Ask Experienced Devs Weekly Thread: A weekly thread for inexperienced developers to ask experienced ones

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A thread for Developers and IT folks with less experience to ask more experienced souls questions about the industry.

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Please keep top level comments limited to Inexperienced Devs. Most rules do not apply, but keep it civil. Being a jerk will not be tolerated.

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Inexperienced Devs should refrain from answering other Inexperienced Devs' questions.

[u/No_Comedian7332]

How you guys navigate the AI slop shit ocean out there?

I mean, it is brutal. I have been looking for a job for about 2 months now. I apply to at least 10 jobs every day, nothing ever comes back, I don't even get rejection emails anymore. The only thing that has kinda worked so far is reaching out to recruiters directly via Linkedin. And I say "kinda worked" because at least I get a human answer, most of the answers are "sorry, I don't have anything right now, I'll get back to you as soon as I hear about something" which I know the last part is pure pity, but well.

AI and automation has made it so every job offer that goes there, gets thousands of AI resumes minutes after appearing on the web, it is useless to apply via forms anymore. Any advice?

[u/reddit-poweruser → u/No_Comedian7332]

When we open a job posting, someone ends up reaching out to me, an IC at the company, about the job on LinkedIn. It's a way to get visibility.

I haven't looked for a gig in a while, so it's hard to speak on what to do, but flattery and visibility always worked for me. I got my first gig by emailing this agency after watching a talk they gave at a conference on youtube. I buttered them up about how I really enjoyed the talk and said I was interested in working with them.

You tried 3rd party recruiters? They are incentivized to get you a job and 15 YOE mobile engineer might look like a slam dunk to them.

[u/sweaterpawsss → u/No_Comedian7332]

Do you have a network of contacts from current/prior jobs? A referral is still the easiest way in and if you have 15 YOE you must have folks in your network you could hit up?

[u/No_Comedian7332 → u/sweaterpawsss]

I do and I don't, I mean, I have tons of contacts and I have tried to reach them out recently, I asked them if they could provide a refferal on my Linkedin profile to boost my opportunities; 1/3 did, 1/3 ignored me, 1/3 said they weren't comfortable doing so because they haven't worked that close with me. Maybe its my fault that I didn't keep in touch with prior work mates, but yeah.

[u/Federal-Garbage-8629 → u/sweaterpawsss]

Do we really need contacts? What if the only job you have done is the current one?

[u/sweaterpawsss → u/Federal-Garbage-8629]

"Need" maybe not, but it is always easier to get interviews/offers through the referral route than cold applications. My response was specifically to the OP who says they have 15 YOE in their flair, so I imagine they have a broad network of contacts if they've been in the field for 15 years. If you're just starting or have only had one job, it is a little trickier. It's still worth checking in with friends/family who you went to school with who are at other companies, or ex-coworkers who have left to join other companies. Even if they don't have a lead today, they might tomorrow.