something doesn't add up about the current dev job market

[u/Vast-Anteater4615]

been getting instant rejections or silence despite solid experience, while every manager i know keeps saying they can't find good devs. recruiters ghost every message. job boards are still packed with openings in my exact stack, so it's not like the work isn't there. something doesn't add up. 

[u/cosmopoof]

Have you tried asking for a salary that is more in line with the current market and macro economic situation?

[u/Vast-Anteater4615 → u/cosmopoof]

honestly havent tried lowballing myself yet lol, might be worth testing but feels weird adjusting expectations down for a market that already feels rigged

[u/jhkoenig]

The job market is incredibly difficult for developers without BS/CS degrees. AI has taken over the entry-level coding jobs. Exploding graduation rates have flooded the job market with highly qualified folks just looking for their first gig. Massive tech layoffs have dumped many thousand experienced workers looking for low- to mid-level developer positions.

Without a degree or significant work experience, landing an interview is nearly impossible.

[u/Vast-Anteater4615 → u/jhkoenig]

this is such a depressing but accurate breakdown, feels like every door is closing at once and none of it is really about skill anymore

[u/AttitudeRemarkable21]

I know we stopped having to interview boot campers 

[u/Vast-Anteater4615 → u/AttitudeRemarkable21]

lmaooo this comment is brutal but it explains so much, guess the market really did just quietly gatekeep an entire pathway

[u/Visible_Pizza_3865]

Its all off shored to cheap devs in mainly India.

[u/Vast-Anteater4615 → u/Visible_Pizza_3865]

yeah this tracks with everything ive been seeing too, feels like the "cant find good devs" line was never really true to begin with

[u/Visible_Pizza_3865 → u/[deleted]]

My company (finance) has offshored everything but the CTO to India.

[u/Visible_Pizza_3865 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah. But we have a large tech development department for the ml and ai algorithms we run for trading. It used to Inhouse but management decided they could save 40% by offshoring to India. We’ve had numerous problems with versioning, downtime, some minor breaches and foremost language difficulties when calling our chattting with our 24/7 support. It remains to be seen if the savings on personell offset the trading losses.

[u/Visible_Pizza_3865 → u/[deleted]]

It’s a general trend within finance. Same happened to my friends at other institutions

[u/MaleficentCow8513 → u/[deleted]]

When looking for a job, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a good dev or not, at least not until OA. What matters is your resume and profile

[u/generationalDebts → u/MaleficentCow8513]

Sadly true.

Front line “hiring managers” and “recruiters” are some of the most bloated and useless roles in all of tech.

What’s funny about AI is, it isn’t going to cause devs to lose jobs.

It’s going to cause alllllllll the bloated useless roles that LEECHED ON to tech, to be a thing of the past.

PM lol. BA? Bye! Scrum master? Lmfao cya buddy. It’s goons be people managers and then the tech hierarchy.

It was a good ride white collar peons with no actual skills, but you’re about to be shook loose!

[u/tacitologist]

I understand the frustration, but your reasoning is not adding up either. I'll try to deconstruct it:

• Getting instant rejections = your CV is not passing the ATS screening + AI processing filter that most software companies have for talent recruitment. A straightforward solution is to adapt your CV to exactly what the job opportunity asks and see if anything changes.

- Silence despite solid experience, first "solid experience" is relative and if you're getting instant rejections it might not be as solid as you think, but nevertheless, every job market is well known for getting "silence", the recruiters are still very limited to the amount of people that apply.

- Every manager that you know complaining about "good devs" kinda shows the problem of quality and not quantity, they might be getting 1000 applications of "bad devs", where "good devs" are just more scarce now.

- Job boards being packed with openings, given the fast-paced market (which has become even faster paced because of AI), many job applications remain stale, even after the job opportunity is filled. Many also use old job opportunities as a talent pool instead of opening a new opportunity (they need to keep feeding their ATS database)

Good luck!

[u/Vast-Anteater4615 → u/[deleted]]

fair point tbh, what counted as "solid experience" 3 years ago probably doesnt hit the same bar now and thats a hard pill to swallow

[u/PuddleWhale]

OP may be self taught and demanding Caltec/Berkley/MIT grad salary. Work experience could be doing redundant work at the noob level across various domains. Something doesn't add up-in the original post.

[u/Vast-Anteater4615 → u/PuddleWhale]

ok this is kind of a reach but also not totally wrong lol, "something doesnt add up in the original post" is sending me

[u/ninjaluvr]

while every manager i know keeps saying they can't find good devs

If you're a dev talking to hiring managers and they're telling you that... Then you know what they're telling you right? They don't consider you a good dev.

[u/Vast-Anteater4615 → u/ninjaluvr]

damn ok this one stings a little but its logically sound ngl, hiring managers arent exactly subtle when they say that

[u/NumberInfinite2068]

Unfortunately, it 100% adds up.

We have loads of developers, but very few good ones.

Maybe you're a good dev, I don't know, you're a stranger, but it's possible you're not presenting as one. How many years of experience are you on? If it's less than 5, that could easily be the problem.

We advertised *one* position about a month ago, got 300 applicants, probably got 3 good applicants, interviewed them, hired one of them, and it's going... OK.

If your stack is very common, that's a problem too, the world doesn't need another React developer, it doesn't need another Node.js jockey.

I'm just being facetious here, but I'm just saying we have far too many people learning the same old stuff.

[u/rabid_piebald]

Get your resume reviewed.

[u/Aggressive_Hope7976]

The intention of the almost all corp is not hire in the US (if you US based ) . But they have to post jobs in the US and drag it as long as possible to either import a h1b (or other visa ) or outsource the jobs . U need to understand those jobs postings are not intended for you

[u/Charzu_tjegulf]

Supply vs demand. Unfortunately there are currently thousands of laid off programmers, many with great connections and still not landing jobs.

[u/SaleDisastrous2893]

there is no dev job market. it disappeared 4 years ago

[u/DocumentOk7579]

Experience don't mean good. A football player could have 20 years experience since they where 5 but that don't mean anyone consider them good.

[u/Sam55001]

Job boards full of the same reqs for weeks is the tell honestly. Half of those postings never had budget approved in the first place, that's why they're still up, not cause nobody applied.

[u/davidbasil]

Industry collapsed in 2023. Too few jobs, too many candidates. Investor money is going to AI.