A Staff Software Engineer Declined an Opportunity Because it was Not His Dream Role - My Thoughts on the Matter

Despite the recent layoffs at Tesla, the tech labor markets have ticked upwards the past couple of months and there are quite a few firms hiring right now in Austin. But to be clear, the overall landscape still hasn't found a solid footing and I'm still seeing a large number of long-term unemployed IT professionals on the market. While it's important to find the right company and role for our skillsets, this post discusses the riskiness that comes with being too particular.??

This story is about a Staff Software Engineer who was laid off in January of 2024 and has been on an active job search for almost four months now. Let's call him Noah. Very strong coding skills and a great personality as well. Really solid human being but my main concern regarding his job search right had to do with how focused he was being in terms of finding the "ideal, perfect role". Such a mindset in this current labor market can have its consequences.?

We recently presented Noah with a Staff Software Engineering opportunity with a client of ours here in Austin. Hybrid work schedule, annual cash package in the low 200's and he'd be working with some brilliant software engineers as well. We submitted his resume and inside two weeks, he advanced to the final on-site and that interview also went really well. I was gearing up to speak with my client regarding a verbal offer when Noah sent the following note to me,?

I'm sorry but I am withdrawing my application from *****. I need to make a course correction in my job search and as much as I like the company, I really am not wanting to dive into platform development right now. I plan to make my focus mainly for product oriented opportunities as that is what interests me the most right now. So I just don't want to waste your client's time. Please pass along my "thank you" to ***** and it was a real pleasure speaking with their engineering manager too. But as my job search clarifies in my mind, that is not an opportunity of interest to me.

I thanked Noah for the update here and let him know that if any product oriented opportunities came my way, I would let him know immediately. He also let me know that he was going to take a few weeks off and then start up his job search again. By the time he gets it going again, he will be close to five months unemployed.?

After having had this job search experience with Noah, I became a bit concerned with the risk that comes with trying to find the perfect job right now. Let me say it again that over 100k IT professionals are currently out of work so there is a great deal more competition for open positions than 18 months ago. My concern for Noah is that when he does see his perfect job come open, he will be going up against 200+ applicants. In addition to this, how will his technical skills be holding up?? Could rustiness eventually enter the picture?

Make no mistake, Noah's argument is a strong one. No one wants to be miserable in their job and he just doesn't want to do platform development right now. On my end, however, I can't see how he would have been miserable at my client. They employ some of the top software engineers in Austin and the company is also doing well financially. As we all know, the core foundation of a job search for those in the software engineering profession are the following principles,?

1. Collaborate with other brilliant developers that you can learn from.?
2. Work on problems that pique your curiosity and make you better at your craft.?
3. Find a great manager and do everything they ask of you.?

These three variables were all present in this opportunity for Noah and yet, he still decided to pass. At this stage in his job search, Noah doesn't want to make a concession but if time continues to tick on and he doesn't secure a job, the concession he'll have to take a few months from now will be significantly more than what he had to take with my client's opportunity.?

A software engineer here in Austin that I hold in very high regard and has had a great career is a gentleman by the name of Matt Shostak. Very talented senior developer who's been coding away for upwards of 34 years now. And what's so impressive about his career is that he's never been 100% consumed with finding his dream job. Instead, he targets challening work with an interesting problem space, talented developers to work with and strong company leadership. And as a result, he's had a very successful career.? But in these current times, what's most impressive is that he's always been gainfully employed and has never experienced long-term unemployment. And I think everyone knows that the largest community of terminally unemployed software engineers right now are those with 25+ years experience. Companies are not making much of an effort to hire from that candidate pool. Yet Matt is rolling right along, happily employed at a very successful firm here in Austin called Pulselight. He sent me a note a few weeks ago regarding the subject of "Tech Burnout". His message included a video on the topic and you can view it here:? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsPxwDpxybs

But what resonated with me the most were his words and I'll paste them for you now,?

Mark, I'm curious regarding your thoughts on this. The video is about tech burnout. It always gets my attention when someone talks about being burned out after a short time in any given profession.? The presenter in this video speaks to the experience after 10 years in the field.? I find that interesting because I haven't had any kind of real break for 34+ years now and I'm still working away. From your perspective, do you think the phenomenon is real, and if so, how widespread is it? And what effect is it having on the hiring market?

Matt's questions really hit home regarding this blog post. Getting back to my story about Noah, the reality very well could be that he doesn't want to risk taking a job where he would be anything less than 100% satisfied and happy. Why? Because he doesn't want to burn out. That or simply the risk that comes with being unhappy at his next job.

I just hope he hasn't been caught up in that wave we experienced from 2019 to 2022 where IT professionals had the incredible luxury of inflated pay packages, multiple offers from unicorn startups and daily functions that were low stress and 100% to their satisfaction. I've said it a million times that those days are over. Whether you're an Associate Customer Support Engineer or a Principal Software Developer, find companies that employ talented people, have great leadership and a set of challenging problems that motivate you to dig in, work hard and find a solution. That has been Matt Shostak's approach to his career since he graduated from college and I can tell you right now that it has paid off in spades for him.?

I'll never dispute the ideal of finding your dream job. Especially in these very challenging times, Happiness does mean a lot. And to be clear, I do not know anything about the distinction between a Platform engineering and product development so there could definitely be a community of software engineers out there who agree with Noah. That said, if you're a software engineer who is out of work and on an active job search, maybe you can have a quick conversation with yourself about not being overly selective. In Noah's case, I could have secured him an offer with a very strong annual compensation package as well as the opportunity to work with some of the most talented software engineers in Austin. And who knows, over time, maybe he would have warmed up to Platform Engineering? But his decision was to shut the door on this company and in doing so, I don't think it can be re-opened anytime soon. Once he starts up his job search again, I hope that he broadens the landscape some because the last thing I want him to experience is long-term unemployment.?

It's still very present in the IT labor markets right now and it's not a good place to be.?

Thanks,

Mark Cunningham

Technical Recruiter

512-699-5719

[email protected]

https://thebiddingnetwork.com

https://markcunningham91.blogspot.com

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/markhc