I’ve been navigating the job market for a while now, and it feels like a completely different world than what I was used to. With 15 years since I graduated college and a master’s degree under my belt, I’ve spent the last decade in mid-management roles focused on new products and R&D engineering. However, my career has shifted dramatically towards gig work due to program cancellations, empty promises, and layoffs. It's been shocking, and many of my engineering peers are in the same predicament. In the past, I could send out a straightforward resume, land interviews, and eventually get hired without much hassle. Customizing my resume was never necessary, but now it seems like that’s the gold standard. I’ve tried to adapt to this new reality by tailoring my resume for each application to get past the keyword-matching software, but it’s incredibly time-consuming and still hasn’t yielded any results. I’ve applied to around 100 jobs across various platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed, as well as directly on company websites. Out of all those applications, I’ve received about 10 generic rejections and have been ghosted on the rest. It’s been disheartening to not even get a phone screen, and I find myself spiraling into doubt about what I’m doing wrong. The advice I’ve received mostly comes from people trying to sell resume services, which feels outdated and unhelpful. There’s also a lot of talk about AI affecting job applications, but I’m not convinced that’s the core issue. I shouldn’t be facing financial insecurity at this stage in my career, yet it feels imminent. At this point, I’m considering taking a job at a Starbucks just to make ends meet, and honestly, I’m not even sure I’d be able to secure that position. It’s a tough spot to be in, and I’m left wondering how to turn this around.
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