{"id":52521,"date":"2024-01-02T12:47:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T20:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/?p=52521"},"modified":"2025-05-06T00:00:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T07:00:25","slug":"the-feel-good-job-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/news\/the-feel-good-job-search\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Successfully Apply for a Tech Job in 2025, According to a Career Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

About a year ago, as high-profile tech layoffs<\/a> began dominating headlines, Karen Woodin-Rodriguez, a career coach<\/a> at Springboard, noticed her students\u2019 job searches dragged on longer than before. Before, career switchers could find a job within 3-6 months of graduation. Now, her students wait 6-12 months to land a new role. But this phenomenon isn\u2019t unique to career changers<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report released by the Josh Bersin Company and AMS, a workforce solutions firm, the time it takes to hire a new employee reached an all-time high<\/a> of 44 days in 2023 and has risen consistently over the last four years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tightening labor market has heightened competition for jobs after the tech industry shed nearly 250,000 workers<\/a> from 2022-2023, and recession fears<\/a> linger with no reprieve in sight. There is now, on average, one job opening<\/a> for every two applicants on LinkedIn (in 2022, it was one job opening per applicant).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frustrated candidates apply to even more openings, giving companies more applications to sift through. While AI solutions have empowered job seekers<\/a> to generate custom cover letters and resumes at scale, this further saturates the job market. Job seekers are sending 40% more applications<\/a> than they did last year at this time, according to LinkedIn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Springboard career coach Karen Woodin-Rodriguez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Woodin-Rodriguez shared her strategies for taking the stress out of the job search at Springboard\u2019s annual RISE 2023 Summit,<\/a> a conference convening seasoned tech professionals and Springboard mentors to discuss hot topics in tech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe more you can make your job search feel good, the more productive, creative, energetic, and less stressed you\u2019ll feel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t a naive call to \u201cthink positive\u201d in the face of bills piling up and months slipping away without a job offer. It\u2019s about practicing self-care and taking the right actions to stand out from other candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Reframe your “wins”<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many Springboard graduates<\/a> feel deflated when, a few weeks after graduation, they\u2019ve failed to land any interviews. \u201cThe problem with using job interviews as a success metric is that it is a lagging indicator,\u201d said Woodin-Rodriguez. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In economics, this describes a financial sign that becomes apparent in retrospect. For example, the signs of an impending recession are identified only after the economy has crashed. When it comes to your job search, landing an interview<\/a> requires a lot of prework. Instead of focusing on the outcome (interview), track the \u201cleading measures\u201d or actions you\u2019re taking to land that interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA win is any behavior you perform to move your job search forward,\u201d said Woodin-Rodriguez. \u201cIf you wrote a kick-ass cover letter or mustered the courage to message a startup founder you admire, that\u2019s a win. Or if you barely got out of bed but still sent three connection requests to professionals in your industry, that\u2019s also a win.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building genuine relationships, attending networking events, and doing pro-bono work to build your portfolio will get you closer to landing your dream tech job<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Focus on growing your skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you graduate from Springboard, you are a qualified<\/em> candidate. You possess the baseline technical skills required to do the job of an entry-level software engineer, data scientist, UX designer, or cybersecurity professional. But how do you go from being a qualified candidate to a competitive <\/em>one? Experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offer to do pro bono design work for your friend\u2019s startup, create a personal data science project using a dataset that interests you, and regularly commit code by contributing to open-source projects. (Tip: Keep that contribution graph on your GitHub profile looking green\u2014it\u2019s one of the first things<\/a> hiring managers look for when shortlisting candidates). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Woodin-Rodriguez always tells her students to focus on what they can control<\/em>. You can\u2019t directly control whether you land a job within six months. However, you can <\/em>acquire six more months of experience, make connections at your favorite companies, beef up your portfolio with personal or pro bono projects, and practice telling a more compelling story during job interviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you prioritize growth in these areas, the money will take care of itself,\u201d says Woodin-Rodriguez. \u201cIt sounds counterintuitive because you\u2019re like, \u2018Where\u2019s my job?\u2019 but you\u2019ll get there if you focus on these things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of her students, Sabrina, found a female-founded tech startup on Wellfound that she admired. She addressed a cold email to the founder expressing her enthusiasm for the company and offering pro bono work. When the founder responded, she wrote, \u201cI receive a lot of messages like this, but I responded to your because it seemed very personalized.\u201d Sabrina went on to land paid contract work with the startup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Need some tips on how to build a strong portfolio? Check out these helpful resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n