Laid off for the first time in my career, and twice in one year

Job market, layoffs, and macro context

• Many posters describe the current tech market as one of the worst in decades, worse than dot-com in some geographies, with far fewer recruiter contacts and slower hiring.
• Several argue massive capital misallocation and “bullshit jobs” in tech (management layers, overstaffed teams) are now being unwound.
• Others note workloads for remaining staff have increased, giving management cover to claim “efficiency gains.”
• News narratives about “massive engineering/AI shortages” are widely viewed as misleading, driven by lobbying for cheaper labor (H‑1B, offshoring) and hype.

Interviews, Leetcode, and hiring practices

• Strong dislike of Leetcode-style interviews; many senior devs avoid such companies, especially outside top-compensation roles.
• Some see Leetcode as testing conformity, determination, and willingness to grind more than real job skills.
• Others say DS&A knowledge remains useful and advise younger devs to practice Leetcode to access top-paying roles.
• IQ/cognitive tests are discussed: some big firms use them; legality and value are contested.

Recruiters, networking, and job search

• Experiences with recruiters are polarized: some got most jobs through them; others get spam, ghosting, or zero value.
• Networking and referrals are repeatedly emphasized as crucial, especially for bypassing Leetcode-heavy funnels and ATS noise.
• Several recommend always keeping options open, updating materials regularly, and viewing employer relationships as transactional, not loyal.

Resumes and ATS systems

• Many report ATS parsing issues with modern, multi-column or heavily formatted resumes, PDFs with ligatures, or designer tools.
• Simple, single‑column, text-heavy resumes (often LaTeX/Markdown → PDF) parse more reliably and yield more callbacks.
• Some think ATS “myths” are overblown; most failures are edge cases or user formatting errors, but others show concrete parsing mistakes.

Compensation, FAANG vs. niche companies

• One camp: only BigTech/FAANG‑adjacent reliably pay top of market; grinding Leetcode is rational if you want $200k–$400k+ trajectories.
• Counter‑camp: real “top money” can come from becoming uniquely valuable at smaller, stable, niche companies over many years, without Leetcode churn.
• Broad agreement that everyone is ultimately expendable, but some argue you can become “hard to replace” and negotiate accordingly.

Side businesses and career resilience

• Strong advocacy from some for learning sales/marketing and building side businesses or small consultancies as income insurance.
• Others push back that most apps/side ventures fail, margins get competed away, and time may be better spent on interview prep and traditional career moves.
• Work–life–family tradeoffs and sleep deprivation concerns surface around “hustle” advice.

Interview feedback and candidate treatment

• Many want honest rejection feedback; hiring managers counter that detailed feedback often triggers defensiveness, harassment, or legal risk.
• As a result, most companies stick to generic rejection messages despite candidates’ desire to improve.