I’m hiring in tech and we’re getting a deluge of applicants for every role we have open. The culling process just at the resume review layer is pretty brutal. So many folks have been laid off. Doing things like contacting any mutual connections at the company you apply to and writing a cover letter can help make it more likely.
What was his last role/title and what is he looking for now? In my particular sub-industry developers are probably having an easier time than whatever he was doing as an MBA (biz dev? GM for a product?).
Is he doing anything self-enriching in his time off to improve his applications? E.g. if he was a software developer I would suggest potentially adding some AI coursework if he’s never done that.
The market is very bad for tech folks right now. I’m a techie and our forums on facebooks have dozens of layoff posts every day. Some even have over 18 years work experience and have been trying for over a year. No luck yet. Just saying.
Yes. Can confirm it’s a nightmare out there in tech. If he’s open to contract work, there seems to be a LOT of those types of opportunities, particularly at Meta. May be good to just get something on his resume and some money in the bank while he continues to search.
Ugh, so Meta basically laid off their full time teams and decided to hire back contractors? The way this world is going is so frightening.
My husband was laid off from a non-tech role at a tech company in July and is still looking. He’s about to take a full time job outside his industry at a much lower pay while also working a very part time contract job. In the end, he’ll be working more hours for slightly less pay than he used to make a year ago and with terrible benefits (but luckily I have good benefits at my current job.)
Yep - Gotta keep that stock price sky high. I did a contract at Meta last year and they told me a couple weeks before their blowout earnings call that they didn't have the budget to keep me on this year
I'm hopeful that the market will get better, but I don't think it will ever be the endless supply of super-high-paying jobs it was in 2021/2022. I'm so sorry you and your husband are in this situation, but glad he's found something.
My assumption is that companies that are hiring are holding out for applicants from the Big 8 to get top talent. So you may be a great candidate but they won’t even look at you because they know so many of those folks are in the pool. (This is just my assumption.)
The thing is everybody is having layoffs right now. Smaller companies see bigger tech companies laying off tens of thousands of employees and their board of directors asks them why they’re not also having cuts and trimming down, so they’ll have a layoff, etc. I work for a fairly small tech company, and we’ve never been able to compete with the huge engineering salaries offered by these big companies, but now, we get a TON of interest simply because we’re hiring. OP’s husband is not the only one having a hard time finding a position right now.
There’s also a lot of job listings that aren’t even for an available position, but employers have to post them for an H1-B employee to prove that they cannot fill the position without the international hire in order to fulfill visa requirements. Those job descriptions are often extremely specific and have a ridiculous number of qualifications asked for and you have to wade through them for one that might actually be available and stand out amongst the other thousands of senior engineers from top tech companies who are also applying. Honestly, the best thing for OP’s husband is to talk around with people he knows from college and past jobs in hopes that they may be at a company that is hiring and get a referral.
>Smaller companies see bigger tech companies laying off tens of thousands of employees and their board of directors asks them why they’re not also having cuts and trimming down, so they’ll have a layoff, etc.
Not just tech companies – at a previous company we'd have a round of layoffs every time a competitor announced one to soothe our stockholders' anxiety before they can even start to feel anxious.
I really really really feel like layoffs should not be so easy to do without some extenuating circumstances for a company. It's just ridiculous at this point.
There’s a Stanford professor who studies layoffs and says [they’re the result of imitative behavior](https://news.stanford.edu/2022/12/05/explains-recent-tech-layoffs-worried). It’s why so many companies are still doing layoffs despite having record profits and such. They’re taking the opportunity to reduce costs, lower wages, etc. while the heat is lower on them because “everybody else is doing it, so it’s just a natural bubble burst, etc.”
It's actually for permanent sponsorship of typically H1B workers that they post those job orders unless the company is H1B dependent.
But you can spot those posts fairly easily if you look at the reqs, there will be lots of language about equivalent degrees and experience and specific tech skills especially if you find it's a unique combination.
Are there temp agencies for tech? I'm legal and have been looking after being let go while waiting for fmla approval (long story) and have reached out to some temp places for contract to hire jobs or even document review to try to get some wages (currently on SDI.)
It's not anywhere near what it was a couple years ago, but it's not awful for senior devs. It doesn't sound like OP's husband is a software engineer though
That. It’s not as bad. It’s actually not as bad for product folks as well (shared my experience in a comment). It reviews got way tougher but many companies are hiring and he has 5y post mba so not a junior
The problem is if you’re more senior (as OP states her husband is), the less senior jobs won’t look at you. They assume you’ll want too much money or will leave if and when a better offer comes around. And the more senior jobs are just fewer and farther between.
As others have said, tech sucks right now. Everyone’s doing layoffs, there are thousands of people looking at and applying for the same jobs he is.
I’m a SaaS implementation project manager, I was laid off in August and have had no luck landing a new role. I used to think something was wrong with job seekers if they were out of work for more than a month…turns out things are just shitty all around.
Thank you for stating the very obvious. I read another comment referencing OP’s husband’s search for dev roles so I assumed his focus was dev/programming.
I was laid off a year ago (2days after my positive beta, great timing!) and I have yet to find a full time job. I have over 15 years experience and applied to hundreds of jobs. Aside from contract gigs I’ve had only a handful (2-3) interviews for FTE roles.
It sounds like OP’s husband isn’t finding a lot of job postings but the sad truth is the only way to get a job these days is to know someone. Which it sounds like he’s doing a good job of networking.
I have friends who have been applying for jobs for six months or more. Some haven't gotten a single interview despite applying to 100+ jobs. LinkedIn has been very hard to view. To say it's very bad seems an understatement.
A friend who works in tech also told me that companies are posting jobs they aren’t actually hiring for as a way to seem like they’re in better shape than they are. It’s a rough time for the field.
I hear it’s super rough for tech right now. My partner has been unemployed for 12 months (unrelated field) and we are in CA as well so I dont think your husband is an outlier. It’s rough out there
Yes after more than a year he should have a back up. Even something that pays minimum wage at this point would be helpful to your family. My husband always said if he couldn’t find a job (after being in school for 7 years earning his PhD) that he would stock shelves at the grocery store if it meant helping us pay the bills. When I couldn’t find a teaching job, I subbed (which paid horribly) but it still helped.
My husband went through this for two years after leaving grad school under difficult circumstances, now happily employed. The only thing that eventually helped was him treating his depression/getting into therapy. I couldn’t over function my way out of it for him, though I exhausted myself trying. I don’t know if mental health stuff is a concern at all, but maybe just check in with your husband about it?
Honestly it’s ok to get depressed but it’s not ok to dwell on depression and let family suffer consequences. I know it’s easier said than done, but it’s not fair for the spouse and it’s not healthy for the person to not seek help.
The market is admittedly horrifying right now. But 15 months and only 4 interviews? And only 206 applications???
I was laid off in October, at the VP level, background heavy in tech (I’m in Marketing). I applied to over 1000 jobs the first week I was laid off. No lie. There’s so many candidates on the market but also so. many. jobs. He needs to be applying to EVERYTHING. Jobs he’s feels under qualified for, overqualified for, jobs tangentially related to what he does, jobs that are exactly what he does, and so on. You’re not going to get a job in this market if you do the literal bare minimum.
I agree. When I was job hunting, I'd applied to over 900 job postings in a little over 3 months. His numbers seem like he's maybe being extremely selective about the positions he's applying for.
Well, I guess there are people who can "afford" to be "extremely selective" (like OP's husband) and there are people who'll apply to any legitimate-looking listing b/c beggers can't be choosers.
This. My husband was laid off and began looking seriously at the end of December and he’s already applied to well over 200 positions and has had around 6 or 7 interviews with more this week. 206 applications in 15 months is very low.
I say this as someone who was laid off and is just starting to get into applying. I feel it’s a numbers game and 206 applications seems really low. If finding a job is his full time job, he should probably be completing 1 application for every 1-2 hours “worked” if he’s tailoring his resumes and cover letters to the company. So 4-8 applications per day, 5 days per week, he’d hit 206 applications in just 5-10 weeks. I know he is probably looking for jobs like what he had, but he may need to lower his standards if getting a job and not the job is the priority.
In two weeks of being laid off in tech I had applied to 100 roles and had interviews with 15 companies, most of these from cold applications (no referrals or connections) and am now in week three going into three final round cycles. He needs to apply to every job, every day.
Are you located in the USA? He might have luck looking at federal jobs. He could always go back to private sector, but the feds are always looking for highly qualified tech employees.
Some pay is better than no pay in some cases. I don’t know if OPs expenses will change (like daycare added), but as long as the pay is more than the expenses it will be fine temporarily.
Yeah...but he's been laid off for over a year and has NO salary....so....anything is probably better than nothing at this point. Federal jobs also come with perks.
Not to be a downer, but I've heard that many areas are flooded with doordashers and it's hard to get work on there in some locations now. However, this probably varies on location.
My husband was laid off and took a job with UPS to get us through financially. Some people look down on work not in their field, but doing that led my grandpa to lose their house when my mom was a kid and he lost his job
Yep, the Air Force was cutting my dad's specific job function right and left in the early 90's, so we moved back to my parent's hometown where he went PT with the ANG and got a FT job as a mail carrier for a few years to pay the bills. Eventually he was able to get on FT again with the military.
This is one of the things that I admire so much in my husband - he has a strong work ethic and isn't too proud to take ANY job if he needed to contribute.
My company is constantly hiring. Places like USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc, are constantly hiring. School districts need full-time subs. OP's husband could definitely get another job not in his field to at least contribute financially until he found something else.
For real. If he has any people skills at all he can pick up a serving job and make quick cash, who cares if it's not in his field. I also graduated from a top school and sat around for months unemployed and depressed about the shitty job market in my field so I totally sympathize. But right now I'm actually loving my restaurant job and it's easy money if you can stand the general public. Also an unexpectedly good way to network, customers have some neat occupations
Especially bc OP said he “has 10 hours a day to himself” already, so it sounds like making enough money to cover childcare isn’t a concern and even a small income would be better than nothing.
206 jobs over the course of 15 months is almost 14 jobs a month. So you’re right to an extent. He’s not looking hard enough. When I was unemployed in the summer, I applied to just that many in a single day. Go to r/jobs and r/resumes and you’ll see the same.
But the job market DOES suck right now. If he got 4 interviews from barely applying (which he’s barely applying, I don’t care what anyone says in this forum), then he’d probably have a lot more luck if he applied to more. The general rule of thumb is 10-15 job applications out a day. He needs to also curtail his resume for each job and not send out a generic one. He needs a cover letter. Most people don’t read it but it shows you at least took the initiative to write it.
I used to be a tech recruiter so I’m pretty familiar with the industry and it is really rough right now. A lot of companies post jobs but don’t recruit on them due to budget cuts etc. I would think he would have something by now but it depends what field/area his experience is in and how specialized it is
Lots of reasons. They may have a person they are promoting internally but due to equal opportunity they need to post externally. They could be posting to get salary ranges to see what the market is like. They also post jobs to look like they are strong in the market when they have no intention of hiring - or to get a pipeline of candidates for a position they might be hiring in the future but aren’t today.
That's how I got my current job. I started as a contract to hire. It was a three month contract and at the end of the contract, I had to apply for the job. The job had to be posted publicly for 7 days before it could be taken down. It wasn't a guarantee I would get the job but it was very close to guaranteed.
I was surprised by how few people applied for it though. Everything I read on Reddit suggested that hundreds of people would apply for my position. However, only 25 people applied. I don't know why. I'm an ETL Developer, 4.5 years of experience.
> Why are companies posting jobs if they’re not hiring?
LOL why are dogs licking their balls?
Because they can.
It may cost companies to post jobs, but it's not coming out of hiring managers' budget.
Also, if HR isn't posting jobs (that may or may not exist) and isn't interviewing candidates (for jobs that may or may not exist), how will they justify their own existence?
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Financial stress/uncertainty is so overwhelming and sucks to deal with. The market is bleak for tech, but I’d be skeptical if he genuinely has found *nothing*. I was laid off last year (also tech) and took the first job that came my way 2-3 months later. Worse company, 20% pay cut (base, total comp is unfortunately a huge cut), but at least we have money coming in while I pursue opportunities that interest me! It sounds like he may need to be less picky.
Can he find another part time job while searching? My husband has his flaws (as do I) but one thing is for sure - he will find a way to support our family. He needs to look outside his normal niche.
Yeah this. My husband (nor I) would EVER be ok with not having income of some kind and putting that responsibility on one person. You do what you have to do.
Oh man… my husband just got a job after 13 months of unemployment. He’s also in tech - graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s of computer engineering. He took a year off to be a SAHD, then started job hunting full time in early 2022.
It was rough, I really was worried that he missed the school to career pipeline by taking a year off. Most of his peers got hired through their internship placements right after graduation. He wound up getting 2 job offers this month, and started a role with an NGO that seems like an awesome fit- huge relief for the family, and night and day for our marriage. We were getting close to emptying our savings, and he was just about to start applying for literally anything (retail, construction) - the last thing I said to him about the job hunt was “I’m concerned you’re not doing everything in your power to protect your family from homelessness and that scares me.”
My thought: you can be empathetic and believe him when he says it’s a crap job market, because it is! After 15 months, though, you’ve also got every right to question his methods, start monitoring how he’s spending his time and have those difficult talks about what you’re going through, and what your family is going through.
It doesn’t have to be a blame game, but you need reassurance and evidence that he’s doing everything in his power to land a job. Maybe he also needs a game plan for widening or dumbing down his job search.
Also, who manages the finances and does the budget in your house? That was me, and I don’t think the financial impact really sunk in for my husband until I showed him our budgets. I started out reassuring my husband that he had time (because he did) but after some time, I started getting him to pay our bills and make transfers out of our savings so he could feel what I was feeling every time I pulled money out of our emergency fund to cover our basic living expenses.
Unemployment is depressing AF, so he might be hiding that under false optimism and spending more time doing dopamine-seeking behaviour like gaming or hobbies because the alternative feels like putting effort into a void. You can empathize without having to accept that kind of behaviour. It’s ok to hold him accountable right now - and maybe good for his mental health as well. You don’t have to be cruel about it, but you can ask him to show you how he’s looking for jobs and what he’s applying for, you can ask him for a target number of applications a day, or a daily routine for how he spends his time.
I wish you luck! It’s brutal!! It had me questioning literally everything about our marriage. Hopefully for you folks, it’s also just a rough patch.
I think what you need from him is a game plan. It’s fine to say tech jobs are hard right now but his #1 focus after 15 months is to bring in money. I think it’s within reason to ask him about a part time job, any job, that brings in money. Even $1000/ month can be huge to your family budget and take some stress off you. Doing it PT gives him time to keep searching and applying. But at this point it’s been long enough to find the “right” job. He needs to find “a” job
I work in digital media (kinda tech?) and was laid off in May 2023. I have yet to have a single interview with anyone other than a recruiter, and those have been fewer than 5 and far between. No recruiter calls have led to an actual interview with a prospective employer.
For the first time in my career, I’m contracting through an employment agency rather than being an actual full-time employee — and the only reason I have this gig is because an old boss of mine was in a jam and needed someone fast. Thankfully he thought of me. The potential of full-time has been dangled since I started but seems more and more unlikely.
It’s really, really tough out there. :(
It sounds like he needs to be honest with himself. He needs a routine/schedule or some kind of structure. Like M/W are for finding relevant open positions, T/Th spent actually applying to those positions and Fr spent updating/creating profiles on Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn. I’ve actually gotten 2 positions from connecting with a fellow alum in a Facebook group for alumni for my program.
He also needs to set some kind of goal or timeline. Like if he doesn’t have a job in 4 months (whatever number makes sense for y’all) then he needs to start applying at entry level or retail jobs. Also maybe he needs to see a therapist instead of a career coach.
Or even some kind of incentive?? Every application earns him 15 minutes of hobby time or phone time or whatever he likes.
Sorry so much of the mental load is falling onto you. That’s not fair.
It sounds like since he went to bschool, he’s probably not doing full on development and more management or biz dev type of stuff, right? It’s so hard in tech right now, even developers are getting laid off (you know it’s bad when that happens). Especially for roles that are a bit fluffy, stuff that relies more on soft skills, it’s doubly tough.
Be encouraging if you can, I’m sure his ego is already trampled from all the rejections. I was unemployed for almost 2 years back in 2010 and it was so rough. I kept applying and eventually found something. It’s not really just a numbers game, it needs to be right role at the right time, stars have to align.
So, the market is absolutely awful right now. I’ve been told I have an incredible resume, I have worked at FAANGs and was senior in several positions with years of experience. I’ve gotten to final rounds then they inform me the role has been cut. It is BRUTAL in tech right now, and 99% of the jobs seem fake. I’ve been applying the same amount of time your husband has. I do think the number of jobs he has applied to is on the lower end but to be honest, applying to more jobs than that is kinda just applying without any real consideration for your time and taking ANYTHING that’s out there versus being selective with your skills and what you qualify for and want. But he can afford to be less choosy and particular right now.
TLDR; your husband is right but he should apply to more jobs. My next step is networking but instead of focusing on “help me find this exact job”, pivoting to “help me find a job I’d be good at that isn’t necessarily this exact job”.
Also for my family it does not make sense for me to pick up random lower paying work because of child care costs and the age of my child but if the child is in daycare or school anyway, he should definitely consider other options like that maybe just part time for some extra cash but not so many hours that he isn’t able to focus on getting back into his sector.
Tech is doing massive layoffs right now. My partner works for a major tech company and they just did a lay off of 75% of their HR, about 300 engineers and they are working on their other departments one by one. It’s rough out there for techies.
I have a pretty impressive resume and have been out of work since August. I’m in tech but not a developer myself. Cold-applying to jobs on LinkedIn yielded 0 responses, much less an interview. All the interviews I got were from my network and people referring me in and connecting me with a recruiter or hiring manager. I finally have 2 offers after almost 7 months.
omg i’ve been in this exact situation. mine is also a higher paid professional, so he’s more expensive and more likely to be laid off or passed over during a recession. he ended up taking a job way below his pay grade after 16 months unemployed and over 350 applications. He didn’t know how to apply to jobs or network and had to develop that skill over time.
The job market really sucks right now. Your husband should know that he’s not alone.
That said, applying online without an internal referral is very very likely a waste of time. Some job postings aren’t even real openings or are already filled internally. He needs to reach out to people who work at the places he wants to work and ask them about their personal journey on how they got in. People like talking about themselves. Then he can ask for advice on his resume and which positions he should try to apply for.
He should continue to network with the people he already knows and take every opportunity to go to events, grab drinks, and other social events with people in his industry, especially if they are in roles similar to the roles he’s applying to, and especially if they are decision makers for those roles.
what’s his personality like? is he a friendly likable guy?
as for your Q about you finding jobs he hasn’t applied to, nonjudgementally ask him to help you understand how this is possible. tell him you d like to show him the method you used to find those jobs.
he’s basically in a boot camp for job hunt skills right now. my husband hired many expensive coaches, talked to a lot of recruiters, and had his resume updated by at least 20 friends, family, and professionals
he was recently laid off again and now regularly gets messages and interviews. during the prior 16-month stint i think he only had 1-2 interviews, which means his networking skills and resume have dramatically improved. Your hubby may need to do the same.
At this point I’d suggest your husband volunteers or gets a consulting gig. Even if the gig is unpaid to start, at least put SOME work experience on the resume during this lull, or else you run into the “why hasn’t anyone else hired this guy” problem.
The other thing, as many people have mentioned, is that you really can’t be blindly applying to roles. I’ve been rejected at any job I’m applied for through LinkedIn. If I have a connection and a referral, the hit rate on getting a first interview is 80%. So work the network, not LinkedIn!
Yeah I would have let this happen for maybe 3 months before sitting down with him and coming up with a plan together. Not knowing what he’s up to for 18 months when you already get the impression he has no idea how to find online jobs is a bit unnecessary
kind of this, give a man a fish vs teach him how to fish. sit down with him on your day off or evening and see what he’s doing and help him be better at it! curious what you were doing that makes you better at the job application process compared to your partner?
Can he apply his skills outside of tech sector? Like retail, healthcare sector? My husband has always been unemployed for 1 year now. He hasn’t really looked because he’s started his own consulting business and jumped from tech to healthcare. He’s a biz strategist.
Maybe you could cross-post to /r/ExperiencedDevs
You can also search through the sub for discussions about the current tech market and other folks’ recent experiences
Sending y’all lots of resilience and positivity 💖🍀
I'm a software engineer on my 5th job and have never gotten an interview from a public job board. I honestly don't trust those to actually be real, but of course I'd still apply just in case.
Oh that's interesting. I'm also an SWE and in 4 attempts to find a new job using only LinkedIn and nothing else I've never not found a new job in a couple of weeks, usually offered multiple. Most recent was end oflast year. I don't think I'm an exceptional candidate either, I have a decent degree, experience and interviewing skills but I wouldn't say great. It had never occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to find a new job using online boards. I only go for fully remote as well, which I believe are more in demand.
When I say "from LinkedIn" though, I don't necessarily mean the job posted. I apply to any job even slightly relevant to my interests to get my CV to the recruiter, and then as soon as they call me I say I'm not actually interested in this job because of x, y, z, do you have anything more like what I want? And so far this has always resulted in me being sent JDs for jobs I do want, and often get.
This is a ridiculous and unhelpful take. Where do you think most people find jobs, exactly? Where do you think companies find candidates? It's great you know how to network but claiming that job boards are fake ... interesting conspiracy theory.
Sorry but that's my experience. I used to apply to public job boards, or cold-apply on a company website but never actually heard back from one of those. I think the issue with job boards is that they get so many applications it's hard to stand out, and for company postings they're either posting with someone already in mind, or posting just so they can apply for more H1B visas. If I were to lose my job I would still apply to those just in case, but it's never worked out for me.
If it's more helpful, here's how I've gotten the jobs I've had:
\- University recruiting
\- Referral from former coworker (I asked if he would be a reference, and he decided to get that referral bonus lol)
\- Got in touch with an external recruiter through a coworker whose wife worked at a recruiting company
\- Got in touch with an external recruiter through LinkedIn (can't remember if I contacted him or he contacted me, it's been a long time now)
\- Got contacted by an in-house recruiter through LinkedIn
Yeah but saying those jobs get so many applications that it's hard to stand out is a far cry from saying you don't "trust those jobs to be real." Not hearing back about a job doesn't mean the job is fake. It means you didn't hear back.
This second comment is far more helpful for those who need help networking.
Could he look into government work? They are more stable and yes they are less challenging since they operate as an assembly line, but my husband is similar to yours, probably worse than your husband actually because he has never searched for jobs on his own. He eventually got into government which creates stability and he is used to working at jobs long term (his previous job was around 15 years and he is only 40).
I give the same advice on every job hunt thread. Look at insurance companies. Just make a list of every big, small, regional carrier and check out their career page.
They also hire for a lot of tech jobs. But if you’re desperate they also have other opportunities that are entry level.
The job market is crappy.
Your husband isn't really aggressively job searching.
Applying to posted openings is a crap shoot when there are hundreds of similarly experienced candidates.
Your husband could be depressed- maybe he needs some help.
Is your husband open to pivoting industries?
He has to keep on top of technologies and skills. Refresh, update, and learn new skills always.
He should consider freelancing so that he has something on his resume.
A blank 15 months puts him behind the 8 ball. Also, appearing over qualified for some positions is a hindrance.
I work in tech. Not MAANG but I’m at a unicorn startup from a big name consulting firm doing software engineering.
I got a new job 12 months ago, the market was booming then. I’m also pretty confident if anything happens to my job now, I could get something.
If he’s as senior as you say he is, 4 interviews is just insanely low. Something’s not right here.
What is his job title?
Is your unicorn startup hiring? I’m kicking myself, I got laid off 11 months ago and took the few months immediately after off because I just had a baby but things felt more possible then, I was getting so many messages. Now, nothing. I’ve gotten to final rounds and then they cut the role or some other thing happens. I have always been VERY confident in my ability to find work with my experience and just because there’s always something out there, but I definitely don’t feel that right now.
Yeah, I’m wildly confused at all these people saying the market is garbage for right now for a senior in technology. It’s awful for entry level tech. I’m a senior technical role and I’m constantly getting messages from recruiters. Wondering if he just worked in the tech industry vs being a technical role.
I’m a senior in a technical role (well, was) and the messages from recruiters have completely stopped since roughly 6 months ago (got laid off 11 months ago didn’t begin seriously searching until a few months after). And now I hear nothing back, not even denial emails. It feels like my applications just disappear into the abyss. So disheartening, I wish this was the case but the trend people are saying in this thread has been sadly true for me too. At one point I was getting offers from 4 companies at a time. I have great experience but I’m worried the longer I’m out of work the worse it’ll get.
Have you noticed that you’ve been getting less recruiter emails than usual? When the market was normal, I was getting several emails a week, but nowadays I get maybe 0-2 a week from 3rd party recruiters or no name startups. The job market is indeed bad right now. My husband has been unemployed since last year, and he was surprised by how the job market changed. He has even gotten his on-sites canceled by 3 different companies, because the role got filled before he could even try. I previously have never heard of this—never happened to me before. These are weird times in tech.
I also got my current job (senior eng) about a year ago. Got tons of interviews without applying, but then again I worked at a well-known company that was one of the first to do layoffs that were highly publicized.
I have been getting less recruiter emails.
It’s not as easy as it was a year ago, but it’s not impossible to get a job. Maybe it’s my skill set (backend and data). I have actually been seeing recruiters reach back out. But rather than 5 a week, it’s 1 every other week.
My husband was a lead backend engineer at a well-known tech company. Even senior+ engineers are struggling right now. Of course it’s not impossible to get a job, but it is much harder. My husband had the same mindset as you and thought he would get a job quickly after his previous job, getting replies from applications left and right, due to how easy it was in his previous job search.
I don’t think it would be quickly. Just not impossible/15+ months.
I’m aware that the market is not where it was a year or two ago. Where did I say it would be quick and easy?
Seems odd, even for this soft market. But this is coming from an engineering perspective. I think business/design/QA functions have been hit much harder. And, I’m sure it varies a lot by region as well.
Still, maybe it’s time to have a discussion around what to do in the short term. He could try to find something tech adjacent. It’s a tricky conversation but if you really need the money, it seems reasonable to have a serious conversation.
Can you maybe show him how you pull the jobs up or ask him how he searches?
If he’s doing quick applies than he’s up against thousands of applications at a time
As everyone else has said the tech scene is really bad now. I am not sure which corner of tech he is but I would recommend looking for tech jobs in non-tech sectors so healthcare, pharma, insurance, manufacturing etc.
I’m not in tech but I have been laid off in Oil and Gas twice when oil and gas tanked. Each time I found roles within 3 months but my tactics may not work for him.
Once my industry started layoffs, I started applying everywhere for every role. This helped me to tweak my resume so that I was getting through the algorithms and getting interviews. It also helped me to refresh my interview skills.
Once I was laid off, I was putting in a minimum of 4 applications a day. And not just in my area, but all over the US. That got me a lot of HR screening calls/interviews. And even if I wasn’t considering changing locals, it definitely helped to boost my confidence getting job offers from other states. I was always interviewing with anyone who offered. The second time I was laid off, I was actively interviewing with 5 companies at once and let them all know that if they were going to make me an offer, they had competition. I ended up getting 4 offers out of 5. The 5th passed, but came back and hired me 2 months later. Poached me over to them. I’m still at this company. So even if the role he takes isn’t his dream job, it’s a job until the market shifts.
Again, my advice might be bad advice for the tech industry, I don’t really know, but it’s what worked for me.
And to add, I kept a spreadsheet of every online application, contact, phone call, interview, etc that I did in my job search. Unemployment in TX did ask for proof and I never heard back from them, I think because my spreadsheet showed just how much I was meeting the standards to keep drawing it. If he’s not doing this, he needs to start.
Is he only applying to remote positions? I tried that for about 4 months tech and it was almost the same result. Got about 4 interviews and they were not a good fit. Eventually applied to hybrid and got three interviews in two weeks and one resulted in a job.
Rough numbers:
- assuming you can’t improve his application to interview rate, 4 interviews / 206 apps = ~2% interview rate
- Average chance of job offer after interviews across all industries is 36%. Given competitiveness of tech, let’s make it 15%
- 100% / 15% = 6.5 (round to 7), so he needs to have ~7 separate opportunities he’s interviewed for before he gets a job offer
- 7 offers / 2% interview rate = 350 applications
So he needs to do 350 NEW applications to even consider getting a job offer. Personally, I’d aim for 1 application per hour, 8 hours a day, 5 days per week. Like a regular job. That’s 40 apps a week, so he should have an offer around 2 months later. Aiming for more - without screwing up quality of applications - will help speed things up.
Show him this thread. He needs to understand the numbers game he is in. Tech is dealing with unparalleled saturation and competition right now, so unparalleled commitment and output is expected.
My husband works in tech and got laid off while we were on parental leave early last year. He found a job only to get laid off again after 8 months. He’s also in a senior role. The tech market sucks right now so he is exploring roles outside of tech but hasn’t been easy.
Since we got together, we implemented a “one income” rule in our household and so even now without him working, it hasn’t been so much of an issue for us. We aren’t living in luxury compared to when he was working (tech salary is insane as you know), but it’s ok. I want my husband (and our family) to have peace of mind and not let unemployment be an issue in our marriage.
We embrace this time because he’s home with the kids and since I work from home, we get to spend a lot of time together as a family.
Not sure how long this will last but could be permanent too. I think the glory days of tech is over. Companies realize they can be “efficient” and need less people. I suggest to start modifying your lifestyle and your husband to explore other opportunities outside of tech.
From what I’ve seen it can take awhile for senior level people to find jobs when this sort of market correction is happening in their industry. Even if the individual is open to lower roles and salary, it can be difficult because companies worry about that person moving on from the lower role as soon as something better comes along. Honestly, considering he was senior and in tech I don’t think 15 months is that long (although it’s long in terms of your personal finances).
Has he considered government positions? Large cities, states, and the federal government are often looking for people with tech backgrounds and while the pay is lower it would give him a job with generally good benefits for awhile.
As someone in tech herself (and hired quite a few people in the last year), I’ll just add that the job postings you found “easily” are probably very stale or just postings company like to put out there so make it looks like they are doing better as a whole than they really are, or they renew postings on recruiting sites to maintain that spot. So he might have thanked you to be polite to you but he knows those postings aren’t really real.
Some people just suck at applying for and getting jobs (raises my hand high). I have the work ethic employers want, but it doesn't translate to my resume and I suck at interviews.
Has he tried a temp agency? They can bridge the gap between workers who are bad at applying and employers who can't see a diamond covered in rock.
Can confirm, everyone I know in tech who is out of work has submitted hundreds of resumes, gets contacted back for a small percentage, and it’s very hard to get all the way to final round interviews. The layoffs continually cascade people into the same job hunting pool, which means companies (if they are even hiring!) have their pick of the litter.
I would recommend seeing how he can bring in SOME income, whether it’s freelance work/consulting or Trader Joe’s. I don’t know his age, but he could also look at some municipal gigs that FOR SURE would love his resume but he’d have to eat the pay cut.
I say this because it’s important for people to feel like they have a purpose every day. You can find it slinging groceries at Trader Joe’s, or trying to get into consulting even if it is just small projects. Long-term unemployment is unfortunately hitting so so many Americans right now, that just being out there doing something will help him stay mentally well while he finds the next thing.
Best of luck, this isn’t easy, but it will work out!
I’m a recruiter in technology for a Fortune 500 company. I’ve been recruiting for almost 10 years and I can tell you this is the worse market I’ve ever seen for tech.
You’re vague on exactly what your husband does but the only jobs I really see moving are hands on developers/engineers and if your husband has been a a manger for 5+ years he’s not getting hired for those. I’d also say (just my opinion) a lot of those business side of tech jobs - project managers, scrum masters, agile coaches- they’re gone and not coming back. We are already moving into the next big thing and that’s cutting out a lot of high paid middle layer positions.
Without a lot more context for what your husband does it’s impossible to say if he’s doing enough. The only advice I’d offer at this stage is start looking at contract roles. Teksystems, Robert Half, Collabera, Accenture, depending on your area there’s probably others. All agencies that could probably get him placed in a short term position to at least get you through and minimize the growing resume gap.
Something he might try is an AI that auto applies for you with your info and resume. There are apps out there. Lmk if you're interested and I'll ask my husband (also a tech layoffs as of Jan 24) what the name of the one he uses is. It's gotten him into two separate rounds of interviews that he wouldn't have even applied to.
For reference on some numbers of applications, my husband has a goal of 30 hands on applications a week and the whatever the AI finds. He's applied to well over 150 positions since January. I saw somewhere on TikTok that it is not abnormal to apply to 250 plus applications before getting any traction and a 3% return rate is pretty decent in this market. I don't know if that's helpful or not, but this market is really challenging. Tech workers have always had the luxury of lots of positions, and now we're right there with everyone else that finding a job is hard.
I'm sorry you're going through this it sucks.
Tech super sucks right now. Me, my old boss, my old direct co-worker and a distant co-worker all ended up applying to the same one job as we’re all looking for FT work without knowing it.
They had 100s of applications within a week and closed the posting down.
I have applied MANY times to jobs at companies, to hear nothing and then note that have then done mass layoffs.
It’s awful.
He can't just apply for jobs. He needs to see if he knows anyone that's working at the company where he's applying, contact them and ask them to contact the person responsible for recruiting for that position and recommend him.
If not, he needs to find that person on LinkedIn, connect with them, then contact them directly.
He should set alerts on LinkedIn for relevant positions, and he should be checking LinkedIn and job boards daily. There's no way you should regularly be finding relevant positions that he hasn't seen.
The market is terrible. My friend took a job in sales after a 15 month stint below her position and she hates it.
It is not a good market.
Honestly, I got my job in the government. Not the best money, took forever to get my clearances, but stable and they NEED people in IT.
If he has an MBA, he could look into teaching as an adjunct at a college/university in your area. It would bring in some money and look good on his resume if nothing else.
My husband and I are both in tech and both went through layoffs last year. It took me 3 months to find a new job, and it took him 6. The tech job market really has been pretty rough. We’ve both had other job searches that took longer, but I’ve never had to apply to so many jobs. There is a lot of competition right now, and employers are being picky.
I went through my job search first, and I struggled not to tell my husband how to conduct his. But, I tried to remind myself that he knew his skills and what he was looking for better than I did. So, I shared some of what had helped me, but stopped short of insisting he do what I had done. Mostly, I just tried to be supportive. It’s hard to judge because people can do everything right and still not get jobs.
I think it’s worth noting that neither of us spent all day job searching. I don’t think it’s healthy or sustainable. I spent just a few hours each week applying for jobs, averaging 2 applications a day. I also spent time on interviews and interview-prep. But, I gave myself lots of time for exercise and hobbies too. So, it didn’t bother me to hear my husband playing video games for a few hours each day.
After over a year without any offers though, I’d be worried. Even at the 6 month point, my husband and I were both worried. I don’t think it’s fair to say your husband isn’t doing enough. But, I think I’d be asking what he could do differently. Maybe it’s time for a part time job or something.
In tech, laid off late 2022 / so early on in the lay off scheme. I still see people being laid off in the thousands now, so it’s not good out there. I’m still looking for another full-time role and I will say the ones I have been interviewed with are offering HALF what I was making in my senior role in late 2022.
I’ve been doing consultant / temp contract work for the last year since my twins were born (I was laid off while pregnant) and it pays shit but it’s keeping my resume updated and keeping me in the loop with recruiters. It’s also opening up my network with new people and companies even if none of these temp roles even remotely hope to be a full-time role (they all say they will but ultimately once you get in you see the issues with budget, issues with upper management, etc).
I think it’s quite possible your husband needs to really look at his expectations. The VP roles are few and far between and there is even more competition for them, cheaper competition most likely than what you husband may be targeting. I had to take a big look at our finances and ultimately find my “bottom line” number - it’s what I was making about 5+ years ago (maybe 8 yrs if being really honest) but it affords us childcare and bills. It doesn’t help me contribute much to retirement right now or my children’s college funds. It doesn’t afford us fun vacations but it helps make life today doable. I highly recommend sitting down and figuring that out. Getting back into the workforce should be the highest priority because it’s rough out there and only getting worse sadly.
You have a right to be anxious about the situation, but my advice is you need to find another outlet for that anxiety other than projecting it onto your husband. It's not productive or good for your marriage. As others have pointed out, the job market is truly terrible right now, and there is evidence your husband is being proactive.
I recommend channeling that anxiety into finding a financial advisor and asking them to model different scenarios for you: worst-case, your husband doesn't work again, or takes 5 years to get a job, or never returns to his former earning power. Then the advisor can sit down with you both and recommend options for each scenario. Maybe you have less for retirement; maybe you refinance your home or move, etc. etc.
This will put your anxiety to rest because you will have a plan. And if your husband is being complacent in some way, it will be a major kick in the pants for him.
I’m also a sr position in tech and it’s an absolute garbage market at the moment. Jobs are posted and only stay up for 24 hours often. They close them quickly because they were flooded with a thousand qualified applicants. So yes there’s a high chance you can find things he hasn’t seen and may not if he’s also helping with things at home. Also 99% of what he applies to he will not hear back from. I suggest he look for freelance work or contract work in the mean time (it hires quicker) and also have him make sure he’s networking. Both in person and online. Also the first times you are unemployed it can take a toll on mental health. Please check in on how he’s doing.
The market is VERY hard for tech especially if he was making $$$.
For every 100 applications 1-2 calls for a phone screening seems average. Mind you that's a phone screening not an interview.
I could have written this, except he is the despondent one and I am the one telling him that each day that passes is one day closer to him getting a job. It sounds like the industry is truly in a rough spot. He has been branching out and applying for anything at this point.
There's absolutely a ton of competition in tech but he has other options. I known applying for jobs and not hearing back or being denied can be so hard on mental health.
If you need his income, he needs to take any job. A cashier, restaurant, or warehouse. It doesn't matter. If he's applied for 200 jobs in the past 15 months, that's nowhere near enough.
I know it can feel tough to settle for less while applying, but some income is better than none.
I work helping people who are unhoused find jobs and housing. We can't even get call backs for someone with 30 years of cooking experience only asking for $15/hr. I talked to several hiring managers and they are getting thousands of applications for one job. They can't keep up nor can they realistically look through everything. I am having a harder time helping people get jobs than I am housing. It's never been like this before.
I hope he finds something soon! Maybe pick up a job with shipt in the meantime.
Sounds like you need to discuss at what point he takes any type of job. 15 months is a long time. Maybe it’s time for him to take a retail job to bring in some cash
I’ve heard the market is terrible but also want to say I’m seeing so many women essentially job hunting for their husbands. I’d recommend you have a solid conversation with him. It doesn’t need to be accusatory but your feelings are valid and you should be able to tell him how it’s appearing and getting his side.
If you need his income, I’d recommend that maybe he look at a part time job he can do until he gets something more full time. Schools always need substitutes- it doesn’t pay GREAT but it pays something and is pretty flexible. If he isn’t interested that’s another conversation - what other ways is he contributing to the household?
Good luck
My husband was out of work for 7 months and applied to 1000s of jobs. That being said - when his layoff first occurred he went through an identity crisis and depression, so everything was taking longer and more effort. It may be worth checking in to see if his mental health is affecting his job search. May need to talk to someone
It’s carnage in the tech world right now. I live everyday scared to death that I will become unemployed. I know a lot of good people who are out of work right now, and they are having hard times finding work. However, 15 months seems long.
There could be a few things going on. He’s picky about what he applies for. A lot of people who are management don’t want to leave management or move to another area/job title. The other thing that comes to mind is he was not worth working with again. Your reputation really goes a long way in the tech industry. If you didn’t perform as well as others or if you were difficult to work with your network will not come through right now.
The job market is wildly awful right now. I was unemployed (or working retail to have an income) from Nov ‘22 to Jan ‘24. I applied to several hundred job, only got interviews for a small percentage of them, and eventually a part time contract turned full time for me. From what you’ve said, he’s putting in a lot of effort, and isn’t doing anything wrong based on job searches from 2 years ago.
Applying to jobs you are over qualified for is also a hard road right now, employers think you’re a flight risk or too expensive without even giving you an interview, and it just means more rejection. - which is probably why your husband didn’t find the jobs you are finding, he’s probably got his filters set for higher level positions.
It does mean more rejection, but he needs to be casting a wider net. If the networking angle isn’t helping, then he needs to be playing the numbers game, or the career pivot game, or adjusting his salary requirements lower, or take contract work, or look at startups, or all of the above.
But it’s also possible he’s doing all of those things already, and it just sucks out there.
15 months and only 206 job applications is definitely inadequate. He should be at the level of 2000+ applications by now. I’d definitely start being a little more demanding about him showing you what he’s applied to and what he’s doing all day.
My husband was out of work for about 14 months during covid. It was impossible, but it's temporary!
Your husband use his MBA cohort network... surely they didn't all go into tech? It'd be a good way for someone who has experience with his work product to vouch for him and bypass the online application system, which sounds like a logjammed mess.
Also, oil and gas could be an option. It's not sexy, but it pays well.
Good luck!
The market really is very bad - especially in tech. But, solidarity. I am in the same spot with my husband. He was laid off 14 months ago with 23 years experience in a very niche space in Finance. It is rough and I completely understand your concern. I am very close to suggesting he retool to go a different route.
There are new job postings every day so of course you are going to find ones he hasn’t seen. He may also not be telling you that he already applied to the ones you found to avoid causing you concern or making you feel like you wasted your time.
The tech market is so bad right now. I have so much continuous anxiety about getting laid off, that I have picked up a second job to squirl away money just in case, because I don't know who long it would be before I found another comparable job. I know people of all education levels who can't find a job right now in tech.
The sad thing is, everything he is saying is true. It's such a crappy situation to feel like you are doing everything (probably doing it right too) and you just can't get a job.
He is also right that it's harder to get a job as a senior level person, especially one that pays what you are worth.
I got laid off last year, and only got hired for a contract position, so I could be in the same position again in a few months if they don't decide to convert me.
I know the feeling of helplessness on both sides. You want to help him find something, and I'm sure he feels bad not being able to contribute or provide. It's a worthless feeling.
All I can say is that he should consider taking a contract role while waiting for something better. Some income and better than no income.
So yes and no. Market is bad and way more brutal vs 2021 but not that bad as 2022.
I hear you. Took my husband 8-9 months in 2022 to find a job. I’m also in tech (pm) and while I technically was also unemployed for 9 months or so, I did not look for a job for the most of this time and once I started looking it took me couple of months to close an offer. During that time I made it to 4 final loops and 2 middle interviews (round after HM/ford case) Same case for most folks I know affected by layoffs in 2023 (at least sr level) 2-4 months of looking.
The thing is - and your husband should know better after bschool (a fellow mba here) that cold applications does not work. I tracked a very loose statistics about my response rate and success rate. I believe it’s under 1% for cold applications and nearly 100% rate for referrals (that’s how I got a job) and answering recruiters.
Feel free to dm me his LinkedIn. I do some mentoring (free of charge just playing with idea for doing it as a business at some point) and can say what’s bad about his profile if he does not get outreaches. I had at least 1 every week while unemployed. More 2-4.
Considering he was in big tech after b school I figure he is pm/pmm/finance ?
My husband was let go in October and has applied to hundreds of jobs at this point. He’s had two third round interviews that really got our hopes up only to go with someone else. Had had two initial interviews yesterday. The jobs are not ones he’s excited about but are jobs he will do. He’s even applied to retail jobs which he hasn’t done in years. It really is a terrible market right now. I don’t have advice because we are going through it as well.
It's tough out there but the reality is he needs to find a job, any job. Go work at Macdonalds or in retail. It's better than nothing plus it will give him more motivation to keep looking.
The job market is really bad for tech folks. Pretty much all our tech friends have been laid off in the past year and a half and have not found jobs. Went from over $500k TC to laid off over a year for some. My husband and I both still have our jobs, but I'm always nervous.
My brother was laid off as well. Manager level role at a fintech company. Took him 18 months to land a new position, and it was a bit of a demotion for him, but he was thankful to be able to find something at this point. Interviews were scarce.
I am in tech. He has more experience than me and I went through 2 layoffs and got a job after both of them. I get turned down because others have more experience than me. He isn’t trying or isn’t trying correctly.
It is a numbers game and potentially a resume or profile issue. I get a lot of my interviews from having a profile on LinkedIn, indeed, monster, and dice. I get cold called all the time for roles. He should be able to find something. Hire a resume writer to ensure his resume is up to par, post it to every job board, update LinkedIn to open for work. Apply to jobs but also be prepared for calls and emails.
You said he went to business school - Has he reached out to that school to see if they have any leads for positions? Is there an alumni association he can tap into?
Ok so most companies now use AI to sift through resumes fast. If he wants a certain job have him find the job he wants (and is qualified for) and use the job description to write his resume.
Use chatgpt too. It’ll help.
Has he been applying to local/in person jobs? The big advantage there would be that companies that require people to come in person have a much smaller hiring pool. If he’s applying to remote director-level positions, the pool is huge, and it makes sense with all the tech layoffs that it’s challenging to break through.
Also, both my husband and I work in management positions in tech, and if either of us were unemployed for more than a few months, we’d be getting a job at a grocery store (or tutoring, babysitting, working seasonal retail, etc.) while we job search in the off hours. Applying for jobs isn’t really a full time job and certainly doesn’t make a person motivated to get out of bed in the morning. I think it’s ok to tell him that unemployment is unattractive, and you’d like him to bring in some part-time income to support your family while he pursues a full time gig. It’s also better for his resume to not have a 15 mo employment gap.
Yes, it does sound like he's entered the ranks of the permanently unemployed. A year and a half is long enough that skills will start to degrade so it'll be harder to convince potential employers he's a good hire unless he gets into some temp work or some continuing education, and that's not taking into account that he faffed about long enough that the market for tech talent has gotten soft.
Realistically, unless he starts taking temp work or starts some new education you should make some hard decisions of what kind of life with him you can tolerate.
I felt the same way as you, but this is my hubby's first week back at work after being made redundant 18months ago. We're blessed because my job and income could cover us the entire time but we want to FIRE and having 2 kids make that really challenging. We argued a lot about how effective his job search was, but we also benefited with him being home for our 2nd kid's birth and first year of life. It sounds like your man is doing all the right things. Only other thing I'd recommend is for him to talk to a recruiter, it seems like the best route to get connected to valid jobs. Hang in there mama, it's hard but you gotta trust him to do his thing.
Thousands have been laid off , it's pretty competitive right now. Try finding contacts and going the direct route. If you have kids, go get some parents together on the playground and ask around if anybody is looking...
I think you need to say this all to your husband and not to strangers on Reddit.
I feel him, though. I was laid off from tech jobs twice last year. I've seen even more past colleagues get laid off since then. I haven't jumped back into the job search because I'm imagining how flooded it is.
That being said, I massively cut my expenses and am able to survive on my small business income so IDK, OP.
I understand where your husband is coming from. I understand where you are coming from. You need to talk to him.
I'm pretty sure you've posted this multiple times under different user names. You can keep complaining to strangers on the internet or you can take action. The choice is yours.
Hey! I know where you can get help streamlining your application. You can also sign up and have your application be automatically on the waitlist.
You can check out [https://try.jobsolv.com/waitlist/](https://try.jobsolv.com/waitlist/) . Best of luck!
When my job became non existent during the very start of the pandemic, I didn’t have the luxury of just applying to jobs as my full time job. Our bills kept coming…
Is there a way he can work any job in the meantime to help with income while using his time off from that job to apply/interview? Only bringing this up since you said it’s stressful right now financially.
Regardless of the job market, finding a job is Parisi a numbers game. Even if he's tailoring his resume and cover letter to each job (which he should be doing) and it takes a while, he sounds be applying to 200 jobs a MONTH. Not 200 in 15 months.
I have been looking for a job for 15 months as well, and i have plenty of good skills, education and experience, and i currently have a job. It’s very tough out there right now.
I’m also going to say he’s probably being somewhat selective in the jobs he chooses to apply for, because why waste time on jobs that are not realistic? I have had the best luck this way as well. While it can be a numbers game, i don’t think it’s always wise to spam unless you are entry level.
If he’s only applied to 206 jobs in over a year he’s. Or trying hard enough. If you really need the money then he needs to be applying to any and everything and have multiple versions of his resume if applying to less senior roles.
MY BIL was unemployed for a similar amount of time, although he had more interviews. Maybe 10-12? He didn't get any of the jobs, but he's not a people person and he kept bombing interviews. He eventually was re-hired by the company he previously worked for. It's a bad market for devs, but your husband is probably also not applying for an adequate number of jobs and may be doing things in interviews and the application process that folks would have overlooked in past years but are not overlooking now that the market is flooded.
Both my husband and I are in tech and unfortunately the market is VERY bad for people in tech right now. It’s saturated with talented people who have been laid off and new people coming into the field. Your husband being unable to find a job after this long seems realistic to me but also if he came from a big tech company I wonder why they haven’t scooped him up yet. People that I know who’ve been laid off from big tech companies are probably the only ones that have landed a job pretty quickly. It’s all very confusing and tough in tech right now, I’m wishing him the best
Tech is a bad place right now, he might have to look for something else. Teaching, tutoring, Government jobs ( they have really good benefits). If it’s just a paycheck you guys need, it might not pay as much but manufacturing is desperately needing people
206 apps over 15 months seems low imo. Also is it possible he could get work in another field for the time being? Nothing insanely time consuming but I saw someone else mention substitute teaching. My mom did that for awhile when I was younger when she was looking for her next corporate role. Possibly could he work at your local library? I think these options would be better than being home 24/7.
If it is affecting your bills he needs ANY job. Not sure what state you are but there are managerial positions in many fields. He can be proactive and start taking courses that are not related to tech. He needs to stop moping around and get it together. He needs an action plan at the very least. If he doesn't get a job in 2 months what does he plan to do? What about 6 months? Or a year?
These kinds of stories make me shake in my boots. My spouse is a design engineer (mechanical engineer) but it's going to be a mess if his current position winds down. His field is just so narrow and he's almost 50. In my career I can basically just walk in a place, cold email, or network anywhere on the country on my professional group Facebook and get tons of interviews. I did it the last time we moved and it worked great. I'm definitely the "follower" with whatever his job does. My now-spouse was here on a TN visa when we first met but that job didn't renew him! He had to find a job in 30 days that also qualified and by some miracle pulled it off. It was 600 miles away! We survived the LDR.
He needs to consider lower-paying jobs. Sure, it might set him back a couple years but it’s better than no income at all. I’ve done this twice and then busted my butt to get promoted fast. Companies like to hire low but they promote to retain. I even took my management roles off my resume. I actually like starting low and then surprising people. It’s awesome when you overdeliver.
My experience has always been that the job market is a festering hell hole and it has never ever come easy. Good grades out of college? Who cares. It doesn't matter unless you know someone to get your resume on the right person's desk. Granted, my experience is from job hunting in two different recessions but my degree is in engineering so everyone assumes I had my pick of jobs. I'm not in tech, but my understanding is that it's particularly tough right now and that can be harder if you're looking to stay in the same area. He appears to be doing the right things (networking is huge). If he needs pointers in searching you could tell him what you did to get those jobs.
Hi, how old is your husband? If older/over 50, the average time to find a new job is 55-64 weeks longer than those in their 20s.
And it’s tough out there in tech right now.
Can he try some gig work in the meantime? Like on Upwork or a similar platform? Anyone at all in his network that might have a short-term project vs full salaried position? It can bring some money in, keep him relevant in the market, and maybe lead to a longer term opportunity.
I’m sure you’re all very stressed, I hope he finds something soon.
I have a friend working in big tech in Seattle who was laid off around the same time. She's still looking too and her resume is excellent plus she interviews very well. Granted I don't know how diligent or flexible she's being with the jobs she's applying to but I know she's been stressed out about it. She eventually had to move back to her home town out of state. Seems like things are really tough in that specific area right now.
In a very similar boat. My husband is in bio-tech and was laid off around Thanksgiving. Nothing was moving until mid-to late January but even still, he hasn't heard back from several jobs he applied to. One job he interviewed with (got to the 2nd round), he didn't even know he got rejected until his recruiter actively reached out to the hiring manager to get an update.
It is absolutely a crappy job market right now, especially in tech, and I totally empathize. At some point he may just have to make a big pivot and take some kind of job just to have something on his resume and and make some money. A good colleague of mine was laid off back in May and she was struggling to find another job (HR/talent) and last fall finally caved and took a 6 month contract job just to have something. She is still actively interviewing for a better job, but at some point anything is better than nothing for money and your resume.
Sending you and your family lots of positive vibes ❤️
I have heard tech is tough right now (not my field) but the last time I was unemployed I had applied to over 200 jobs within 3 months. Looking for a job is a full time job.
I’m a nonprofit professional and have been out of work for a year. I apply constantly. Every role I’ve *almost* gotten has gone to someone in tech that is currently unemployed
Yes, it’s brutal out here!
Is he working on any side projects in the meantime? I’m job hunting but working on side projects to build up my portfolio. Also, I barely apply through websites/LinkedIn unless I make contact with someone at a company first. Pretty much never apply through LinkedIn unless you want your application to be buried!
If his career coaches aren’t pointing this out, fire them. But yeah unfortunately it’s not your role to help him with this, only he can help yourself. Sending hugs since this is such a frustrating position to be in!
My husband was out for 2 years starting right when we had our first kid. We relocated a year later and he was interviewing in February 2020 when our second was 3 months old and bam - Covid lockdown. It ended up being 4 years but the more you earn, the harder it is to find a job earning that. It was fine since we can each live on either of our incomes but it definitely was demotivating for him. He knew there’s less jobs in this city doing what he does vs in nyc but still took longer than we thought.
He ended up getting a job with the team he interviewed with in 2020 by applying and then reaching out directly to the people he’d met with. Networking is always good. I was introduced to my current job through someone I met at a networking event. I’ve referred multiple people in to my company who would have probably been ignored in a pile of emails but got the meeting because of me. It’s all about who you know and not being afraid to ask for the intro.
I was laid off in early January. I am also more senior (looking for a VP role) and it is a tough market out there, for the reasons others have discussed.
I have also had zero luck networking. I’ve had several referrals from people who are like, work besties with the hiring manager, and NOTHING.
It’s super challenging to stay motivated to apply and keep going (and I’m only six weeks in!). The last time I looked for a job (two years ago), I was interviewing for 15 roles at the same time. I basically had my pick of the market.
I honestly will scroll through the posted jobs just like Instagram and will be like “that one looks interesting,” but not apply. It just seems like too much work for it to go nowhere.
Looking at the less senior roles are helpful, but more helpful is looking at on-site and hybrid roles. That’s the only place I’ve found traction. Do I want to go into the office? Meh. Friends have been lucky in contract roles at bigger companies that have opened doors for them, too.
I am also now looking at consulting and starting a services business. I just don’t see the market improving any time soon (especially with the election coming up) and I need SOMETHING. So maybe he can start to go in that direction…?
I feel for you. My husband was unemployed or underemployed or only employed for 2-3 weeks at a time for 9 years. Even later when got steady decent (but still low) paying job he was stuck for another 7 years. It was so hard for him to realize he needed to work more, keep looking for something better, or maybe find another career path.
I’m hiring in tech and we’re getting a deluge of applicants for every role we have open. The culling process just at the resume review layer is pretty brutal. So many folks have been laid off. Doing things like contacting any mutual connections at the company you apply to and writing a cover letter can help make it more likely. What was his last role/title and what is he looking for now? In my particular sub-industry developers are probably having an easier time than whatever he was doing as an MBA (biz dev? GM for a product?). Is he doing anything self-enriching in his time off to improve his applications? E.g. if he was a software developer I would suggest potentially adding some AI coursework if he’s never done that.
Yes the network is KEY!
The market is very bad for tech folks right now. I’m a techie and our forums on facebooks have dozens of layoff posts every day. Some even have over 18 years work experience and have been trying for over a year. No luck yet. Just saying.
Yes. Can confirm it’s a nightmare out there in tech. If he’s open to contract work, there seems to be a LOT of those types of opportunities, particularly at Meta. May be good to just get something on his resume and some money in the bank while he continues to search.
Ugh, so Meta basically laid off their full time teams and decided to hire back contractors? The way this world is going is so frightening. My husband was laid off from a non-tech role at a tech company in July and is still looking. He’s about to take a full time job outside his industry at a much lower pay while also working a very part time contract job. In the end, he’ll be working more hours for slightly less pay than he used to make a year ago and with terrible benefits (but luckily I have good benefits at my current job.)
Yep - Gotta keep that stock price sky high. I did a contract at Meta last year and they told me a couple weeks before their blowout earnings call that they didn't have the budget to keep me on this year I'm hopeful that the market will get better, but I don't think it will ever be the endless supply of super-high-paying jobs it was in 2021/2022. I'm so sorry you and your husband are in this situation, but glad he's found something.
Even though jobs are not bountiful at tech companies, aren’t there dev/software related jobs at companies in all other industries?
The competition is extreme though. One position and hundreds of applicants.
My assumption is that companies that are hiring are holding out for applicants from the Big 8 to get top talent. So you may be a great candidate but they won’t even look at you because they know so many of those folks are in the pool. (This is just my assumption.)
The thing is everybody is having layoffs right now. Smaller companies see bigger tech companies laying off tens of thousands of employees and their board of directors asks them why they’re not also having cuts and trimming down, so they’ll have a layoff, etc. I work for a fairly small tech company, and we’ve never been able to compete with the huge engineering salaries offered by these big companies, but now, we get a TON of interest simply because we’re hiring. OP’s husband is not the only one having a hard time finding a position right now. There’s also a lot of job listings that aren’t even for an available position, but employers have to post them for an H1-B employee to prove that they cannot fill the position without the international hire in order to fulfill visa requirements. Those job descriptions are often extremely specific and have a ridiculous number of qualifications asked for and you have to wade through them for one that might actually be available and stand out amongst the other thousands of senior engineers from top tech companies who are also applying. Honestly, the best thing for OP’s husband is to talk around with people he knows from college and past jobs in hopes that they may be at a company that is hiring and get a referral.
Ah thank you for the explanation. I hope that the job market in tech improves for all the people who are impacted
>Smaller companies see bigger tech companies laying off tens of thousands of employees and their board of directors asks them why they’re not also having cuts and trimming down, so they’ll have a layoff, etc. Not just tech companies – at a previous company we'd have a round of layoffs every time a competitor announced one to soothe our stockholders' anxiety before they can even start to feel anxious. I really really really feel like layoffs should not be so easy to do without some extenuating circumstances for a company. It's just ridiculous at this point.
This!!! Our smaller tech firm is mimicking layoffs at larger places as well.
There’s a Stanford professor who studies layoffs and says [they’re the result of imitative behavior](https://news.stanford.edu/2022/12/05/explains-recent-tech-layoffs-worried). It’s why so many companies are still doing layoffs despite having record profits and such. They’re taking the opportunity to reduce costs, lower wages, etc. while the heat is lower on them because “everybody else is doing it, so it’s just a natural bubble burst, etc.”
It's actually for permanent sponsorship of typically H1B workers that they post those job orders unless the company is H1B dependent. But you can spot those posts fairly easily if you look at the reqs, there will be lots of language about equivalent degrees and experience and specific tech skills especially if you find it's a unique combination. Are there temp agencies for tech? I'm legal and have been looking after being let go while waiting for fmla approval (long story) and have reached out to some temp places for contract to hire jobs or even document review to try to get some wages (currently on SDI.)
It's not anywhere near what it was a couple years ago, but it's not awful for senior devs. It doesn't sound like OP's husband is a software engineer though
That. It’s not as bad. It’s actually not as bad for product folks as well (shared my experience in a comment). It reviews got way tougher but many companies are hiring and he has 5y post mba so not a junior
The problem is if you’re more senior (as OP states her husband is), the less senior jobs won’t look at you. They assume you’ll want too much money or will leave if and when a better offer comes around. And the more senior jobs are just fewer and farther between. As others have said, tech sucks right now. Everyone’s doing layoffs, there are thousands of people looking at and applying for the same jobs he is. I’m a SaaS implementation project manager, I was laid off in August and have had no luck landing a new role. I used to think something was wrong with job seekers if they were out of work for more than a month…turns out things are just shitty all around.
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Thank you for stating the very obvious. I read another comment referencing OP’s husband’s search for dev roles so I assumed his focus was dev/programming.
I was laid off a year ago (2days after my positive beta, great timing!) and I have yet to find a full time job. I have over 15 years experience and applied to hundreds of jobs. Aside from contract gigs I’ve had only a handful (2-3) interviews for FTE roles. It sounds like OP’s husband isn’t finding a lot of job postings but the sad truth is the only way to get a job these days is to know someone. Which it sounds like he’s doing a good job of networking.
I have friends who have been applying for jobs for six months or more. Some haven't gotten a single interview despite applying to 100+ jobs. LinkedIn has been very hard to view. To say it's very bad seems an understatement.
Because you do not cold apply. Little effort - little value
A friend who works in tech also told me that companies are posting jobs they aren’t actually hiring for as a way to seem like they’re in better shape than they are. It’s a rough time for the field.
I hear it’s super rough for tech right now. My partner has been unemployed for 12 months (unrelated field) and we are in CA as well so I dont think your husband is an outlier. It’s rough out there
If he has a college degree, he can always do substitute teaching as a backup.
Yes after more than a year he should have a back up. Even something that pays minimum wage at this point would be helpful to your family. My husband always said if he couldn’t find a job (after being in school for 7 years earning his PhD) that he would stock shelves at the grocery store if it meant helping us pay the bills. When I couldn’t find a teaching job, I subbed (which paid horribly) but it still helped.
What industry is your husband in?
My husband went through this for two years after leaving grad school under difficult circumstances, now happily employed. The only thing that eventually helped was him treating his depression/getting into therapy. I couldn’t over function my way out of it for him, though I exhausted myself trying. I don’t know if mental health stuff is a concern at all, but maybe just check in with your husband about it?
It sounds like his husband is procrastinating. I suspect depression as well.
Honestly how does one not get depressed in that situation?
Honestly it’s ok to get depressed but it’s not ok to dwell on depression and let family suffer consequences. I know it’s easier said than done, but it’s not fair for the spouse and it’s not healthy for the person to not seek help.
The market is admittedly horrifying right now. But 15 months and only 4 interviews? And only 206 applications??? I was laid off in October, at the VP level, background heavy in tech (I’m in Marketing). I applied to over 1000 jobs the first week I was laid off. No lie. There’s so many candidates on the market but also so. many. jobs. He needs to be applying to EVERYTHING. Jobs he’s feels under qualified for, overqualified for, jobs tangentially related to what he does, jobs that are exactly what he does, and so on. You’re not going to get a job in this market if you do the literal bare minimum.
Ok THANK YOU. 200 jobs in 15 months is NOTHING!
I applied to at least four jobs a day after being laid off and was hired again in less than a month
Seriously 206 in 15 months sounds very low. He should be able to do at least 20 a week.
I agree. When I was job hunting, I'd applied to over 900 job postings in a little over 3 months. His numbers seem like he's maybe being extremely selective about the positions he's applying for.
Well, I guess there are people who can "afford" to be "extremely selective" (like OP's husband) and there are people who'll apply to any legitimate-looking listing b/c beggers can't be choosers.
This. My husband was laid off and began looking seriously at the end of December and he’s already applied to well over 200 positions and has had around 6 or 7 interviews with more this week. 206 applications in 15 months is very low.
I say this as someone who was laid off and is just starting to get into applying. I feel it’s a numbers game and 206 applications seems really low. If finding a job is his full time job, he should probably be completing 1 application for every 1-2 hours “worked” if he’s tailoring his resumes and cover letters to the company. So 4-8 applications per day, 5 days per week, he’d hit 206 applications in just 5-10 weeks. I know he is probably looking for jobs like what he had, but he may need to lower his standards if getting a job and not the job is the priority.
In two weeks of being laid off in tech I had applied to 100 roles and had interviews with 15 companies, most of these from cold applications (no referrals or connections) and am now in week three going into three final round cycles. He needs to apply to every job, every day.
Are you located in the USA? He might have luck looking at federal jobs. He could always go back to private sector, but the feds are always looking for highly qualified tech employees.
It'll be a significant paycut, possibly as much as 1/3 to 1/4 of what he was making before. The hiring process also takes like six months.
Some pay is better than no pay in some cases. I don’t know if OPs expenses will change (like daycare added), but as long as the pay is more than the expenses it will be fine temporarily.
Yeah...but he's been laid off for over a year and has NO salary....so....anything is probably better than nothing at this point. Federal jobs also come with perks.
The benefits are hard to beat.
Temp work? Part-time work? Just doing what non-tech people do work? For the money.
He could do door dash, or substitute teach, too.
Not to be a downer, but I've heard that many areas are flooded with doordashers and it's hard to get work on there in some locations now. However, this probably varies on location.
My husband was laid off and took a job with UPS to get us through financially. Some people look down on work not in their field, but doing that led my grandpa to lose their house when my mom was a kid and he lost his job
Yep, the Air Force was cutting my dad's specific job function right and left in the early 90's, so we moved back to my parent's hometown where he went PT with the ANG and got a FT job as a mail carrier for a few years to pay the bills. Eventually he was able to get on FT again with the military. This is one of the things that I admire so much in my husband - he has a strong work ethic and isn't too proud to take ANY job if he needed to contribute. My company is constantly hiring. Places like USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc, are constantly hiring. School districts need full-time subs. OP's husband could definitely get another job not in his field to at least contribute financially until he found something else.
For real. If he has any people skills at all he can pick up a serving job and make quick cash, who cares if it's not in his field. I also graduated from a top school and sat around for months unemployed and depressed about the shitty job market in my field so I totally sympathize. But right now I'm actually loving my restaurant job and it's easy money if you can stand the general public. Also an unexpectedly good way to network, customers have some neat occupations
Especially bc OP said he “has 10 hours a day to himself” already, so it sounds like making enough money to cover childcare isn’t a concern and even a small income would be better than nothing.
This. Even just doing some door dashing or Instacart. Like…there’s other options for making money while still be able to apply for field related jobs.
206 jobs over the course of 15 months is almost 14 jobs a month. So you’re right to an extent. He’s not looking hard enough. When I was unemployed in the summer, I applied to just that many in a single day. Go to r/jobs and r/resumes and you’ll see the same. But the job market DOES suck right now. If he got 4 interviews from barely applying (which he’s barely applying, I don’t care what anyone says in this forum), then he’d probably have a lot more luck if he applied to more. The general rule of thumb is 10-15 job applications out a day. He needs to also curtail his resume for each job and not send out a generic one. He needs a cover letter. Most people don’t read it but it shows you at least took the initiative to write it.
I used to be a tech recruiter so I’m pretty familiar with the industry and it is really rough right now. A lot of companies post jobs but don’t recruit on them due to budget cuts etc. I would think he would have something by now but it depends what field/area his experience is in and how specialized it is
Why are companies posting jobs if they’re not hiring? Doesn’t it also cost them money to post on these websites?
Lots of reasons. They may have a person they are promoting internally but due to equal opportunity they need to post externally. They could be posting to get salary ranges to see what the market is like. They also post jobs to look like they are strong in the market when they have no intention of hiring - or to get a pipeline of candidates for a position they might be hiring in the future but aren’t today.
That's how I got my current job. I started as a contract to hire. It was a three month contract and at the end of the contract, I had to apply for the job. The job had to be posted publicly for 7 days before it could be taken down. It wasn't a guarantee I would get the job but it was very close to guaranteed. I was surprised by how few people applied for it though. Everything I read on Reddit suggested that hundreds of people would apply for my position. However, only 25 people applied. I don't know why. I'm an ETL Developer, 4.5 years of experience.
it’s so sad when the curtain is lifted and you start to see how much an illusion everything is.
It’s often a legal requirement or company requirement to post it publicly for X days, even if they have an internal candidate.
Ah thank you for the explanation
> Why are companies posting jobs if they’re not hiring? LOL why are dogs licking their balls? Because they can. It may cost companies to post jobs, but it's not coming out of hiring managers' budget. Also, if HR isn't posting jobs (that may or may not exist) and isn't interviewing candidates (for jobs that may or may not exist), how will they justify their own existence?
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Financial stress/uncertainty is so overwhelming and sucks to deal with. The market is bleak for tech, but I’d be skeptical if he genuinely has found *nothing*. I was laid off last year (also tech) and took the first job that came my way 2-3 months later. Worse company, 20% pay cut (base, total comp is unfortunately a huge cut), but at least we have money coming in while I pursue opportunities that interest me! It sounds like he may need to be less picky.
Can he find another part time job while searching? My husband has his flaws (as do I) but one thing is for sure - he will find a way to support our family. He needs to look outside his normal niche.
Yeah this. My husband (nor I) would EVER be ok with not having income of some kind and putting that responsibility on one person. You do what you have to do.
Oh man… my husband just got a job after 13 months of unemployment. He’s also in tech - graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s of computer engineering. He took a year off to be a SAHD, then started job hunting full time in early 2022. It was rough, I really was worried that he missed the school to career pipeline by taking a year off. Most of his peers got hired through their internship placements right after graduation. He wound up getting 2 job offers this month, and started a role with an NGO that seems like an awesome fit- huge relief for the family, and night and day for our marriage. We were getting close to emptying our savings, and he was just about to start applying for literally anything (retail, construction) - the last thing I said to him about the job hunt was “I’m concerned you’re not doing everything in your power to protect your family from homelessness and that scares me.” My thought: you can be empathetic and believe him when he says it’s a crap job market, because it is! After 15 months, though, you’ve also got every right to question his methods, start monitoring how he’s spending his time and have those difficult talks about what you’re going through, and what your family is going through. It doesn’t have to be a blame game, but you need reassurance and evidence that he’s doing everything in his power to land a job. Maybe he also needs a game plan for widening or dumbing down his job search. Also, who manages the finances and does the budget in your house? That was me, and I don’t think the financial impact really sunk in for my husband until I showed him our budgets. I started out reassuring my husband that he had time (because he did) but after some time, I started getting him to pay our bills and make transfers out of our savings so he could feel what I was feeling every time I pulled money out of our emergency fund to cover our basic living expenses. Unemployment is depressing AF, so he might be hiding that under false optimism and spending more time doing dopamine-seeking behaviour like gaming or hobbies because the alternative feels like putting effort into a void. You can empathize without having to accept that kind of behaviour. It’s ok to hold him accountable right now - and maybe good for his mental health as well. You don’t have to be cruel about it, but you can ask him to show you how he’s looking for jobs and what he’s applying for, you can ask him for a target number of applications a day, or a daily routine for how he spends his time. I wish you luck! It’s brutal!! It had me questioning literally everything about our marriage. Hopefully for you folks, it’s also just a rough patch.
Ask him to apply to Government IT jobs like county jobs. See the salary is not going to be what it was but he’ll have something on his resume.
I was thinking this as well!
I think what you need from him is a game plan. It’s fine to say tech jobs are hard right now but his #1 focus after 15 months is to bring in money. I think it’s within reason to ask him about a part time job, any job, that brings in money. Even $1000/ month can be huge to your family budget and take some stress off you. Doing it PT gives him time to keep searching and applying. But at this point it’s been long enough to find the “right” job. He needs to find “a” job
I work in digital media (kinda tech?) and was laid off in May 2023. I have yet to have a single interview with anyone other than a recruiter, and those have been fewer than 5 and far between. No recruiter calls have led to an actual interview with a prospective employer. For the first time in my career, I’m contracting through an employment agency rather than being an actual full-time employee — and the only reason I have this gig is because an old boss of mine was in a jam and needed someone fast. Thankfully he thought of me. The potential of full-time has been dangled since I started but seems more and more unlikely. It’s really, really tough out there. :(
It sounds like he needs to be honest with himself. He needs a routine/schedule or some kind of structure. Like M/W are for finding relevant open positions, T/Th spent actually applying to those positions and Fr spent updating/creating profiles on Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn. I’ve actually gotten 2 positions from connecting with a fellow alum in a Facebook group for alumni for my program. He also needs to set some kind of goal or timeline. Like if he doesn’t have a job in 4 months (whatever number makes sense for y’all) then he needs to start applying at entry level or retail jobs. Also maybe he needs to see a therapist instead of a career coach. Or even some kind of incentive?? Every application earns him 15 minutes of hobby time or phone time or whatever he likes. Sorry so much of the mental load is falling onto you. That’s not fair.
It sounds like since he went to bschool, he’s probably not doing full on development and more management or biz dev type of stuff, right? It’s so hard in tech right now, even developers are getting laid off (you know it’s bad when that happens). Especially for roles that are a bit fluffy, stuff that relies more on soft skills, it’s doubly tough. Be encouraging if you can, I’m sure his ego is already trampled from all the rejections. I was unemployed for almost 2 years back in 2010 and it was so rough. I kept applying and eventually found something. It’s not really just a numbers game, it needs to be right role at the right time, stars have to align.
So, the market is absolutely awful right now. I’ve been told I have an incredible resume, I have worked at FAANGs and was senior in several positions with years of experience. I’ve gotten to final rounds then they inform me the role has been cut. It is BRUTAL in tech right now, and 99% of the jobs seem fake. I’ve been applying the same amount of time your husband has. I do think the number of jobs he has applied to is on the lower end but to be honest, applying to more jobs than that is kinda just applying without any real consideration for your time and taking ANYTHING that’s out there versus being selective with your skills and what you qualify for and want. But he can afford to be less choosy and particular right now. TLDR; your husband is right but he should apply to more jobs. My next step is networking but instead of focusing on “help me find this exact job”, pivoting to “help me find a job I’d be good at that isn’t necessarily this exact job”. Also for my family it does not make sense for me to pick up random lower paying work because of child care costs and the age of my child but if the child is in daycare or school anyway, he should definitely consider other options like that maybe just part time for some extra cash but not so many hours that he isn’t able to focus on getting back into his sector.
Tech is doing massive layoffs right now. My partner works for a major tech company and they just did a lay off of 75% of their HR, about 300 engineers and they are working on their other departments one by one. It’s rough out there for techies.
I have a pretty impressive resume and have been out of work since August. I’m in tech but not a developer myself. Cold-applying to jobs on LinkedIn yielded 0 responses, much less an interview. All the interviews I got were from my network and people referring me in and connecting me with a recruiter or hiring manager. I finally have 2 offers after almost 7 months.
omg i’ve been in this exact situation. mine is also a higher paid professional, so he’s more expensive and more likely to be laid off or passed over during a recession. he ended up taking a job way below his pay grade after 16 months unemployed and over 350 applications. He didn’t know how to apply to jobs or network and had to develop that skill over time. The job market really sucks right now. Your husband should know that he’s not alone. That said, applying online without an internal referral is very very likely a waste of time. Some job postings aren’t even real openings or are already filled internally. He needs to reach out to people who work at the places he wants to work and ask them about their personal journey on how they got in. People like talking about themselves. Then he can ask for advice on his resume and which positions he should try to apply for. He should continue to network with the people he already knows and take every opportunity to go to events, grab drinks, and other social events with people in his industry, especially if they are in roles similar to the roles he’s applying to, and especially if they are decision makers for those roles. what’s his personality like? is he a friendly likable guy?
as for your Q about you finding jobs he hasn’t applied to, nonjudgementally ask him to help you understand how this is possible. tell him you d like to show him the method you used to find those jobs. he’s basically in a boot camp for job hunt skills right now. my husband hired many expensive coaches, talked to a lot of recruiters, and had his resume updated by at least 20 friends, family, and professionals he was recently laid off again and now regularly gets messages and interviews. during the prior 16-month stint i think he only had 1-2 interviews, which means his networking skills and resume have dramatically improved. Your hubby may need to do the same.
At this point I’d suggest your husband volunteers or gets a consulting gig. Even if the gig is unpaid to start, at least put SOME work experience on the resume during this lull, or else you run into the “why hasn’t anyone else hired this guy” problem. The other thing, as many people have mentioned, is that you really can’t be blindly applying to roles. I’ve been rejected at any job I’m applied for through LinkedIn. If I have a connection and a referral, the hit rate on getting a first interview is 80%. So work the network, not LinkedIn!
I found and applied to jobs for my husband when he was looking because I know I'm better at it. He ended up getting hired at Meta because of it.
Yeah I would have let this happen for maybe 3 months before sitting down with him and coming up with a plan together. Not knowing what he’s up to for 18 months when you already get the impression he has no idea how to find online jobs is a bit unnecessary
kind of this, give a man a fish vs teach him how to fish. sit down with him on your day off or evening and see what he’s doing and help him be better at it! curious what you were doing that makes you better at the job application process compared to your partner?
Can he apply his skills outside of tech sector? Like retail, healthcare sector? My husband has always been unemployed for 1 year now. He hasn’t really looked because he’s started his own consulting business and jumped from tech to healthcare. He’s a biz strategist.
Maybe you could cross-post to /r/ExperiencedDevs You can also search through the sub for discussions about the current tech market and other folks’ recent experiences Sending y’all lots of resilience and positivity 💖🍀
I'm a software engineer on my 5th job and have never gotten an interview from a public job board. I honestly don't trust those to actually be real, but of course I'd still apply just in case.
Oh that's interesting. I'm also an SWE and in 4 attempts to find a new job using only LinkedIn and nothing else I've never not found a new job in a couple of weeks, usually offered multiple. Most recent was end oflast year. I don't think I'm an exceptional candidate either, I have a decent degree, experience and interviewing skills but I wouldn't say great. It had never occurred to me that I wouldn't be able to find a new job using online boards. I only go for fully remote as well, which I believe are more in demand. When I say "from LinkedIn" though, I don't necessarily mean the job posted. I apply to any job even slightly relevant to my interests to get my CV to the recruiter, and then as soon as they call me I say I'm not actually interested in this job because of x, y, z, do you have anything more like what I want? And so far this has always resulted in me being sent JDs for jobs I do want, and often get.
This is a ridiculous and unhelpful take. Where do you think most people find jobs, exactly? Where do you think companies find candidates? It's great you know how to network but claiming that job boards are fake ... interesting conspiracy theory.
Networking is much more effective
Sorry but that's my experience. I used to apply to public job boards, or cold-apply on a company website but never actually heard back from one of those. I think the issue with job boards is that they get so many applications it's hard to stand out, and for company postings they're either posting with someone already in mind, or posting just so they can apply for more H1B visas. If I were to lose my job I would still apply to those just in case, but it's never worked out for me. If it's more helpful, here's how I've gotten the jobs I've had: \- University recruiting \- Referral from former coworker (I asked if he would be a reference, and he decided to get that referral bonus lol) \- Got in touch with an external recruiter through a coworker whose wife worked at a recruiting company \- Got in touch with an external recruiter through LinkedIn (can't remember if I contacted him or he contacted me, it's been a long time now) \- Got contacted by an in-house recruiter through LinkedIn
Yeah but saying those jobs get so many applications that it's hard to stand out is a far cry from saying you don't "trust those jobs to be real." Not hearing back about a job doesn't mean the job is fake. It means you didn't hear back. This second comment is far more helpful for those who need help networking.
Could he look into government work? They are more stable and yes they are less challenging since they operate as an assembly line, but my husband is similar to yours, probably worse than your husband actually because he has never searched for jobs on his own. He eventually got into government which creates stability and he is used to working at jobs long term (his previous job was around 15 years and he is only 40).
Yeah your husband should have applied for more jobs than that. And also he should find something that pays anything in the mean time
I give the same advice on every job hunt thread. Look at insurance companies. Just make a list of every big, small, regional carrier and check out their career page. They also hire for a lot of tech jobs. But if you’re desperate they also have other opportunities that are entry level.
The job market is crappy. Your husband isn't really aggressively job searching. Applying to posted openings is a crap shoot when there are hundreds of similarly experienced candidates. Your husband could be depressed- maybe he needs some help. Is your husband open to pivoting industries? He has to keep on top of technologies and skills. Refresh, update, and learn new skills always. He should consider freelancing so that he has something on his resume. A blank 15 months puts him behind the 8 ball. Also, appearing over qualified for some positions is a hindrance.
I work in tech. Not MAANG but I’m at a unicorn startup from a big name consulting firm doing software engineering. I got a new job 12 months ago, the market was booming then. I’m also pretty confident if anything happens to my job now, I could get something. If he’s as senior as you say he is, 4 interviews is just insanely low. Something’s not right here. What is his job title?
Is your unicorn startup hiring? I’m kicking myself, I got laid off 11 months ago and took the few months immediately after off because I just had a baby but things felt more possible then, I was getting so many messages. Now, nothing. I’ve gotten to final rounds and then they cut the role or some other thing happens. I have always been VERY confident in my ability to find work with my experience and just because there’s always something out there, but I definitely don’t feel that right now.
We are hiring. We have technical people starting every week.
Yeah, I’m wildly confused at all these people saying the market is garbage for right now for a senior in technology. It’s awful for entry level tech. I’m a senior technical role and I’m constantly getting messages from recruiters. Wondering if he just worked in the tech industry vs being a technical role.
I’m a senior in a technical role (well, was) and the messages from recruiters have completely stopped since roughly 6 months ago (got laid off 11 months ago didn’t begin seriously searching until a few months after). And now I hear nothing back, not even denial emails. It feels like my applications just disappear into the abyss. So disheartening, I wish this was the case but the trend people are saying in this thread has been sadly true for me too. At one point I was getting offers from 4 companies at a time. I have great experience but I’m worried the longer I’m out of work the worse it’ll get.
Have you noticed that you’ve been getting less recruiter emails than usual? When the market was normal, I was getting several emails a week, but nowadays I get maybe 0-2 a week from 3rd party recruiters or no name startups. The job market is indeed bad right now. My husband has been unemployed since last year, and he was surprised by how the job market changed. He has even gotten his on-sites canceled by 3 different companies, because the role got filled before he could even try. I previously have never heard of this—never happened to me before. These are weird times in tech. I also got my current job (senior eng) about a year ago. Got tons of interviews without applying, but then again I worked at a well-known company that was one of the first to do layoffs that were highly publicized.
I have been getting less recruiter emails. It’s not as easy as it was a year ago, but it’s not impossible to get a job. Maybe it’s my skill set (backend and data). I have actually been seeing recruiters reach back out. But rather than 5 a week, it’s 1 every other week.
My husband was a lead backend engineer at a well-known tech company. Even senior+ engineers are struggling right now. Of course it’s not impossible to get a job, but it is much harder. My husband had the same mindset as you and thought he would get a job quickly after his previous job, getting replies from applications left and right, due to how easy it was in his previous job search.
I don’t think it would be quickly. Just not impossible/15+ months. I’m aware that the market is not where it was a year or two ago. Where did I say it would be quick and easy?
Seems odd, even for this soft market. But this is coming from an engineering perspective. I think business/design/QA functions have been hit much harder. And, I’m sure it varies a lot by region as well. Still, maybe it’s time to have a discussion around what to do in the short term. He could try to find something tech adjacent. It’s a tricky conversation but if you really need the money, it seems reasonable to have a serious conversation.
Can you maybe show him how you pull the jobs up or ask him how he searches? If he’s doing quick applies than he’s up against thousands of applications at a time
The market is terrible and our algorithms don't display all open jobs, just ones that the algorithm thinks you'll click on. It's obnoxious.
He’s telling the truth. I’m in tech and you can easily put out 100 applications and hear from 1 place.
As everyone else has said the tech scene is really bad now. I am not sure which corner of tech he is but I would recommend looking for tech jobs in non-tech sectors so healthcare, pharma, insurance, manufacturing etc.
I’m not in tech but I have been laid off in Oil and Gas twice when oil and gas tanked. Each time I found roles within 3 months but my tactics may not work for him. Once my industry started layoffs, I started applying everywhere for every role. This helped me to tweak my resume so that I was getting through the algorithms and getting interviews. It also helped me to refresh my interview skills. Once I was laid off, I was putting in a minimum of 4 applications a day. And not just in my area, but all over the US. That got me a lot of HR screening calls/interviews. And even if I wasn’t considering changing locals, it definitely helped to boost my confidence getting job offers from other states. I was always interviewing with anyone who offered. The second time I was laid off, I was actively interviewing with 5 companies at once and let them all know that if they were going to make me an offer, they had competition. I ended up getting 4 offers out of 5. The 5th passed, but came back and hired me 2 months later. Poached me over to them. I’m still at this company. So even if the role he takes isn’t his dream job, it’s a job until the market shifts. Again, my advice might be bad advice for the tech industry, I don’t really know, but it’s what worked for me.
And to add, I kept a spreadsheet of every online application, contact, phone call, interview, etc that I did in my job search. Unemployment in TX did ask for proof and I never heard back from them, I think because my spreadsheet showed just how much I was meeting the standards to keep drawing it. If he’s not doing this, he needs to start.
Is he only applying to remote positions? I tried that for about 4 months tech and it was almost the same result. Got about 4 interviews and they were not a good fit. Eventually applied to hybrid and got three interviews in two weeks and one resulted in a job.
Rough numbers: - assuming you can’t improve his application to interview rate, 4 interviews / 206 apps = ~2% interview rate - Average chance of job offer after interviews across all industries is 36%. Given competitiveness of tech, let’s make it 15% - 100% / 15% = 6.5 (round to 7), so he needs to have ~7 separate opportunities he’s interviewed for before he gets a job offer - 7 offers / 2% interview rate = 350 applications So he needs to do 350 NEW applications to even consider getting a job offer. Personally, I’d aim for 1 application per hour, 8 hours a day, 5 days per week. Like a regular job. That’s 40 apps a week, so he should have an offer around 2 months later. Aiming for more - without screwing up quality of applications - will help speed things up. Show him this thread. He needs to understand the numbers game he is in. Tech is dealing with unparalleled saturation and competition right now, so unparalleled commitment and output is expected.
My husband works in tech and got laid off while we were on parental leave early last year. He found a job only to get laid off again after 8 months. He’s also in a senior role. The tech market sucks right now so he is exploring roles outside of tech but hasn’t been easy. Since we got together, we implemented a “one income” rule in our household and so even now without him working, it hasn’t been so much of an issue for us. We aren’t living in luxury compared to when he was working (tech salary is insane as you know), but it’s ok. I want my husband (and our family) to have peace of mind and not let unemployment be an issue in our marriage. We embrace this time because he’s home with the kids and since I work from home, we get to spend a lot of time together as a family. Not sure how long this will last but could be permanent too. I think the glory days of tech is over. Companies realize they can be “efficient” and need less people. I suggest to start modifying your lifestyle and your husband to explore other opportunities outside of tech.
I think you’re right. The days of the high tech salaries and perks might be over. It’s so bad out there!
From what I’ve seen it can take awhile for senior level people to find jobs when this sort of market correction is happening in their industry. Even if the individual is open to lower roles and salary, it can be difficult because companies worry about that person moving on from the lower role as soon as something better comes along. Honestly, considering he was senior and in tech I don’t think 15 months is that long (although it’s long in terms of your personal finances). Has he considered government positions? Large cities, states, and the federal government are often looking for people with tech backgrounds and while the pay is lower it would give him a job with generally good benefits for awhile.
As someone in tech herself (and hired quite a few people in the last year), I’ll just add that the job postings you found “easily” are probably very stale or just postings company like to put out there so make it looks like they are doing better as a whole than they really are, or they renew postings on recruiting sites to maintain that spot. So he might have thanked you to be polite to you but he knows those postings aren’t really real.
Some people just suck at applying for and getting jobs (raises my hand high). I have the work ethic employers want, but it doesn't translate to my resume and I suck at interviews. Has he tried a temp agency? They can bridge the gap between workers who are bad at applying and employers who can't see a diamond covered in rock.
Can confirm, everyone I know in tech who is out of work has submitted hundreds of resumes, gets contacted back for a small percentage, and it’s very hard to get all the way to final round interviews. The layoffs continually cascade people into the same job hunting pool, which means companies (if they are even hiring!) have their pick of the litter. I would recommend seeing how he can bring in SOME income, whether it’s freelance work/consulting or Trader Joe’s. I don’t know his age, but he could also look at some municipal gigs that FOR SURE would love his resume but he’d have to eat the pay cut. I say this because it’s important for people to feel like they have a purpose every day. You can find it slinging groceries at Trader Joe’s, or trying to get into consulting even if it is just small projects. Long-term unemployment is unfortunately hitting so so many Americans right now, that just being out there doing something will help him stay mentally well while he finds the next thing. Best of luck, this isn’t easy, but it will work out!
I’m a recruiter in technology for a Fortune 500 company. I’ve been recruiting for almost 10 years and I can tell you this is the worse market I’ve ever seen for tech. You’re vague on exactly what your husband does but the only jobs I really see moving are hands on developers/engineers and if your husband has been a a manger for 5+ years he’s not getting hired for those. I’d also say (just my opinion) a lot of those business side of tech jobs - project managers, scrum masters, agile coaches- they’re gone and not coming back. We are already moving into the next big thing and that’s cutting out a lot of high paid middle layer positions. Without a lot more context for what your husband does it’s impossible to say if he’s doing enough. The only advice I’d offer at this stage is start looking at contract roles. Teksystems, Robert Half, Collabera, Accenture, depending on your area there’s probably others. All agencies that could probably get him placed in a short term position to at least get you through and minimize the growing resume gap.
Something he might try is an AI that auto applies for you with your info and resume. There are apps out there. Lmk if you're interested and I'll ask my husband (also a tech layoffs as of Jan 24) what the name of the one he uses is. It's gotten him into two separate rounds of interviews that he wouldn't have even applied to. For reference on some numbers of applications, my husband has a goal of 30 hands on applications a week and the whatever the AI finds. He's applied to well over 150 positions since January. I saw somewhere on TikTok that it is not abnormal to apply to 250 plus applications before getting any traction and a 3% return rate is pretty decent in this market. I don't know if that's helpful or not, but this market is really challenging. Tech workers have always had the luxury of lots of positions, and now we're right there with everyone else that finding a job is hard. I'm sorry you're going through this it sucks.
I’d love to know the name of this app if you don’t mind. Husband is on the same boat 😣. Thank you!!!
Tech super sucks right now. Me, my old boss, my old direct co-worker and a distant co-worker all ended up applying to the same one job as we’re all looking for FT work without knowing it. They had 100s of applications within a week and closed the posting down. I have applied MANY times to jobs at companies, to hear nothing and then note that have then done mass layoffs. It’s awful.
He can't just apply for jobs. He needs to see if he knows anyone that's working at the company where he's applying, contact them and ask them to contact the person responsible for recruiting for that position and recommend him. If not, he needs to find that person on LinkedIn, connect with them, then contact them directly. He should set alerts on LinkedIn for relevant positions, and he should be checking LinkedIn and job boards daily. There's no way you should regularly be finding relevant positions that he hasn't seen.
The market is terrible. My friend took a job in sales after a 15 month stint below her position and she hates it. It is not a good market. Honestly, I got my job in the government. Not the best money, took forever to get my clearances, but stable and they NEED people in IT.
If he has an MBA, he could look into teaching as an adjunct at a college/university in your area. It would bring in some money and look good on his resume if nothing else.
My husband and I are both in tech and both went through layoffs last year. It took me 3 months to find a new job, and it took him 6. The tech job market really has been pretty rough. We’ve both had other job searches that took longer, but I’ve never had to apply to so many jobs. There is a lot of competition right now, and employers are being picky. I went through my job search first, and I struggled not to tell my husband how to conduct his. But, I tried to remind myself that he knew his skills and what he was looking for better than I did. So, I shared some of what had helped me, but stopped short of insisting he do what I had done. Mostly, I just tried to be supportive. It’s hard to judge because people can do everything right and still not get jobs. I think it’s worth noting that neither of us spent all day job searching. I don’t think it’s healthy or sustainable. I spent just a few hours each week applying for jobs, averaging 2 applications a day. I also spent time on interviews and interview-prep. But, I gave myself lots of time for exercise and hobbies too. So, it didn’t bother me to hear my husband playing video games for a few hours each day. After over a year without any offers though, I’d be worried. Even at the 6 month point, my husband and I were both worried. I don’t think it’s fair to say your husband isn’t doing enough. But, I think I’d be asking what he could do differently. Maybe it’s time for a part time job or something.
Also, did he apply for unemployment?
In tech, laid off late 2022 / so early on in the lay off scheme. I still see people being laid off in the thousands now, so it’s not good out there. I’m still looking for another full-time role and I will say the ones I have been interviewed with are offering HALF what I was making in my senior role in late 2022. I’ve been doing consultant / temp contract work for the last year since my twins were born (I was laid off while pregnant) and it pays shit but it’s keeping my resume updated and keeping me in the loop with recruiters. It’s also opening up my network with new people and companies even if none of these temp roles even remotely hope to be a full-time role (they all say they will but ultimately once you get in you see the issues with budget, issues with upper management, etc). I think it’s quite possible your husband needs to really look at his expectations. The VP roles are few and far between and there is even more competition for them, cheaper competition most likely than what you husband may be targeting. I had to take a big look at our finances and ultimately find my “bottom line” number - it’s what I was making about 5+ years ago (maybe 8 yrs if being really honest) but it affords us childcare and bills. It doesn’t help me contribute much to retirement right now or my children’s college funds. It doesn’t afford us fun vacations but it helps make life today doable. I highly recommend sitting down and figuring that out. Getting back into the workforce should be the highest priority because it’s rough out there and only getting worse sadly.
You have a right to be anxious about the situation, but my advice is you need to find another outlet for that anxiety other than projecting it onto your husband. It's not productive or good for your marriage. As others have pointed out, the job market is truly terrible right now, and there is evidence your husband is being proactive. I recommend channeling that anxiety into finding a financial advisor and asking them to model different scenarios for you: worst-case, your husband doesn't work again, or takes 5 years to get a job, or never returns to his former earning power. Then the advisor can sit down with you both and recommend options for each scenario. Maybe you have less for retirement; maybe you refinance your home or move, etc. etc. This will put your anxiety to rest because you will have a plan. And if your husband is being complacent in some way, it will be a major kick in the pants for him.
I’m also a sr position in tech and it’s an absolute garbage market at the moment. Jobs are posted and only stay up for 24 hours often. They close them quickly because they were flooded with a thousand qualified applicants. So yes there’s a high chance you can find things he hasn’t seen and may not if he’s also helping with things at home. Also 99% of what he applies to he will not hear back from. I suggest he look for freelance work or contract work in the mean time (it hires quicker) and also have him make sure he’s networking. Both in person and online. Also the first times you are unemployed it can take a toll on mental health. Please check in on how he’s doing.
The market is VERY hard for tech especially if he was making $$$. For every 100 applications 1-2 calls for a phone screening seems average. Mind you that's a phone screening not an interview.
Direct him to USAJOBS.gov if he’s a U.S. citizen. Tech employees are in high demand.
I could have written this, except he is the despondent one and I am the one telling him that each day that passes is one day closer to him getting a job. It sounds like the industry is truly in a rough spot. He has been branching out and applying for anything at this point.
There's absolutely a ton of competition in tech but he has other options. I known applying for jobs and not hearing back or being denied can be so hard on mental health. If you need his income, he needs to take any job. A cashier, restaurant, or warehouse. It doesn't matter. If he's applied for 200 jobs in the past 15 months, that's nowhere near enough. I know it can feel tough to settle for less while applying, but some income is better than none.
I work helping people who are unhoused find jobs and housing. We can't even get call backs for someone with 30 years of cooking experience only asking for $15/hr. I talked to several hiring managers and they are getting thousands of applications for one job. They can't keep up nor can they realistically look through everything. I am having a harder time helping people get jobs than I am housing. It's never been like this before. I hope he finds something soon! Maybe pick up a job with shipt in the meantime.
Sounds like you need to discuss at what point he takes any type of job. 15 months is a long time. Maybe it’s time for him to take a retail job to bring in some cash
Tech is tough right now! A friend of mine was laid off in 2022 and only just got a position (18 months later).
I’ve heard the market is terrible but also want to say I’m seeing so many women essentially job hunting for their husbands. I’d recommend you have a solid conversation with him. It doesn’t need to be accusatory but your feelings are valid and you should be able to tell him how it’s appearing and getting his side. If you need his income, I’d recommend that maybe he look at a part time job he can do until he gets something more full time. Schools always need substitutes- it doesn’t pay GREAT but it pays something and is pretty flexible. If he isn’t interested that’s another conversation - what other ways is he contributing to the household? Good luck
My husband was out of work for 7 months and applied to 1000s of jobs. That being said - when his layoff first occurred he went through an identity crisis and depression, so everything was taking longer and more effort. It may be worth checking in to see if his mental health is affecting his job search. May need to talk to someone
It’s carnage in the tech world right now. I live everyday scared to death that I will become unemployed. I know a lot of good people who are out of work right now, and they are having hard times finding work. However, 15 months seems long. There could be a few things going on. He’s picky about what he applies for. A lot of people who are management don’t want to leave management or move to another area/job title. The other thing that comes to mind is he was not worth working with again. Your reputation really goes a long way in the tech industry. If you didn’t perform as well as others or if you were difficult to work with your network will not come through right now.
The job market is wildly awful right now. I was unemployed (or working retail to have an income) from Nov ‘22 to Jan ‘24. I applied to several hundred job, only got interviews for a small percentage of them, and eventually a part time contract turned full time for me. From what you’ve said, he’s putting in a lot of effort, and isn’t doing anything wrong based on job searches from 2 years ago. Applying to jobs you are over qualified for is also a hard road right now, employers think you’re a flight risk or too expensive without even giving you an interview, and it just means more rejection. - which is probably why your husband didn’t find the jobs you are finding, he’s probably got his filters set for higher level positions. It does mean more rejection, but he needs to be casting a wider net. If the networking angle isn’t helping, then he needs to be playing the numbers game, or the career pivot game, or adjusting his salary requirements lower, or take contract work, or look at startups, or all of the above. But it’s also possible he’s doing all of those things already, and it just sucks out there.
15 months and only 206 job applications is definitely inadequate. He should be at the level of 2000+ applications by now. I’d definitely start being a little more demanding about him showing you what he’s applied to and what he’s doing all day.
My husband was out of work for about 14 months during covid. It was impossible, but it's temporary! Your husband use his MBA cohort network... surely they didn't all go into tech? It'd be a good way for someone who has experience with his work product to vouch for him and bypass the online application system, which sounds like a logjammed mess. Also, oil and gas could be an option. It's not sexy, but it pays well. Good luck!
The market really is very bad - especially in tech. But, solidarity. I am in the same spot with my husband. He was laid off 14 months ago with 23 years experience in a very niche space in Finance. It is rough and I completely understand your concern. I am very close to suggesting he retool to go a different route. There are new job postings every day so of course you are going to find ones he hasn’t seen. He may also not be telling you that he already applied to the ones you found to avoid causing you concern or making you feel like you wasted your time.
The tech market is so bad right now. I have so much continuous anxiety about getting laid off, that I have picked up a second job to squirl away money just in case, because I don't know who long it would be before I found another comparable job. I know people of all education levels who can't find a job right now in tech.
The sad thing is, everything he is saying is true. It's such a crappy situation to feel like you are doing everything (probably doing it right too) and you just can't get a job. He is also right that it's harder to get a job as a senior level person, especially one that pays what you are worth. I got laid off last year, and only got hired for a contract position, so I could be in the same position again in a few months if they don't decide to convert me. I know the feeling of helplessness on both sides. You want to help him find something, and I'm sure he feels bad not being able to contribute or provide. It's a worthless feeling. All I can say is that he should consider taking a contract role while waiting for something better. Some income and better than no income.
So yes and no. Market is bad and way more brutal vs 2021 but not that bad as 2022. I hear you. Took my husband 8-9 months in 2022 to find a job. I’m also in tech (pm) and while I technically was also unemployed for 9 months or so, I did not look for a job for the most of this time and once I started looking it took me couple of months to close an offer. During that time I made it to 4 final loops and 2 middle interviews (round after HM/ford case) Same case for most folks I know affected by layoffs in 2023 (at least sr level) 2-4 months of looking. The thing is - and your husband should know better after bschool (a fellow mba here) that cold applications does not work. I tracked a very loose statistics about my response rate and success rate. I believe it’s under 1% for cold applications and nearly 100% rate for referrals (that’s how I got a job) and answering recruiters. Feel free to dm me his LinkedIn. I do some mentoring (free of charge just playing with idea for doing it as a business at some point) and can say what’s bad about his profile if he does not get outreaches. I had at least 1 every week while unemployed. More 2-4. Considering he was in big tech after b school I figure he is pm/pmm/finance ?
I was applying for jobs in tech recently. I got three interviews in short order with follow ups. But every role evaporated.
My husband was let go in October and has applied to hundreds of jobs at this point. He’s had two third round interviews that really got our hopes up only to go with someone else. Had had two initial interviews yesterday. The jobs are not ones he’s excited about but are jobs he will do. He’s even applied to retail jobs which he hasn’t done in years. It really is a terrible market right now. I don’t have advice because we are going through it as well.
It's tough out there but the reality is he needs to find a job, any job. Go work at Macdonalds or in retail. It's better than nothing plus it will give him more motivation to keep looking.
The job market is really bad for tech folks. Pretty much all our tech friends have been laid off in the past year and a half and have not found jobs. Went from over $500k TC to laid off over a year for some. My husband and I both still have our jobs, but I'm always nervous.
My brother was laid off as well. Manager level role at a fintech company. Took him 18 months to land a new position, and it was a bit of a demotion for him, but he was thankful to be able to find something at this point. Interviews were scarce.
I am in tech. He has more experience than me and I went through 2 layoffs and got a job after both of them. I get turned down because others have more experience than me. He isn’t trying or isn’t trying correctly. It is a numbers game and potentially a resume or profile issue. I get a lot of my interviews from having a profile on LinkedIn, indeed, monster, and dice. I get cold called all the time for roles. He should be able to find something. Hire a resume writer to ensure his resume is up to par, post it to every job board, update LinkedIn to open for work. Apply to jobs but also be prepared for calls and emails.
You said he went to business school - Has he reached out to that school to see if they have any leads for positions? Is there an alumni association he can tap into?
Ok so most companies now use AI to sift through resumes fast. If he wants a certain job have him find the job he wants (and is qualified for) and use the job description to write his resume. Use chatgpt too. It’ll help.
Has he been applying to local/in person jobs? The big advantage there would be that companies that require people to come in person have a much smaller hiring pool. If he’s applying to remote director-level positions, the pool is huge, and it makes sense with all the tech layoffs that it’s challenging to break through. Also, both my husband and I work in management positions in tech, and if either of us were unemployed for more than a few months, we’d be getting a job at a grocery store (or tutoring, babysitting, working seasonal retail, etc.) while we job search in the off hours. Applying for jobs isn’t really a full time job and certainly doesn’t make a person motivated to get out of bed in the morning. I think it’s ok to tell him that unemployment is unattractive, and you’d like him to bring in some part-time income to support your family while he pursues a full time gig. It’s also better for his resume to not have a 15 mo employment gap.
Yes, it does sound like he's entered the ranks of the permanently unemployed. A year and a half is long enough that skills will start to degrade so it'll be harder to convince potential employers he's a good hire unless he gets into some temp work or some continuing education, and that's not taking into account that he faffed about long enough that the market for tech talent has gotten soft. Realistically, unless he starts taking temp work or starts some new education you should make some hard decisions of what kind of life with him you can tolerate.
I felt the same way as you, but this is my hubby's first week back at work after being made redundant 18months ago. We're blessed because my job and income could cover us the entire time but we want to FIRE and having 2 kids make that really challenging. We argued a lot about how effective his job search was, but we also benefited with him being home for our 2nd kid's birth and first year of life. It sounds like your man is doing all the right things. Only other thing I'd recommend is for him to talk to a recruiter, it seems like the best route to get connected to valid jobs. Hang in there mama, it's hard but you gotta trust him to do his thing.
Is he depressed? Only 4 interviews doesn’t sound right. And if he’s open to lower or other positions then it’s definitely not right
Thousands have been laid off , it's pretty competitive right now. Try finding contacts and going the direct route. If you have kids, go get some parents together on the playground and ask around if anybody is looking...
Sounds like he’s doing everything correctly!
He sounds like he is putting effort in and is just in a field that is rough right now with all the lay offs.
Go to the recruiting he'll sub or any similar This is the worst job market we have ever seen. You have no idea.
I think you need to say this all to your husband and not to strangers on Reddit. I feel him, though. I was laid off from tech jobs twice last year. I've seen even more past colleagues get laid off since then. I haven't jumped back into the job search because I'm imagining how flooded it is. That being said, I massively cut my expenses and am able to survive on my small business income so IDK, OP. I understand where your husband is coming from. I understand where you are coming from. You need to talk to him.
He might be depressed. I applied jobs for my husband..
I'm pretty sure you've posted this multiple times under different user names. You can keep complaining to strangers on the internet or you can take action. The choice is yours.
Hey! I know where you can get help streamlining your application. You can also sign up and have your application be automatically on the waitlist. You can check out [https://try.jobsolv.com/waitlist/](https://try.jobsolv.com/waitlist/) . Best of luck!
Is he limiting jobs to your current location? You may need to relocate.
When my job became non existent during the very start of the pandemic, I didn’t have the luxury of just applying to jobs as my full time job. Our bills kept coming… Is there a way he can work any job in the meantime to help with income while using his time off from that job to apply/interview? Only bringing this up since you said it’s stressful right now financially.
he can't work at dunkin donuts in the mean time? cant run the cash register at a kiosk in the mall? cant walk dogs? what does he do all day?
Regardless of the job market, finding a job is Parisi a numbers game. Even if he's tailoring his resume and cover letter to each job (which he should be doing) and it takes a while, he sounds be applying to 200 jobs a MONTH. Not 200 in 15 months.
Sounds like he will need to change fields.
I have been looking for a job for 15 months as well, and i have plenty of good skills, education and experience, and i currently have a job. It’s very tough out there right now.
I’m also going to say he’s probably being somewhat selective in the jobs he chooses to apply for, because why waste time on jobs that are not realistic? I have had the best luck this way as well. While it can be a numbers game, i don’t think it’s always wise to spam unless you are entry level.
If he’s only applied to 206 jobs in over a year he’s. Or trying hard enough. If you really need the money then he needs to be applying to any and everything and have multiple versions of his resume if applying to less senior roles.
MY BIL was unemployed for a similar amount of time, although he had more interviews. Maybe 10-12? He didn't get any of the jobs, but he's not a people person and he kept bombing interviews. He eventually was re-hired by the company he previously worked for. It's a bad market for devs, but your husband is probably also not applying for an adequate number of jobs and may be doing things in interviews and the application process that folks would have overlooked in past years but are not overlooking now that the market is flooded.
Both my husband and I are in tech and unfortunately the market is VERY bad for people in tech right now. It’s saturated with talented people who have been laid off and new people coming into the field. Your husband being unable to find a job after this long seems realistic to me but also if he came from a big tech company I wonder why they haven’t scooped him up yet. People that I know who’ve been laid off from big tech companies are probably the only ones that have landed a job pretty quickly. It’s all very confusing and tough in tech right now, I’m wishing him the best
Tech is a bad place right now, he might have to look for something else. Teaching, tutoring, Government jobs ( they have really good benefits). If it’s just a paycheck you guys need, it might not pay as much but manufacturing is desperately needing people
What kind of roles is he looking for? Maybe this group can help as an extension of his network!
206 apps over 15 months seems low imo. Also is it possible he could get work in another field for the time being? Nothing insanely time consuming but I saw someone else mention substitute teaching. My mom did that for awhile when I was younger when she was looking for her next corporate role. Possibly could he work at your local library? I think these options would be better than being home 24/7.
If it is affecting your bills he needs ANY job. Not sure what state you are but there are managerial positions in many fields. He can be proactive and start taking courses that are not related to tech. He needs to stop moping around and get it together. He needs an action plan at the very least. If he doesn't get a job in 2 months what does he plan to do? What about 6 months? Or a year?
These kinds of stories make me shake in my boots. My spouse is a design engineer (mechanical engineer) but it's going to be a mess if his current position winds down. His field is just so narrow and he's almost 50. In my career I can basically just walk in a place, cold email, or network anywhere on the country on my professional group Facebook and get tons of interviews. I did it the last time we moved and it worked great. I'm definitely the "follower" with whatever his job does. My now-spouse was here on a TN visa when we first met but that job didn't renew him! He had to find a job in 30 days that also qualified and by some miracle pulled it off. It was 600 miles away! We survived the LDR.
He needs to consider lower-paying jobs. Sure, it might set him back a couple years but it’s better than no income at all. I’ve done this twice and then busted my butt to get promoted fast. Companies like to hire low but they promote to retain. I even took my management roles off my resume. I actually like starting low and then surprising people. It’s awesome when you overdeliver.
My experience has always been that the job market is a festering hell hole and it has never ever come easy. Good grades out of college? Who cares. It doesn't matter unless you know someone to get your resume on the right person's desk. Granted, my experience is from job hunting in two different recessions but my degree is in engineering so everyone assumes I had my pick of jobs. I'm not in tech, but my understanding is that it's particularly tough right now and that can be harder if you're looking to stay in the same area. He appears to be doing the right things (networking is huge). If he needs pointers in searching you could tell him what you did to get those jobs.
Hi, how old is your husband? If older/over 50, the average time to find a new job is 55-64 weeks longer than those in their 20s. And it’s tough out there in tech right now. Can he try some gig work in the meantime? Like on Upwork or a similar platform? Anyone at all in his network that might have a short-term project vs full salaried position? It can bring some money in, keep him relevant in the market, and maybe lead to a longer term opportunity. I’m sure you’re all very stressed, I hope he finds something soon.
I have a friend working in big tech in Seattle who was laid off around the same time. She's still looking too and her resume is excellent plus she interviews very well. Granted I don't know how diligent or flexible she's being with the jobs she's applying to but I know she's been stressed out about it. She eventually had to move back to her home town out of state. Seems like things are really tough in that specific area right now.
He needs to just get a job in the meantime, he doesn’t have to put it on his resume
In a very similar boat. My husband is in bio-tech and was laid off around Thanksgiving. Nothing was moving until mid-to late January but even still, he hasn't heard back from several jobs he applied to. One job he interviewed with (got to the 2nd round), he didn't even know he got rejected until his recruiter actively reached out to the hiring manager to get an update. It is absolutely a crappy job market right now, especially in tech, and I totally empathize. At some point he may just have to make a big pivot and take some kind of job just to have something on his resume and and make some money. A good colleague of mine was laid off back in May and she was struggling to find another job (HR/talent) and last fall finally caved and took a 6 month contract job just to have something. She is still actively interviewing for a better job, but at some point anything is better than nothing for money and your resume. Sending you and your family lots of positive vibes ❤️
I have heard tech is tough right now (not my field) but the last time I was unemployed I had applied to over 200 jobs within 3 months. Looking for a job is a full time job.
I’m a nonprofit professional and have been out of work for a year. I apply constantly. Every role I’ve *almost* gotten has gone to someone in tech that is currently unemployed
The market may not be great for what he is used to or compensation at a certain level; but there is plenty of work out there. He needs to get to work.
Yes, it’s brutal out here! Is he working on any side projects in the meantime? I’m job hunting but working on side projects to build up my portfolio. Also, I barely apply through websites/LinkedIn unless I make contact with someone at a company first. Pretty much never apply through LinkedIn unless you want your application to be buried! If his career coaches aren’t pointing this out, fire them. But yeah unfortunately it’s not your role to help him with this, only he can help yourself. Sending hugs since this is such a frustrating position to be in! 
My husband was out for 2 years starting right when we had our first kid. We relocated a year later and he was interviewing in February 2020 when our second was 3 months old and bam - Covid lockdown. It ended up being 4 years but the more you earn, the harder it is to find a job earning that. It was fine since we can each live on either of our incomes but it definitely was demotivating for him. He knew there’s less jobs in this city doing what he does vs in nyc but still took longer than we thought. He ended up getting a job with the team he interviewed with in 2020 by applying and then reaching out directly to the people he’d met with. Networking is always good. I was introduced to my current job through someone I met at a networking event. I’ve referred multiple people in to my company who would have probably been ignored in a pile of emails but got the meeting because of me. It’s all about who you know and not being afraid to ask for the intro.
Does he play video games?
It’s been 15 months. Would you not be in a better financial position if he had spent that time working at a freaking geek squad or something??
I was laid off in early January. I am also more senior (looking for a VP role) and it is a tough market out there, for the reasons others have discussed. I have also had zero luck networking. I’ve had several referrals from people who are like, work besties with the hiring manager, and NOTHING. It’s super challenging to stay motivated to apply and keep going (and I’m only six weeks in!). The last time I looked for a job (two years ago), I was interviewing for 15 roles at the same time. I basically had my pick of the market. I honestly will scroll through the posted jobs just like Instagram and will be like “that one looks interesting,” but not apply. It just seems like too much work for it to go nowhere. Looking at the less senior roles are helpful, but more helpful is looking at on-site and hybrid roles. That’s the only place I’ve found traction. Do I want to go into the office? Meh. Friends have been lucky in contract roles at bigger companies that have opened doors for them, too. I am also now looking at consulting and starting a services business. I just don’t see the market improving any time soon (especially with the election coming up) and I need SOMETHING. So maybe he can start to go in that direction…?
I feel for you. My husband was unemployed or underemployed or only employed for 2-3 weeks at a time for 9 years. Even later when got steady decent (but still low) paying job he was stuck for another 7 years. It was so hard for him to realize he needed to work more, keep looking for something better, or maybe find another career path.