once you have these requirements, highlight the ones where you have a bit of leeway (e.g. perhaps you don’t mind doing take-home coding tests vs Leetcode).
The rest, stand your ground. If you know you don’t want to work for a particular salary, don’t apply for jobs with that salary. If you know you want a hybrid job, don’t apply to jobs that aren’t hybrid.
You would be surprised to see how many companies you can filter out just with these requirements. You might think that there are not enough jobs that fit what you want. Trust me, you don’t need that many to begin with.
Apply to a few places at a time.
You have your specialism and your requirements, now it’s time to search. But don’t just select anything that remotely fits within your requirements. Be strategic. Only focus on a few good places at any given time.
For every time you spend on one application, it’s time that could be spent on a better one. Focus on quality. If the job meets your requirements, do background research. See how other people feel at that company. Check places like Glassdoor and even Reddit. You want to be sure that this company will fit you before you even load up your CV.
You should only apply to 5-10 places in one sitting. As long as these 5-10 places have tailored applications, you should see some success and a better response rate. Whilst you’re waiting to hear from them, it’s always good to store additional jobs on a Notion page, where you can revisit and apply for them later.
Let me be clear.
If there’s one thing that will single-handedly stop you from securing a tech job, it’s having a scarcity mindset. If you believe that there are not enough jobs for you, all of this is pointless. That belief system won’t allow you to secure the job you want in the first place.
There is a space for you on the table. You don’t have to beg, cheat or fight your way in. You just have to believe in yourself and know that you are capable of the work. That’s it.
In the same way, companies have requirements on who they want, you are allowed to have requirements on where you work. The application process is a 2-way street, and the only way you will get the jobs you want is if you learn to say no to the ones you don’t want.
In a field where everyone is desperate to make a living, the ones that succeed are the ones who know their worth, and don’t back down from it.
The tech industry is only going to respect those who are willing to say no to what doesn’t serve them, with the belief that they will find the job that works for them.