I checked back with him after a few weeks, with no updates. Finally, I checked in with him again just last week – and learned through him that the role had now been filled, all without the company so much as sending me a rejection email.
In an already-demoralizing job search, it was a real gut punch, and despite 10 years of experience, has me really starting to question whether I still have a future in tech.
Wait till you have about 30 years experience, it gets worse.
This is the first time I've ever really studied for interviews since college because the effort required to get the interview opportunity is high enough I don't want to wing it and risk getting rejected over something stupid like whether I can implement a dynamic programming solution.
I'm working on a product to make the transition from happily employed -> actively looking as easy as possible for candidates by creating a personalized job board of companies interested in you while you aren't looking. Once you are actively looking, I'm trying to address the transparency issues via communication SLAs and automation.
It's in the super early stages, but you can check it out here: https://sharedrecruiting.co/
Let me know if this resonates/what you think!
If you’ve found a job that interests you or even simply a company that appeals to you, get on LinkedIn and see if you have any connections at all at the company. Regardless of how strong or tenuous the connection, reach out to them and ask them if they have any insight into the position. Even if they know nothing about the role, ask them if they can introduce you to someone that does. The worst that will happen is they will simply ignore you so you’re no worse off than if you hadn’t reached out in the first place.
Job boards really obscure the fact that so many jobs, as in so much of life, is who you know.
Value your time as a job applicant as much as you value your time as an employee. Don't make yourself just another row in a database. Be a high priority email thread.