Ask HN: Recruiters have stopped contacting me? What could have happened?

I feel insanely lucky to have a well paying job in this job climate right now.

One thing I suggest trying is applying out of North America, and look towards relocating somewhere like Germany. They've been thirsty for talent for a while, it hasn't died down as much as it has in this bubble bursting in Silicon Valley, and although they haven't exactly been attracting it given they don't pay as much it's probably a sacrifice you should be willing to consider if you want to stay in this industry. [1]

An important first step if you're considering this route is signing up here at EURES. [2] That alone will make you more attractive to recruiters out in that direction if you choose to try and go through them, although personally I don't like them taking a cut and can apply just fine on my own.

[1] https://www.itworldcanada.com/post/germany-set-to-hire-laid-...

[2] https://eures.ec.europa.eu/index_en

I don't think it's 1 or 2 at all. I know that you probably don't want to hear this right now, but there's just not nearly as many companies looking for candidates right now as compared to a year ago. There are many companies who are actively laying people off right now. Public companies are doing it, whether they need to or not. Even more so, startups and any other yet-to-be-profitable companies are not sure when they will be able to raise capital again, so they are tightening their belts to survive as long as possible. If the market doesn't change, some will die.

Meanwhile, there's many companies in a second boat. Companies that are doing fine but are worried about choppy waters ahead. Perhaps they are hiring for key roles or to fill spots of people who leave. But on the whole, they want to protect what they have and don't see this as the time to push for major growth.

The good news is that there is definitely a third boat. Companies that are raising money because they have an outstanding product or idea. Companies that raised large amounts of money before things started going sour. And of course, profitable companies with sound businesses that see opportunities to grow further. It seems to me like there are still a significant number of companies in this third boat, so I wouldn't be too worried yet. That said, if you are swimming around in the ocean right now, the water is definitely getting cold. I'm not saying to get on any boat that comes around, but you probably don't want to wait around for a 100ft yacht.

Oh well; you can't teach an old cat new tricks. It would make a cat's breakfast out of the old metaphors. Let sleeping cats lie. It's a cat's life. Say, this bloated browser runs like an absolute cat. Those catgone web devs, you know?

Oh, about last night's date: she looked nothing like her profile picture. Total cat!

"The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy cats."

Since you're in the enterprise world, consider this. Larger orgs have a budgetary process where funds for the year are allocated to various projects and divisions. Most of the time these orgs don't get their budget straight and finalized before the middle of March. It takes them 3 or so months of doofing around before they get their ducks in a row.

So, no budget means no funds to pay for new initiatives, no clear staffing requirements, hence no open job reqs and no engaged recruiters seeking to fill them. For this time of year, thats a pretty rational explanation.

Non finance related, but in politics there’s also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_cat_strategy

“There is one thing that is absolutely certain about throwing a dead cat on the dining room table […] they will be talking about the dead cat – the thing you want them to talk about – and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.”