Interviewing

I started the job search process last week. Or maybe it was the week before. The ideal job search process is to reach out to a colleague in a similar line of work, and get the inside track on an opening. With that in mind, I need to put more effort into pro-active networking. So, instead I hit up LinkedIn and Indeed each morning, sending out a dozen-or-so applications. The effort I'm willing to put into each application definitely wanes as I hit the double-digits for the day.

If there's a freeform text field in the application, I like to take the key requirements from the job descriptions and point-by-point respond to each with my relevant experience. I haven't bothered to track the results enough to know whether that helps or not. I feel like a solid AI prompt might be able to do that work for me. Hmm.

I'm generally well qualified for each job, but there's still a "feel" element for how well I align with what they're looking for (based on what little information I've got), and I've found almost zero correlation between how likely I feel I'll get a reply and which replies I get. It feels random.

Also, minor rant: why does everyone want to know my race, sexual orientation, etc., when (1) that's a creepy thing to ask, (2) they're not allowed to use that information. Shouldn't this process be "blind" to avoid discrimination? Literally providing the information upon which discrimination is prohibited seems nonsensical. Or at least problematic. Laws prevent asking about my current compensation, but you feel justified in asking about gender orientation? Anyway.

This week:

Mon: Zscaler
Tue: eBay
Wed: Expedia, Warner Bros / CNN, Zscaler
Thu: Cloudflare
Fri: Some startup

What's funny is that I started a similar job hunt maybe a year-and-a-half ago, sending out easily 100+ job applications, and I failed to line up even a single interview. Comparatively, this is a huge success.