Hiring managers post openings and get flooded with unqualified applications.
It feels broken on both sides.
Why is this happening?
Here are a few things, but there are more:
1. Too many candidates, too few roles
Post-layoffs, the market is flooded — especially with mid- and senior-level engineers — making competition intense and hiring teams overwhelmed.
2. Applying is too easy
One-click applies and AI-written resumes mean companies get swamped with low-quality or irrelevant applications.
3. Job ads are now part of global competition
Hiring is no longer local — job ads attract applicants from all over the world, raising the volume but making it harder to identify the best local or relocation-ready talent.
So how do we fix it? Feel free to add your own recipes.
1. Improve your online presence
Make sure your LinkedIn and resume clearly reflect your skills, role, and value — don’t make hiring teams guess.
Write a tech blog, join podcasts, solve HackerRank challenges, contribute to open source — anything that helps show your expertise beyond just a job title.
2. Use referrals (even weak ones)
Even a loose connection can help you bypass the noise and get your profile seen.
3. Build your network before you need it
Stay active, share your work, and connect with people — opportunities often come from conversations, not applications.
With everything happening in the tech hiring lately - how are you navigating it all?