Five months laid off. 431 applications. Here is the actual funnel.

I was laid off in February after nine years at a large tech company. I've kept a spreadsheet since day one, partly because I'm an engineer and partly because counting things is how I stay sane. People keep asking what the market actually looks like for a senior backend engineer right now, so here are the real numbers, February through July.

The funnel

• Cold applications (career pages, job boards): 431. Any human response: 38 (8.8%). Recruiter screens: 29.
• Referrals: 22. Responses: 15 (68%). Recruiter screens: 13.
• Inbound from recruiters: 11. Screens: 9.
• Total recruiter screens: 51
• Technical phone screens: 24
• Final loops: 8
• Rejected after the final: 5
• Ghosted after the final: 2
• Offers: 1, at about 60% of my previous base, with equity that rounds to nothing.

What I've learned

1. Referrals are the whole game. 68% response versus 9%. If you know someone who was laid off, refer them. It costs you ten minutes.
2. "Senior" now often means staff scope at senior pay. Several loops asked for org-wide technical leadership and then offered a senior band.
3. Job descriptions have gotten longer and less specific. One listed 14 "required" technologies, including three that do the same thing.
4. A final loop costs me about 20 hours including prep, take-homes and follow-ups. Eight of them is four full work weeks.
5. Interviewers vary wildly. Most were professional. One was on his phone for most of a system design round. 🙃

The parts that aren't in the spreadsheet

Two kids, a mortgage in San Jose, a spouse working part-time. Severance bought us time, but not much of it. I run three mornings a week because otherwise I don't sleep. I start "work" at 9am every day, even though the work is applications.

I'm still deciding about the offer. That's probably its own post.

If you're in the same place and want someone to look at your resume or do a mock system design round, my DMs are open. I've done enough of them by now to be useful.