So after hundreds of applications, several final stage interviews and rejections and I have finally bagged a new role.
The relief is huge, and more importantly the mental change in mindset to being one of provider again is a massive boost. This for me was the hardest thing to deal with whilst being out or work.
My wife was fantastic during the whole process and never once doubted me or my ability to get a new role, none the less the mental torture of having a family and not providing for them felt like a huge weight. One which I never thought about at all, I didn’t ever consider that this would be an issue I would have to deal with.
So what have i learned throughout this whole process? Getting a job in tech is harder than I have ever experienced in my life.
Time was, you could walk into a place and hand in a CV, even discuss with someone there and then about new roles available and come away with an interview booked. Or you could ring a company direct and get an interview booked in.
I then saw the shift to agencies managing the recruiting process where this aspect was outsourced, but still had a physical first approach. You had to speak with someone in the recruitment agency, book an interview, then leave it with them to come back to you with suitable roles and pick the role you wanted, arrange an interview and go from there.
After this came online job boards, where you could find roles, apply and reasonably expect a call back (provided experience matched). This has now changed again into the black hole of LinkedIn and online job portals.
LinkedIn Easy apply for me has been a completely useless endeavour. I have applied for hundreds of roles with not even one contact from any of them. Most of the roles I know I am suitable for and my experience shows this, so I do question what this easy apply does in practice? Is the sheer volume of applicants overloading HR departments or hiring teams? Or is this a harvesting operation to build a pool of people to be farmed out to companies or agencies who have roles?
Whilst this aspect of LinkedIn I have found not very fruitful, I have had most success from boutique recruitment agencies finding my profile and then speaking with me about roles they have. This is where all my success has been outside of direct applies to roles via company websites. For this I am extremely grateful, I have been working with two great agencies who have been extremely competent and have identified roles which I am a great fit for.
Now that a new role has been nailed down (all be it one with a big salary drop) I have to get the head down and work hard to make this role a success, as the thought of looking again for a new role is a horrific one.
To all those looking for new roles, best of luck and keep on pushing. My success came via small recruitment agencies, so this would be where I would be putting my energy.
Onwards and updards!
Leave a Reply