Anecdotally.. but not really. I was worried about the job market but this was unfounded, for me... I started applying in October and had four offers from large tech companies by end of November. A lot of this was through networking to be fair, not “cold applying” (1 was through cold applying, the other 3 through networking).
reach out to former coworkers or friends and ask for referrals. YMMV, but I do not think it is at all that bleak.
On that note, being in a larger city and doing in-person networking is a much different game than trying to apply online from afar. Plus, I've heard a lot about how useless online applications have become due to AI, ghost jobs, bad HR practices, etc. It makes me wonder if returning to the "come in to the office and drop off an application" days would be better for everyone.
Online applications make it easier for people to apply to jobs in a different city without having to drive across the country just to hand the HR a PDF hardcopy. Mail (physical mail, not e-mail) and fax (yeah, I know, who still uses fax) applications wouldn't suffer from this though.
I moved AUS->UK for family reasons, didn’t start applying till we landed and settled. Had a remote contract signed within two months at “big tech” for 97th percentile income locally.
20ish apps total, only 5ish got past resume screening, bombed one, turned down two, one couldn’t afford me, one accepted, no referrals, only applying for Sr IC roles, ~30yo, ~10yoe, no dei, admittedly have a degree unlike op
All up I was left doubting the jobs downturn, anecdote ofc :shrug:
32 - interviewed only for senior IC positions in hybrid and remote roles. Also do want to nuance, I applied to many more positions than I ended up getting interviews for.
The only guaranteed way for the interview stage was through referrals.
I found this was the same for me in the middle of the pandemic hiring boom too. I sent off a dozen resumes and didn’t hear back from any of them, one post for me on the YC alumni forum and I had a whole week of interviews lined up immediately and one referral to another company which landed me an interview as well and ultimately an offer I ended up accepting.
I never found cold applying to be particularly useful, even during the best hiring times, so I always read these accounts of how bad the market is because someone sent their resume to X number of companies to be a bit useless in judging the market as in my experience that never really worked.
reach out to former coworkers or friends and ask for referrals. YMMV, but I do not think it is at all that bleak.