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brett

Find a Job

I’m a software engineer. I work hard and have had some interesting scaling experiences that could benefit other companies. I’ve also adapted well to the changing development landscape with AI. I don’t have delusions that I’m highly desirable or extremely competitive in a big, remote world. I’m proud of the work I’ve done with my current employer. However, every couple years I revisit the job market and casually interview to get a sense of the job market. Here’s what I’ve found.

The Process

The hiring process had a lot of strain under the age of AI and international remote work recruiters are inundated with huge volumes of applicants. Standing out is difficult, but the process continues to rely on recruiters to foster connection. The best way to overcome some of the struggles is to develop relationships with recruiters.

  1. Add technologies and all possible work to resume, LinkedIn (with “Skills”)
    • Include part-time and contract work
    • Add every technology buzzword to be included in recruiter searches
  2. Set open to work
    • LinkedIn lets you set it visible to recruiters only
  3. Apply
    • Apply to any relevant job at this step
    • Simply applying fuels LinkedIn’s algorithm so you show up in recruiter searches
  4. Respond to every recruiter
    • Keep applying occasionally to keep fueling the recruiter search algorithm
  5. Speak with every recruiter for practice
    • Filter here for compatibility e.g. LeetCode-style interviews

Throughout the process, ask the company representatives, “What’s something that I could do better in this interview?”

Some Unfortunate Facts

  • Many companies have language-specific requirements
  • Many companies are looking for human linters in their technical assessments
  • Interviewing is a hard problem and companies use heuristics to filter out candidates

Preparation

Familiarity with a language in today’s AI development will likely wane as a hard requirement for most software jobs. However, the system design interview will probably remain vital to evaluating engineers. There are YouTube channels that can prepare you for these, and being familiar with Excalidraw is also important so you don’t fumble the presentation.

System design chart for ticketing system

How I Evaluate Companies

Because the hiring process is slow, random, and communication is poor, I often forget all about a company by the time the next interview is queued up. I take notes about companies to track the overall picture of a position.

Here’s my evaluation template:

# Company_Name

<!-- What they do -->

## People

Recruiter: <!-- Name/LinkedIn/Email (for following up) -->
Hiring Manager:

## Details

Tech stack:
Eng size:
Team size:
Hiring size:
Funding stage:
Compensation:
Technical/scaling challenges:
Remote comms culture: <!-- Collaboration across timezones? Core hours? -->
Typical week: <!-- meetings/standup -->
Work life balance: <!-- I ask about this early when I can afford to -->
Ideal candidate: <!-- have them describe what's ideal to them -->

## Notes

<!-- Comments from interviews, what they appear to be emphasizing, details on interview process, etc -->

This criteria should get you started on narrow down your options to your own needs.

I practice “Inbox Zero” aggressively, so after I’ve completed my follow-up I delete the email. This way I never lose track of the next step.

My grasp of the hiring process is evolving but these are some small tips that have made a big impact on getting interviews.