Find a dev job in 2024 is hard. Between layoffs, remote work, and companies just not hiring, it’s a crowded market to say the least. As someone who’s had to find new jobs three times in the last year and a half as a result of lay offs, I’ve had my fair share of experience navigating the tough spot developers are in today. Here’s a few tips I’ve found to be helpful along the way:
First things first, you’ve gotta know the state of your applications, how many you’ve applied for, how many responses you’ve gotten, etc… This is the tracker I use, but it’s easy enough to make your own on Google Docs, Notion, etc… to fit your needs.
One of the key reasons for tracking your applications is key, is knowing when to reach out for help. If you’ve sent out hundreds of applications and only gotten a handful of responses, it’s time to reach out to get some insights on why you’re not having success. Resources like /r/engineeringResumes can be great for this.
I think the first step most people take when it comes to looking for a job these days is spamming out applications on LinkedIn. You spend countless hours submitting Quick Apply after Quick Apply, only to never hear back. The first question is why? It comes down to a numbers game. I’m sure you see that most of the jobs you’re applying to already have hundreds of applicants, that’s just the norm in today’s job market. Even if you’re in the top 10% of applicants to one of these jobs, that still means there are dozens of candidates who will get a callback before you do.
So what’s the alternative? First off, if you are going to apply through LinkedIn, look for jobs that every other developer isn’t applying for. A good place to start is by looking at jobs that are local to your area, and/or jobs that are in-person only. While many prefer remote work nowadays, applying to on-site jobs is a great way to target jobs with less applicants. Also don’t be afraid to apply to smaller local companies. Sure it doesn’t look as sexy as a having a FAANG comapny on your resume, but it can be a great way to find a job that fits your needs.
That said, I think the best way to apply for jobs online isn’t to use LinkedIn. Their are tons of rapidly growing startups that never post on LinkedIn. Take a look at:
The average number of applicants per job on these platoforms is way lower than LinkedIn, so you’re much more likely to ge a response.
Of these 3 platforms I’ve had the most success applying through WorkAtAStartup. Due to the structure of YC batches, you can find a lot of companies that are in urgent need of developers. That said, while all of these platforms are startup-centric, they all feature lots of “mature startups” with 100+ employees. If anything these “mature startups” are the best ones to target, as they’re a bit more stable than startups that are just getting off the ground.
When applying to