I left my job at a smaller, low-paying, middling Boston startup as a senior engineer last month. I'm lining up interviews for January with enough success, but I find the rejections I get post recruiter screen especially frustrating--especially from certain types of companies (tagged below) that I am interested in working at. Of my applications that are cold form submissions, almost all yield a callback but some then get dropped on the floor post recruiter screen. I assume this is a hiring manager passing and/or a recruiter just trying to pump their numbers. I seem to have more success when the recruiter can hand me off to an automated technical screen. The problem seems to be mainly with a particular sort of sciencey/research startup in the biotech space (and Markforged). One can tell pretty quickly from browsing linkedin that they prefer younger candidates with strong pedigrees (elite undergrad and/or prev. employer). I'm 36, went to a bootcamp that I don't talk about and have a "post-bacc minor" in comp sci from Tufts. 7 years of swe experience. Is there any way to crack these? Are they just looking for a different profile without admitting it? Amazon's screening process seems easier to pass. Do I really need to STAR the shit out of my resume? Do you ever find it productive to follow up post rejection? Will I have more luck w. Microsoft than these places? #colorgenomics #foundationmedicine #indigo #markforged #benchling
Consider tech instead of biotech. Tech is a bit more egalitarian and less reliant on institutional degrees. You still have to pass the tech screens obviously, but there’s a company for every applicant. Tier 1 companies are very difficult, but a lower tier / startup might be a good place to pivot to. At 7 yoe SWE you should be able to demand a lot. Post rejection feedback may not be very helpful, in my experience. They may be vague or not want to share.
Thanks. FWIW I was at a typical startup with a [easier] tech screen and a nap room and all that--just one that never hit its stride after its series B & C. And by "low paying" I do mean by Blind standards rather than Boston's. But it certainly wasn't big tech. At Uber, are you pretty strict about resume review? Or do you direct people to a technical screen pretty consistently following recruiter screens?
I also just applied to an array of remote jobs and had no problems getting callbacks with 3-5 YOE working at middling Boston startups. However I noticed that most of the responses were from either large public companies or later stage startups (inc. 10x genomics), all of which paid well by Blind standards and likely had high hiring demand yet I didn't get any callbacks from smaller companies.
Why are you only looking at biotech?
I am casting a wider net; healthcare, transportation/logistics, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. But tbh I've wanted to get into biotech for a long while--I think the time is right for that. To be a little cynical & reductive, I'm a little sick of building stuff for this or that marketer or salesperson or idiot end user. I know I'd find it rewarding to learn a little hard science on the job. I'm also pointing this all out in isolation as it's a clear hole in my pipeline and the thing that's most different and frustrating about this job search.