I've been working on a startup with a friend for about the past year and unfortunately after having to eject one of our co-founders we're starting to run low on funds and might need to wrap if we can't raise something in the next few weeks.
This has been a great experience and I feel like I've grown and finally got a chance to apply my experience working at a number of startups (especially since I joined after being laid off by a crypto startup around 8 months ago).
However since I've been backstopping and attempting to interview I'm starting to wonder if I've black balled myself by moving around a bit and not having a solid career at one company for more than three years?
Basically I had around a year at Amazon followed by 2.4 years at a strong growth stage startup where I owned a few of my own projects. After that I jumped for a huge pay raise but unfortunately the role I jumped to wasn't advertised accurately and turned out to be a toxic environment. After that I took a solid opportunity to work as a technical product manager for a year at a quickly growing crypto project with real utility (I know.. I know..) and largely had a great experience until they ran out of money.
I've managed all of four interviews that have gone all the way to the final round - only for me to be passed over. After probably a few hundred applications (mostly SWE but some product) I've only received first interviews from maybe ten?
I have to wonder if I sound stupid to these people or if my resume has black balled me as a hiring risk?
What scares me the most is I largely don't know how to fix this. Yes, I'm willing to own the fact that I may have fucked my reputation within the first five years of being an SWE. I'm at a point where if I cant even get a basic SWE role I might just work at a Fedex store to pay rent - starting to lose sight of the point of wasting more time with this.
Curious if anyone here has advice for someone who's had to sort of reboot their reputation to attract better jobs slightly later into their career?
Thanks, hope everyone is well.
I think you're being a little paranoid. It's the market right now; everywhere is laying off or looking for ways to reduce headcount. This just isn't a good time. Despite that:
> After probably a few hundred applications (mostly SWE but some product) I've only received first interviews from maybe ten?
This has been my experience since internet applications became a thing. There's no incentive to curate active job postings by the people who post them, so many of these are duds.
> I've managed all of four interviews that have gone all the way to the final round - only for me to be passed over.
Nothing about you really stands out as problematic, but in my own opinion your heavy startup/crypto background makes you seem like someone only interested in money/getting rich quickly.
You might be a great candidate, but I'd fully expect you to check out if a better offer even looked in your direction. Given a choice between you and a more-conservative candidate, I'd pick them.
You're not fucked and there's nothing for you to change. It's a game of impressions. Just keep trying until you make the right one. That's difficult right now given economic conditions.
> I'm at a point where if I cant even get a basic SWE role I might just work at a Fedex store to pay rent
That'll be counterproductive.
If you get desperate, go find some office job through a temp agency. Downplay all your credentials and forget the crypto stuff. Avoid call center work, take literally anything else in an office, apply your skills to automating some nonsense, and you can possibly negotiate your way into something better. (Or not, but if you need to wait the economy out it's steadier work than retail if you need full-time hours.)