Sorry about what you went through job-wise, glad you found a new gig and enjoy it.

Are you able to talk about your try at launching a startup? After getting RIFed, I immediately thought about going into self employment, creating a micro-saas or such. Obviously something like that is much more challenging than working for a salary at a company but I’m still hopeful and open to learning more about that route.

I agree, the interviewing has gotten tougher because it’s an employer’s market. It’s more competitive, it just is, supply and demand.

I’m in a similar boat, got RIFed late last year, waited for the new year and started applying. I’ve gotten a couple of final rounds but no offer yet. Last I checked, a coworker who got RIFed along with me hasn’t found a full time gig yet, either. In the past, it didn’t take more than three months to find a gig.

I’m hearing people are searching for a year+ for a new gig, not necessarily for SWE but tech in general. It’s a bad market for sure. But to be fair, the SWE job market has been hot for over a decade. Not trying to scare you, more trying to say there are others in the same situation, too. Low interest rate is over, seems like offshoring is coming back, plus there’s AI to boot. I see a lot of AI/LLM hate but I think some people are delusional. No, AI isn’t perfect but it’s delusional to think targeted use doesn’t increase productivity, which for some employers, means they can do the same or even more work with less people. Companies can choose to increase productivity or stay at the same level for less money.

Network, talk to your friends and their friends. I’m hearing it’s nearly essential in this market to try to get a referral.

Advice I haven’t seen here, host an app you’ve built and/or public git repos so people can see your code, if you don’t already. I suggest this because you are a bit on the junior side based on pure years of experience and are competing against seniors. Send out applications first and work on an app when you need a break or get bored.

Connect with recruiters, even external ones.

There are more applicants per job opening now than in the past. But if we keep applying, by chance our application will be near the top of the pile for some job openings, so it’s a numbers game and it’s just taking longer than usual to get an offer.

Like you, I’m considering a career change. Have you considered adjacent roles like solutions engineer or sales engineer?

For the time being, I’m continuing the SWE job search. Mostly just wanted you to know you’re not alone.