Panic at the Job Market

Is the extent of judgement around who makes the most money a recent phenomenon? It seems more common these days for people to look down on others that make less than them. Maybe there are more visible status symbols now. The older I get, the more I realize how little I need in day to day life. But I have profound gratitude for the opportunities I have been given. I have deep respect for those that help to repair my plumbing, deliver my mail, and cook a breakfast sandwich at 6am. Part of me suspects that politically the US is experiencing class struggles right now, particularly around how we treat each other. A little bit of seeing the human being in the people around us and treating them with empathy can go a long way IMHO.

Having experience from both the side of applying for jobs and running (some) job interviews I have to say that the delusions some candidates have shown have really surprised me. When I read comments online about application processes I wonder what our most delusional candidates might say about our extremely fair, one hour max interview process..

What I mean by delusional is that many candidates seem to not put in the work to research what we do, how we do it, etc. They then applied for a position that fits their own profile, not for the position we offered. Some even had a different companies name/address and the wrong date in their application letter. This combined with a display of extreme self confidence you can only wonder..

My number one tip for anyone applying is: Although it feels like interviews are about you, the way you should look at them is you solving a problem the people hiring you want to see solved. Your task is to know who they want and tell them why it is you, despite certain obvious flaws that you could anticipate them seeing, be it your age, your lack of big names in the CV, etc. But key is, that this is not a game where the higher leveled person automatically wins.

That means if they are looking for someone cleaning up their rubish database and you come across as The mega database expert that only picks the toughest battles and gets bored if he can't find a bigger mountain to climb, chances are that less qualified but more stubborn, more patient person will get the job, as they are more likely to be the lasting solution.

So the key questions for you should always be: "Who, exactly are they looking for?" and "Am I willing to be that person under the conditions of the job?". The first question is a research question for you before and during the interview, the latter a question you should keep in your mind throughout the whole process.

This is also why to me it is kinda a red flag if a candidate has no questions, because usually they should have if they wonder if they are the right person for the job and if the job is the right one for them. Especially since that is an interview-cliché already.

Related advice needed: I hope to get 2 offers, which should I take?:

1.: Older, stable 0 sum company, 40 people, mixed genders. But I don't trust they know how strong they need to pivot to survive another 5 years.

2.: Small, young startup of 20 dudes with absurd funding for what they have (10mio for something cobbled together). They have ~1k paying customers and growth. Founder with some hype wave riding history. I feel like I could make a real difference here, technological more interesting to me.

(3.: stay with my current 200ppl company. 10% less pay, company might live another 5 years, don't see a future for it)

I assume both pay similar, but the startup probably offers some shares (that I can't judge at all).

If I will get to choose, which one?: Comfort or risk?

So wildly depends on your experience and what you want out of life.

"people per week plus start laying off developers because the VC mandate is “only sales matter, the product doesn’t matter, sales people can sell anything.”"

Its not just VCs.

It is EVERY company, EVERY manager. Sales sales sales sales.

Then sales promises soemthing to teh customer. Sales comes to us devs and admins and says "do we have this???" No we dont.... "well make it now!!"