Becoming a software engineer in a tough market
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In recent years, it has become trendy to become a software engineer; the tech market exploded during the pandemic due to low interest rates and many people working from home. However, since 2022, the tech market has cratered, with many companies having layoffs and hiring freezes.
Software development is unique because there are multiple ways to enter the field: the traditional computer science degree from college, coding boot camps, or self-taught. In 2023, you compete with laid-off workers, recent graduates, boot campers, and people who pivoted into software engineering for jobs. It is likely not your fault if you are having trouble finding a programming job in this current market.
Even before the market worsened, some people had to apply to hundreds of companies for their first programming job. Some tips from these people range from:
1. Network (get referrals, attend meetups and conferences)
2. Have others take a look at your resume
3. Improve your coding and interviewing skills (more or better-directed leetcode and practice interviews)
4. Make your resume stand out in any way possible (personal projects, blogging).
5. Never give up
Just remember the present market is similar to the recent downtimes in tech, the dot-com bubble, and the 2008 recession. Those markets eventually recovered, and so should this one. Below is a list of software developers who purportedly had to fill out hundreds of job applications to get hired.
Programmers who needed hundreds of applications before getting hired |
||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Description | Source |
| Abigboi_ | 6 months and >= 2000 applications. Spent a good hour or 2 every day applying to jobs. | |
| skipfiller | I’ve put in hundreds of applications and wouldn’t be surprised if it was a thousand. And I just recently accepted a job with Microsoft! | |
| Kevin Chen (KC) | 600 applications in 6 months to get first software engineering job | Youtube |
| bubba_squats | Took me about 750 applications. TBF, I was a fresh grad with no internship experience. | |
| A27_97 | 600 applications -> 2 offers, 90K and 75K. International student. | |
| BraveUnion | It took me 300 applications to get my job and the vast majority had little to no response. My advice is constantly iterate and widen your horizons. | |
| The_Sign_of_Zeta | It took me 6 months to apply to 275 jobs. And that was a lot of work with resumes tailored for the field and job title I want. The job markets sucks, and at the same time I think a lot of people on here just spam generic applications and resumes. | |
| Odd_Lab_7244 | Career changer here: 200 applications sent, 20 replies which were not outright rejections, 2 offers. I took the scatter gun approach because i didn't want to risk the disappointment of emotionally investing in any one application. | |
| blueblueblueredyello | I have two years experience and a degree in data science. I’m also really good in interviews and build great rapport quickly. I sent over 600 applications before getting hired. | |
| Patrick Thompson | After boot camp, applied to over 1000 jobs and had 45 interviews before getting hired | Youtube |
| Punk-in-Pie | I applied to around 500 places over 5 months before getting hired. | |
| DTPW | I sent out 267 resumes (jan-June). Zero response, other than about 40 form letter rejection emails. One day i get an email to set up a phone interview, that leads to a second, then a third, then an in-person and an offer. All in one week’s time. | |
| checkin_em_out | I just need to share the news that after graduating a 3-month bootcamp last December, I just officially accepted an offer for a Software Developer position yesterday. | |
| Kilexey | Real number of applications: >400, I didn’t track easy LinkedIn (and job applications on similar websites) | |
| noko12312 | I am a Dec 2022 CS grad from a private university with no internship experience. After searching for 11 months with 2,800 applications I have finally managed to land a full time job as a software developer. | |
| Duk55 | I graduated May of this year and by that time I had sent around 400 applications with not a single interview. Feeling extremely down and burnt out I decided to take the summer to relax and started up job applications back in August. In total I've spent about 6 non-consecutive months applying to jobs. | |
| studyduddy | 1259 applications to get 4 internship offers | |
| dpeachpeach | 759 applications to get two internship offers | |
| MsCamillaMcCauley's son | 1k applications to get 1 offer | |
| ParfaitSignificant16 | Got 4 internship offers after 895 applications | |
| VaderCOD | 2,023 applications to get 1 offer as a new grad | |
| goldandkarma | FAANG offer after 700 applications | |
| 75inchsamsungtv | 2138 applications to get 1 offer | |
| QuirkyComrade | QuirkyComrade needed 639 applications to get an internship as an international student. | |
| ChillPepper | ChillPepper got a job offer with no internship and a low GPA after 1000+ applications. | |
