How many companies did you apply for to get 50+ interviews?

Growth Manager

Software Developer

Applied 15+, interviewed 5 companies across 11 interview rounds (1,1,2,2,5) and finally joined the last one.

Product Engineer

Damn. Only 2? Were you cold-emailing or applied on the company's career page?

Senior Data Scientist

Intern

Got it on my first interview. And no interviews are set up after that due to budget issues with any of the HR.

Web Developer

Market definitely is going somewhere down right now. I interviewed at 3 companies in 2017, got 2 offers and selected one. Spent just 2-3 days with each company. 
  
 I interviewed at 11 companies in 2021, took 4 offers, got denied by one company because of egoistic interviewer and stopped interviewing in rest midway because I got what I wanted. Spent three weeks overall. 
  
 2023, I applied at 50+ companies, got intro calls from ~30 of them and currently interviewing at 4 companies. It's been a month and still going on. Did 3 rounds in company 1, 2 rounds each in company 2 and 3 and 1 round in company 4. It's been a month so far and HRs are taking a lot more time than ever before. Seems it'll take this month too for me to land an offer.

How many interviews did it take before you found your current job?

How many interviews did it take before you found your current job?- Grapevine

I was laid off 3 weeks ago. I've appeared for 9 companies, 7 of which were small scale companies who asked either extremely tough questions or questions on outdated technologies that I don't have experience on(.Net Developer) 
I was able to crack L1 Technical Interviews with the other two companies (MNCs) and they haven't reverted back with the result of the second round yet, saying that they'd reach out by next week. I don't trust HRs so Idk if this is a lie or not. 
The market seems tough and cracking interviews is becoming difficult by the day probably because of the sheer volume of applicants and numerous choices that companies have. 
How many interviews should I expect to give more before I land a job? Moral support dedo.

TLDR: Have appeared for 9 interviews with no success in the past 20 days. How much more time is this going to take? Need some guidance.

How many interviews did it take you to land a job?

Software Engineer

Hi folks, 

I'm Kashish, the CEO of EquityList and Founder of Cloud Capital which I run as a solo GP.
A little bit about what we do: 

EquityList is a full-stack equity management platform by AngelList India. Companies across India, US and Singapore use EquityList to manage their cap table, stock options (ESOP/SAR), shareholders, and related compliances. Managing equity for 10k+ stakeholders, 250+ companies and ~$1B in stock options.

Cloud Capital has deployed $8M+ in 55+ startups such as Airmeet, Rupifi, Orange Health, DevRev, ZET (OneCode) and others. I've also angel invested in startups such as OSlash, Atlys, Chronicle, Even Healthcare and others.

Excited to do this AMA, and look forward to answering any of your questions about ESOPs, cap table management, investing, entrepreneurship, and more!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kashisharma

Live AMA: Hey everyone, I'm Kashish, CEO of EquityList. Ask me anything!

Welcome to Business Roles's Private Community

Context: 10.5 YOE, Marketing lead. I've been looking for a switch since September last year. I'd seen signs of maybe my role or the company itself folding very early and knew 'twas time to bolt. But it's not that easy. Back then - 1 year in a startup meant hey not bad, people still spoke to you and considered your profile. These days, they treat you like Ebola if you've not had your ass stuck in the same place for 3-5 years. 

Anyway, so the majority of my time searching for jobs was the shitty Easy Apply or IIMJOBS premium account route. Suprise suprise. It doesn't work. But hey I was still employed and not nearly as motivated as someone who's unemployed. 

Cut to layoffs: Got laid off with my whole team and a huge chunk of other leaders. My first layoff, felt hilariously like the last day of school. To the org's credit they gave us 3 month severance, leave encashments and extra months for those who'd been there for 2 years+. In hindsight hearing the horror stories of 2k severance from Byju's. I'm grateful for the nice golden parachute I got. I'll be honest, it contributed heavily to my mental stability. I had time, I had leverage, I didn't have to run for the first shitty opportunity that came my way. 

The How I did it (why you struggled through the above stream of consciousness) 

- Wrote to 159 founders with one pagers to 35 of them with ideas on how i'd lead their marketing function. 5 replies. 3 interviews. 2 offers - didn't take em cuz they were super early stage or diff cities. This is immediately in month 1 so I've already started feeling icky about not getting great brands to have in my set. 
- Easy Applied to 768 (I ran a Gmail search, this is a real number) jobs. 99% no responses or you've been rejected. 
-Kept changing one letter on my Naukri.com profile, got me 6 calls, 3 interviews and 1 conversion 

I think theres a word limit to posts 🥲 following up as comments below.

Finally got a job (here's the do's and dont's)

Part 3 
  
 - Add HRs and hiring managers on LinkedIn, send them free ideas and strategies. Its ok if they steal them it meant they were great. One of them will refer you, remember you or hire you. 
 - Have a CV and a summary (half a page) that gets people excited about wanting to read the CV. Only areas of expertise and bullet points for results  
 - Don't put the OpentoWork filter on your LinkedIn DP. Its radioactive. I know people actively avoid those profiles. But make sure to keep open to work beacon on for recruiters. It pushes you ahead  
 - Dont post low effort i need a job because im laid off, i dont have money, copy pasted by millions on Linkedin. If you're gonna publically ask for a job, make sure that post has enuff of your skillset screaming for a potential hirer to want to explore more. Else you'll get velle gadhe typing CFBR 
 - Dont be anal or choosy about interviewing, i literally gave 35-50 in 3 months that culminated in 4 offers. Each one taught me something, heck ive spoken to startups with 7 peeps in it  
 - The only one that can negotiate CTC is the one that can walk away. When the offer i wanted finally came, my fixed went down a tad, but variable increased. The role was worth it so i didnt bother negotiating. Places i wasnt excited about - oh i quoted 30% hikes and got it at one place :p

Brand Marketing Manager

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

I think about seriously quitting my job atleast once every few months but I've stuck it out here for almost 3 years now.

I don't know if it's just me but the idea of putting myself out there and starting afresh at a new company is just terrifying -  the struggle to find something exciting but stable, being evaluated at interviews all over again, the uncertainty of fitting into a new team and having to prove myself all over again at a new work place - all of this just puts me off from taking any real action

I see everyone around me talking about career growth and taking up new opportunities. And rationally, I get it.  I get that there are tons of benefits to changing jobs - better salary, escaping a toxic workplace, etc. etc. I truly admire people who make these frequent shifts - seriously, how do people navigate this?

Job Switching is not for me

U guys are lucky to have job in product based companies: 
  
 We, in service based have to give interviews every now and then as the project changes. So as a byproduct we are kind of used to interviews 😂 (cry aa rha)

Growth And Strategy

Got impacted in the layoff at Sharechat today after working 4+years here.
Got the news an hour back and have not shared this with anyone in my family yet.

I am sad and have to share this news with my fiancee and in-laws today. Tell them why I have to cancel vacation plans and look out for a job instead.

I am into an arranged married and my in-laws are very conservative and don't understand tech work culture, I don't know how they will take the news of a layoff.

I'm anticipating they will be shocked, her asshole brother-in-law will even make fun of me.

To make it worse the fault is mine for believing I won't be laid off when my company was not doing well. I thought it would not happen to me and never looked out in advance.

Fuck 2023. What a shit show Christmas.

Laid off, embaressed and sad

I don’t think you should cancel the vacation.  
  
 My point is - all hiring team members would be out, so nothing will change in hiring spheres.  
  
 But you should face your in-laws and you’ll learn more about them before you tie the knot. Job loss is temporary, getting into a relationship is more longer term.

Product Manager

Hi Grapeviners, I have ten years of work ex in performance marketing and CRM. I started job search actively from Feb 15 this year and landed first interview today. 

How bad is the market out there. I usually get hired with in 30 job applications, also I apply to the role only if 70% and above role match with my previous experience also use referrals when available.

Also please roast my resume https://stonedmind.tiiny.site/ have redacted wherever necessary to stay anonymous as possible. For the first time in my career I have a doubt that my resume might not be upto the mark

Please let me know your views in the comments. Any help is appreciated.

To land 1 interview it took 60 job applications

Being a tier 3 college grad, It took me 700 applications to get 25 shortlists, and only 7 interview calls. Converted all of them. 
  
 Sometimes you’re just not allowed to participate in the race 🙂

Welcome to Product Managers's Private Community

I decided to start applying and taking interviews after a 6-7 months break. Didn’t crack a good offer last time and dropped the idea of switching then.
 I find myself struggling with making my responses deep and well rounded specifically product sense and design questions. While I try to follow a framework and manage to effectively take the interview along that, I realise the content is shallow be it user segmentation, needs, pain points and solutions where I really run out of thoughts. I have close to 5 years of experience in PMing and have done decent in the products I owned but somehow just not able to get through certain interview expectations. Should I take a break from applying for preparation or continue taking interviews and learn alongside? Any specific recommendations to make the content rich?

PM interviewing..

Product Owner

Folks who were in middle of interviews, but the position got filled/ put on hold, how did it go? Did the HR contact you again for similar position?

I was laid off on 7th Sep and my garden leave was till 29th Sep. I got average severance package and I was in panic situation for almost 2 weeks. 

I gave interviews for 12 targeted position (luckily got till last rounds for all positions and got total 5 offers.
2 offers felt like being exploited, employers were milking my layoff situation and offered 10%-15%. I took a call to reject them and explore further.
Got 3 offers in first week of Jan, these were worth considering.
Yes I did wait for 4 months to see such favourable offers.
One with 15% hile and relocation, second with 60k Euro and move to Europe and third offer with 100% hike with remote.
It was a no brainer and I closed on the one with Remote and 100% hike.

Dont just rush to close on anything which comes first, assess the future and close on the decent or best one according to ur needs. 

For those who were laid-off recently and looking for opportunities I would say keep faith market is opening and positions are getting listed.
You will get something good soon.

Worth waiting for right offer (100% hike with remote)

Damn you man! Something I am manifesting 🤞 

Congratulations on new role! Do share your learnings through the journey

Consultant

Senior Manager

I am thinking of leaving my current job and focus on myself, getting to know myself better etc. Currently I have enough money saved for my expenses for next 6-8 months. 
   Everyone I have asked about this say don't leave your job if you don't have another lined up, in this tech winter. I understand their view point. It aligns with what my parents think as well.

Is there anyone who has had done this in the past? Do you recommend this route? Are the consequences far too severe? Does anyone have a different opinion from one stated above?

Anyone ever left job without having another job lying around for their mental peace?

I'm in the same boat, on the verge of quitting, and will most probably take the leap next month.  
 Thanks for the thread. A lot of insights. It has made me confident that I'm not doing anything stupid.

The startup I was working for shut operations in October 2023, rendering 400+ people jobless. I was part of that, but saw it coming from a mile away. I had already applied for a few companies, received verbal offer from Jio in October, but the offer letter took its sweet time (keep reading for the date). 

I chilled for a month because I needed a break (and the severance was good), and started looking for a new job from November. After a series of 15+ interview rejections, my confidence was at an all time low. 

Out of the blue, I get my offer from Jio in late December 2023. It was like a lifesaver because I was jobless for about 3 months at that time. I didn’t stop there, kept interviewing with all the companies that were in pipeline, and suddenly everything started to click. 

I got offers from- Sprinklr, one other startup about to launch their product, and a shitty startup as well (I was desperate). 

Sprinklr would have been the logical choice, but due to a family emergency, I had to let go of it since I could not move to Gurgaon (I’m in Mumbai by the way, very close to Jio’s national head office). 

I joined Jio mid January, and still kept hearing from recruiters. One of them was from Swiggy (rather a company acquired by Swiggy). I’m very close to cracking that (as I’m writing this). There is another great startup (profitable) that I can start and use my Supply Chain Tech experience to do better. And Sprinklr is still an option (spoke to the HR)

To tell you why I’m even considering leaving Jio this early on- as a PM, we don’t have access to data, there are no product processes, too much bureaucracy, Product GTM was done without thinking about edge cases and guard-rails. We are just shooting in the dark. 

Even though my last startup shut down, it was still a very enriching experience, and Jio is miles away from Product thinking. 

The reason I’m still unsure whether to leave or not is because of the market conditions. Should I stay or quit and run? Help!

A dilemma of choices

Quick background: A seniorish middle management guy here

Got the last 2 jobs via my network, didn't apply for it. 

Some lessons learnt:
1. Get into that high iq, mafia type companies, where the bar is really high 
2. If you end up doing good then you'll get calls from your circles to work on something exciting
3. Lastly, work on your personal branding, write that blog down, tell how you did it, it should attract niche audience in your circle

Good luck 🤞🏻

I like this hot take

Yep, my last two jobs were 
 - inbound from a hiring manager who read some medium posts 
 - direct referral from ex colleague at a company from 4 years back

Founder

I am a Marketer and I aspire to grow faster (as I am over-skilled and have decent enough results to show on my resume). 

Can anyone teach me hopping how it works? And how it's done?

Can anyone teach me hopping

Welcome to Software Engineers's Private Community

I am a frontend developer with 1.4 years of experience. I worked in a YC-backed startup where I led their product. I have given interviews at Simpl Pay, PhonePe and many small and mid-sized startups. For Simpl Pay and PhonePe, I failed the interviews and was disappointed in myself. In small and mid-sized startups there I answered 95% of their questions perfectly, yet I was still rejected. 

I have given 9 interviews to date and have been rejected in each of them. I would say 60% of them were interviews where I answered every question correctly and felt I should have been hired while 40% were ones where I failed to answer some questions and deserved the rejection.

It has been 6-7 months that I am unemployed, learning React Native and TypeScript and going deeper into frontend technologies. I am not able to understand if this is only happening to me or if it is common in the current market.

Any guidance or advice that could help me get a job quickly would be greatly appreciated. I feel well-prepared for interviews but any additional insights you have might be beneficial.

Job Hunting Since Nov 22 (Still unemployed)

Welcome to Office Gossip's Private Community

So I’ve been with my firm for almost 8 years now and honestly it’s become more of a second home for me. I honestly want more exposure and experience different office culture but it’s difficult to leave a job that I got through when I was in college. Am I the only one feeling this way? Any suggestions/recommendations appreciated!

How to Quit your first job?

Operation Manager

After 5-6 interview rounds, 2 assignments, in-person chat, I was told "we have decided to move ahead with another candidate". They took more than 2 months to come to this conclusion.

When someone signs up for a job at your company, please realise they are also spending time reading about the company, learning, working on assignments, prepping for interviews one after another. I understand, you need the perfect candidate but if you trusted someone to appear for so many interviews and then decide to move ahead with "someone else", without any explanation whatsoever about what really went wrong, it is extremely disappointing.

Be true to the candidate.

Plotline Interview Experience

Account Manager

Trying to see companies that people here have had the dream to join, but didn’t ultimately work out. Have you now grown over it?

Which company were you obsessed with joining, but never could?

For me it was McKinsey 
 It was the best job out of college, status wise. 
  
 Did well in college and made it to the final shortlist. Was obsessed with it, read books and all about The Firm. 
  
 Then the interviews happened, couldn’t convert. Was a downer.  
  
 But 5 years later, doesn’t matter much. I feel life taught me better things. And my fascination of consulting jobs has changed drastically since :p

Corporate Strategist

Which company did you have the worst interview experience with?

How many interviews did it take before you found your current job?

Discover More

Layoffs on

by Matilda Olive

Unemployed

How many interviews did it take you to land a job?

AMA on

by Kalan Vernon

EquityList

Live AMA: Hey everyone, I'm Kashish, CEO of EquityList. Ask me anything!

Business Roles on

by Isaiah Carmden

Stealth

Finally got a job (here's the do's and dont's)

Indian Startups on

by Kendall Nadeen

Swiggy

Job Switching is not for me

Layoffs on

by Kalan Denver

Sharechat

Laid off, embaressed and sad

Misc on

by Kendall Carmden

Stealth

To land 1 interview it took 60 job applications

Product Managers on

by Kalan Olive

Stealth

PM interviewing..

Misc on

by Jordon Denver

Good company

Folks who were in middle of interviews, but the position got filled/ put on hold, how did it go? Did the HR contact you again for similar position?

Layoffs on

by Karilyn Lee

Eventbrite

Worth waiting for right offer (100% hike with remote)

Misc on

by Jordon Hyrum

Freelancer

Anyone ever left job without having another job lying around for their mental peace?

Product Managers on

by Jordon Hyrum

Sprinklr

A dilemma of choices

Product Managers on

by Matilda Dean

TCS

I like this hot take

Product Managers on

by Jordon Nadeen

Student

Can anyone teach me hopping

Software Engineers on

by Blair Everett

Stealth

Job Hunting Since Nov 22 (Still unemployed)

Office Gossip on

by Aaron Dean

Amazon

How to Quit your first job?

Office Gossip on

by Jordon Carmden

Stealth

Plotline Interview Experience

Office Gossip on

by Isaiah Lee

Series A Startup

Which company were you obsessed with joining, but never could?

Office Gossip on

by Karilyn Dean

Stealth

Interview experiences