Applying for jobs - getting nowhere
Discussion
Scabutz said:
I have been applying for other jobs as Im no longer enjoying mine since a takeover. Head of Software Engineering/Engineering Manager type roles. Everything seems to be on LinkedIn now and often the employers are hiding behind applicant tracking systems as well. Recently I just dont seem to be getting anywhere, there are plenty of jobs out there but I apply and get no response despite meeting all the criteria on the ad. Couple of months back I had a few interviews and had one offer but didnt take it. Is this just a summer slow down and it will pick up again soon? Anyone else having the same?
I think my CV is ok, its been fine up until this point. Is there anything else I should be doing, should I be trying to find out who the hirer is and try and contact them? Thats not always easy, I did with one as the job sounded really good and I was a great fit, messaged him on LinkedIn, he read it and never replied
Might help if possible to give a quick view on skills here (methodology tools languages etc) as there are a lot of folks on ph that employ these type of roles (eg me)I think my CV is ok, its been fine up until this point. Is there anything else I should be doing, should I be trying to find out who the hirer is and try and contact them? Thats not always easy, I did with one as the job sounded really good and I was a great fit, messaged him on LinkedIn, he read it and never replied
I am currently applying for roles as I feel my employer of the last 19 months no longer need 6 of us onshore as they have recruited 20 offshore (most of which I had to interview and approve!) for same skill set and we have been between clients and in training/bench for two months now.
Not hearing much back either, but have noticed that applicants are more like 10-20 people versus the 3-5 which has been the case over the years.
LinkedIn has folk in Belgium France and London competing for roles North of Watford and up to Edin, more so than usual. Also offshore is about 50%.
I did the free linked in trial and the stats if remotely accurate have been interesting. Truth is the niche I work in IBM middleware is not offering as many roles and it’s been approx 3 roles in as many months, and I am certain all six of us have been applying on the quiet and no joy (our geographies span from Edin to Cotswolds and London).
I have to concede my CV is six pages now. I have worked something like 17 contracts since 2006. I have made the first two pages a highlight and skill summary and opening statement of what I can bring to each role I apply for (this bit is like a big couple of paragraphs). This CV used to get me interviews without fail 9/10, even if I was out-gunned in the interview.
Is six pages laughable in this market ?
To those who do the hiring - What do you think of this style (link is from a Silicon Valley dev and YouTuber) ?
https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/deedy-cv/...
Not hearing much back either, but have noticed that applicants are more like 10-20 people versus the 3-5 which has been the case over the years.
LinkedIn has folk in Belgium France and London competing for roles North of Watford and up to Edin, more so than usual. Also offshore is about 50%.
I did the free linked in trial and the stats if remotely accurate have been interesting. Truth is the niche I work in IBM middleware is not offering as many roles and it’s been approx 3 roles in as many months, and I am certain all six of us have been applying on the quiet and no joy (our geographies span from Edin to Cotswolds and London).
I have to concede my CV is six pages now. I have worked something like 17 contracts since 2006. I have made the first two pages a highlight and skill summary and opening statement of what I can bring to each role I apply for (this bit is like a big couple of paragraphs). This CV used to get me interviews without fail 9/10, even if I was out-gunned in the interview.
Is six pages laughable in this market ?
To those who do the hiring - What do you think of this style (link is from a Silicon Valley dev and YouTuber) ?
https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/deedy-cv/...
Edited by vindaloo79 on Thursday 21st September 19:13
Edited by vindaloo79 on Thursday 21st September 19:15
6 pages is probably too long, is there really highly relevant stuff on pages 4, 5 6?
I was sent a CV once, it was 17 pages long, mostly absolute drivel. I wanted to bin it but we were so short of devs and he had the skills we needed, luckily listed on the first page, so still interviewed him. Wanst very good in the interview
I was sent a CV once, it was 17 pages long, mostly absolute drivel. I wanted to bin it but we were so short of devs and he had the skills we needed, luckily listed on the first page, so still interviewed him. Wanst very good in the interview
mikees said:
Might help if possible to give a quick view on skills here (methodology tools languages etc) as there are a lot of folks on ph that employ these type of roles (eg me)
My background was as a developer, firmly in the .net tech stack. I'm now hands off but have exposure to the newer JS frameworks, I also manage Java, Python, Salesforce devs which I don't have a back ground in. Pretty well versed in cloud tech, particularly AWS. CI/CD pipelines. More manager type things very agile orientated Sceume and Kanban, manage on/near/off shore teams, experience in scaling teams. Budget management. Usual project management type tools Jira/Confluence.
In terms of CV's try and keep them to two pages, too much detail is too much, if you have only one role in the last 15 then just be as brief as possible. I have numerous roles as I contracted for years so I am the opposite, have to be very minimal. Bear in mind most HR and agencies use keyword scans, so include as many as you can to rise up up a bit, do some research on it.
DO NOT LOSE faith, I know it is easy, you will have massive peaks and troughs, you will have weeks when nobody calls, no emails, all calls even are just wasted. Then it will turn, you get a few good calls and sort out interviews.
I have never understood how recruitment really works, but I have been involved in it very many times and it always peaks and troughs hugely.
DO NOT LOSE faith, I know it is easy, you will have massive peaks and troughs, you will have weeks when nobody calls, no emails, all calls even are just wasted. Then it will turn, you get a few good calls and sort out interviews.
I have never understood how recruitment really works, but I have been involved in it very many times and it always peaks and troughs hugely.
I used to only apply for jobs posted in the last 24hrs, much longer than that and there are tons of applicants.
I also avoided rec consultants and went direct as much as possible. RCs just seemed to give you a load of BS/oversell the job and then were never heard from again.
The last job I had was one where I sent my CV but the cover letter didn't go so I called the company, spoke to HR/the manager and told him about this and he said to just send it directly to him. That ended up getting me an interview/the job.
Online applications are like email marketing, it is free and too easy to do so jobs get utterly spammed. I saw a Country Director level job the other day on £120k+ with 762 applicants! One RC also said that applicants online are 99% rubbish so they mostly ignored them.
Some good ideas in this thread about linking with people on LI and doing a video
I also avoided rec consultants and went direct as much as possible. RCs just seemed to give you a load of BS/oversell the job and then were never heard from again.
The last job I had was one where I sent my CV but the cover letter didn't go so I called the company, spoke to HR/the manager and told him about this and he said to just send it directly to him. That ended up getting me an interview/the job.
Online applications are like email marketing, it is free and too easy to do so jobs get utterly spammed. I saw a Country Director level job the other day on £120k+ with 762 applicants! One RC also said that applicants online are 99% rubbish so they mostly ignored them.
Some good ideas in this thread about linking with people on LI and doing a video
No idea what's going on in software at the moment - every role in my field seems to have 200+ applicants within a few hours of being posted and the recruiters seem to be up to dirty tricks as some of them phoning up fishing for detilas about this and that when offering clearly fake roles.
Been absolutely s
t for a while now.
Been absolutely s
t for a while now.
ecs said:
No idea what's going on in software at the moment - every role in my field seems to have 200+ applicants within a few hours of being posted and the recruiters seem to be up to dirty tricks as some of them phoning up fishing for detilas about this and that when offering clearly fake roles.
Been absolutely st for a while now.
I agree. Been absolutely s
t for a while now.Contracts for my role seem non-existent - I've passed a couple of interviews but they're with service providers who don't seem to have a signed contract so the role doesn't really exist. What I do isn't that niche (GCP DevOps)
Plenty of permanent roles but quite a few seem to casually drop in they that actually you need to be in the office without finding out if you live anywhere near it. Or the recruiter doesn't get back to you, perhaps because they've been swamped by lots of applicants who are in no way qualified or even have a sufficient visa. So I'm not disheartened by a number, I know most of them won't have any chance of getting through a simple filter.
It is tiring though, for both applicants and recruiters.
Little thread bump, but I’m also struggling to find roles that fit my skillset. I work for a global tech firm in a kind of non-technical pre sales role. Once I’m in front of someone I can sell myself and what I’m looking for, but on paper I struggle a little.
I would like to use a recruiter but I’ve had such bad experiences with them in the past. Most just seem to want to fill the latest vacancy they have and don’t listen to what you’re looking for. Does anyone have a recommended recruiter who specialise in tech/software companies?
I would like to use a recruiter but I’ve had such bad experiences with them in the past. Most just seem to want to fill the latest vacancy they have and don’t listen to what you’re looking for. Does anyone have a recommended recruiter who specialise in tech/software companies?
juggsy said:
Little thread bump, but I’m also struggling to find roles that fit my skillset. I work for a global tech firm in a kind of non-technical pre sales role. Once I’m in front of someone I can sell myself and what I’m looking for, but on paper I struggle a little.
I would like to use a recruiter but I’ve had such bad experiences with them in the past. Most just seem to want to fill the latest vacancy they have and don’t listen to what you’re looking for. Does anyone have a recommended recruiter who specialise in tech/software companies?
No recommendations I’m afraid but just to say: I would like to use a recruiter but I’ve had such bad experiences with them in the past. Most just seem to want to fill the latest vacancy they have and don’t listen to what you’re looking for. Does anyone have a recommended recruiter who specialise in tech/software companies?
You are not alone, I’ve started looking in anger now. I’m on garden leave until year end. I’m competing with six colleagues or friends and not one has landed anything as far as I’m aware since a few months back.
I am embracing the time off for now as I’ve plenty of years left to work so making the most of it.
I’m hoping word of mouth will help as I’ve pinged most of my previous contacts and found each one was happy to have a catch up on the phone (one may get me an interview on a job that’s in the pipeline). I find that a bit cringey though to be honest - even though I’ve left on good terms.
Keep going !
vindaloo79 said:
No recommendations I’m afraid but just to say:
You are not alone, I’ve started looking in anger now. I’m on garden leave until year end. I’m competing with six colleagues or friends and not one has landed anything as far as I’m aware since a few months back.
I am embracing the time off for now as I’ve plenty of years left to work so making the most of it.
I’m hoping word of mouth will help as I’ve pinged most of my previous contacts and found each one was happy to have a catch up on the phone (one may get me an interview on a job that’s in the pipeline). I find that a bit cringey though to be honest - even though I’ve left on good terms.
Keep going !
Appreciate the solidarity, it’s a tough market out there at the moment it seems. You are not alone, I’ve started looking in anger now. I’m on garden leave until year end. I’m competing with six colleagues or friends and not one has landed anything as far as I’m aware since a few months back.
I am embracing the time off for now as I’ve plenty of years left to work so making the most of it.
I’m hoping word of mouth will help as I’ve pinged most of my previous contacts and found each one was happy to have a catch up on the phone (one may get me an interview on a job that’s in the pipeline). I find that a bit cringey though to be honest - even though I’ve left on good terms.
Keep going !
juggsy said:
vindaloo79 said:
No recommendations I’m afraid but just to say:
You are not alone, I’ve started looking in anger now. I’m on garden leave until year end. I’m competing with six colleagues or friends and not one has landed anything as far as I’m aware since a few months back.
I am embracing the time off for now as I’ve plenty of years left to work so making the most of it.
I’m hoping word of mouth will help as I’ve pinged most of my previous contacts and found each one was happy to have a catch up on the phone (one may get me an interview on a job that’s in the pipeline). I find that a bit cringey though to be honest - even though I’ve left on good terms.
Keep going !
Appreciate the solidarity, it’s a tough market out there at the moment it seems. You are not alone, I’ve started looking in anger now. I’m on garden leave until year end. I’m competing with six colleagues or friends and not one has landed anything as far as I’m aware since a few months back.
I am embracing the time off for now as I’ve plenty of years left to work so making the most of it.
I’m hoping word of mouth will help as I’ve pinged most of my previous contacts and found each one was happy to have a catch up on the phone (one may get me an interview on a job that’s in the pipeline). I find that a bit cringey though to be honest - even though I’ve left on good terms.
Keep going !
I'm now closer and close to a retention bonus that I might as well tough it out as nothing else is happening .
If you have a good job you should just stick it out even if you hate it.
Everyone I know has been benched since summer and generally employers have listings up looking for unicorn candidates that don't exist and so never get filled. Even if you do land something you are likely to take a salary hit vs what you are on and end up in a less secure role. This really isn't a market for career changes in software.
Most of the LinkedIn numbers are just 1 click apply spam. Hiring managers I spoke to said rhey still only get 4 to 6 qualified applicants out of 400.
If you see a role you want skip LinkedIn and go look for the application on the company website, or use jobserve. LinkedIn is now a total waste of time.
Everyone I know has been benched since summer and generally employers have listings up looking for unicorn candidates that don't exist and so never get filled. Even if you do land something you are likely to take a salary hit vs what you are on and end up in a less secure role. This really isn't a market for career changes in software.
Most of the LinkedIn numbers are just 1 click apply spam. Hiring managers I spoke to said rhey still only get 4 to 6 qualified applicants out of 400.
If you see a role you want skip LinkedIn and go look for the application on the company website, or use jobserve. LinkedIn is now a total waste of time.
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