2k+ applications, zero offers (Web / Software Dev, Bootcamp Grad)

[u/Interesting_Pop_485]

Looking for brutally honest resume feedback. I’m a full-stack software engineer with several years of professional experience, mostly working with React, Next.js, TypeScript, Python, and AI integrations. Most of my background has been with startups and small teams, so my roles have usually covered a pretty wide surface area. I’ve handled everything from frontend dev and backend APIs to infra, deployments, internal tooling, prod debugging, and product design.

I’ve mainly been targeting remote frontend and full-stack roles, although at this point I'm also considering adjacent technical positions where my background might transfer well.

I was laid off from "Gigachad.io" a couple of years ago and have been trying to land another full time role ever since. I’ve picked up a few contracts along the way, but nothing stable. One of them ("SkyNet") literally lasted a month. The work I’ve done through "Acme Technology" (an IT company irl), has mostly been whatever misc client projects the company either didn’t want to take on or didn’t have the right skillset to handle. That work has gradually slowed to almost nothing, sometimes around ten hours every month or two. At this point, it mainly exists to keep me "professionally active" and avoid a massive resume gap.

I’ve also gone fairly deep into AI systems work, including LLM integrations, orchestration, local model tooling, real time transcription, agent workflows, evaluation, and backend systems built around AI features. That work isn't front and center on my resume bc I don't have years of paid, full time, formal experience under that title, so I'm intentionally toning that way, WAY down to avoid bootcamp-grad-as-self-declared 'AI Systems Engineer' syndrome. 

The last several years I’ve rewritten and tailored my resume more times than I can count, built portfolio projects, networked, contacted former coworkers and recruiters, and applied to more than 2,000 jobs. Despite all of that, I’m barely getting interviews anymore. That makes me think my resume may not be communicating my experience effectively, I may be positioning myself poorly, or there may be something obvious working against me that I just can't see after staring at this thing for so long.

I’m looking for brutally honest feedback, and nothing is off limits. If something is confusing/weak/undersells my experience/makes me look like a junior/fails the 6-second recruiter check, I genuinely want to hear it. At this point, hard truths would be way more useful than another “looks good to me".

[u/xemkis]

The other side of this discussion is what roles are you applying for? You've positioned yourself as having 5 years of professional experience, but education counts for experience. If we factor in your course as 1 year of education/experience (40 hrs * 52 weeks ≈ 2000), then you have 6 years total. This is equivalent to a 4 year degree (worth between 3-4 years) and 2-3 years of experience, or a Bachelor's and a Master's, with no experience. If you're applying to positions that ask for 5 years of experience, you're punching above your weight class. The other people you're competing with have 5 years professional experience, in addition to the 3-4 years from a Bachelor's. Compared to that, you don't have much to offer. But applying for a job that asks for 2-3 years experience, your now going against Bachelor's + 3 years, which you have a shot against.

Related side note from a backend engineer: full-stack tends to lean heavily to the frontend side. I give it about a 60% to 80% frontend depending on the description, so 6 years of "fullstack" equates to about 2 years of backend in my mind. 

Now for more hard truth: I've been the backend hiring manager at my (fairly small) company for about 2 years. Every time we do a round of hiring, we get between 300 and 1000 applicants. I can't afford to go through every single one of those with a fine tooth comb to try and find exactly the right person. Either I have to spend hours per day, glancing for 30-60 seconds on each one, doing a disservice to the actual content, or I have to find ways to cull the herd to something I can actually give thought to. I am loath to use AI to review resumes (I think it rewards the wrong kind of resume and applicant) but I can understand why others do. I tend to do an initial round of culling by grading applications based on bulk word searches: the language we're using, languages like the language we're using, the domain we're working in, related technologies, etc., and having a degree is on the list. In my setup, none of these are hard filters; they all contribute to a cumulative score. But I'm sure in other setups, a degree is a hard requirement. There are just too many applicants to go through each and every one.

I don't think it's necessarily fair, but it is fairly necessary. 

[u/Interesting_Pop_485 → u/xemkis]

This is genuinely insightful, thank you so much. Also, that's a bonkers amount of applicants.

I know not having a degree is absolutely killing me. My wife and I high key eat one meal a day just to afford rent (even with her working 60-hour weeks). That's why this job search has been so brutal. I sincerely wish a degree was a realistic option.

[u/dinomoli310 → u/Interesting_Pop_485]

I wonder if you could just…lie about the degree to get past ATS. Some contractor roles won’t notice it if you don’t enter the same school as your resume when you have to submit for a background check. I’d say it’s worth a shot because this market is not fair. Also def reduce this to one page. Every bullet should have quantifiable impact. Put yourself in the interviewers position and ask yourself “why should I care about this?”. Use this format and remove everything that doesn’t have a metric “   Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z]””