How to Actually Compete for jobs in 2025

How to Actually Compete for jobs in 2025

This Isn’t 2021: Why Your Old Job Hunt Strategy Is Failing

Dan Bentivenga

Jun 22, 2025

If you’re struggling to land interviews or getting ghosted after final rounds, you’re not alone.

Most tech workers today came of age in a boom cycle.

From 2012 to 2021, tech hiring was on fire. Resumes didn’t need to be perfect. Interview prep was minimal. If you had a solid LinkedIn, recruiters found you. If you applied to 10 jobs, you’d hear back from 5.

That playbook is dead, at least for now.

Why This Job Market Feels Brutal

Let’s call it what it is: the market is oversaturated and underhiring.

Here’s why:

1. Overhiring hangover: From 2020 to 2022, tech companies went on a hiring spree. Now they’re correcting.
2. Fewer open roles: Many companies are only hiring to backfill critical positions, not to grow.
3. Higher bar to clear: With fewer roles and more applicants, companies are being extra picky.
4. AI distraction: Execs are shifting budgets to automation and AI experimentation, even if they don’t know what they’re doing yet.
5. Quiet hiring and referrals dominate: Instead of posting jobs, companies are filling roles internally or through referrals. You never even see the job go live.

It’s not personal. It’s math.

Why Your Old Strategy Isn’t Working

Let me be blunt:

1. If you’re still using the same resume from 2021…
2. If you’re hitting “Easy Apply” on LinkedIn and calling it a day…
3. If you’re hoping your 5-year run at a FAANG company will speak for itself…
4. If you’re doing the bare minimum to prep for interviews…

You will lose to someone hungrier and more prepared.

The job market doesn’t care what you did before. It only cares what you can do next — and how well you can communicate it.

This is the part that stings, but it’s the truth:

Great candidates are getting rejected because average candidates are out-preparing them.

The people landing jobs today aren’t always more talented. But they’re treating the job hunt like a project with goals, milestones, and prep time.

The Gameplan: How to Actually Compete in 2025

Here’s how to adjust your strategy for this market. No fluff. Just what works.

1. Update Your Resume for This Market

Your resume isn’t a biography. It’s a sales tool.

Stop listing responsibilities. Start showing outcomes. Use the Google XYZ format:

Accomplished X, as measured by Y, by doing Z.

Example:

Reduced page load time by 45% on a critical product page, increasing conversion rate by 12%, by implementing lazy loading and optimizing SQL queries.

Every bullet should earn its spot. Every word should sell.

If you haven’t rewritten your resume from scratch this year, start there.

2. Treat LinkedIn Like a Landing Page

Your LinkedIn profile is your billboard. Most recruiters search before they post. That means you’re being evaluated before you even apply.

Focus on these three things:

1. Headline: Make it specific, not generic. “Backend Engineer | Java + AWS | Built scalable systems at [Company]” beats “Software Engineer.”
2. About section: Write in first person. Talk about what you’re great at and what problems you love solving.
3. Featured section: Pin your best work, resume, or portfolio.

If your profile is just a job history, you’re invisible. Make it a magnet.

3. Prep for Interviews Like It’s a Final Exam

You need to overprepare for every interview.

That means:

1. Practice behavioral questions using the STAR method.
2. Master your pitch: “Tell me about yourself” should be scripted, practiced, and tight.
3. Know the company: What’s their mission? What challenges are they facing? What role will you play?

If you’re interviewing for an IC role, do mock interviews. If you’re aiming for a leadership role, come in with a plan for your first 90 days.

Winging it is for losers.

4. Stop Applying Blind. Start Targeting.

The average job seeker is applying to 100+ roles and hearing back from 2. That’s a 2% return rate. You wouldn’t accept that in any other area of your life.

Here’s a better way:

1. Pick 25 companies where you can add value.
2. Find the hiring manager, not the recruiter.
3. Reach out directly. Mention a recent product launch, blog post, or challenge.
4. Attach a short blurb about how you can help. Better yet, a mini case study or project if relevant.

This is how you leapfrog the stack of 500+ resumes. It’s work. But it works.

5. Get Feedback and Iterate

You don’t know what’s wrong unless someone tells you.

If you’re getting to final rounds and still losing, ask for feedback. If they ghost you, run mock interviews with someone who will give you brutal honesty.

The job hunt is a product. Keep iterating.

6. Build Momentum, Not Burnout

This market can kill your confidence if you let it.

So pace yourself. Focus on systems, not outcomes.

1. Set weekly goals: “Reach out to 5 hiring managers. Do 2 mock interviews. Update 1 portfolio project.”
2. Create a win log: Every small win (response, intro, interview) goes on the board.
3. Build a peer group or join one: Accountability and support make a difference.

The candidates who stay consistent are the ones who break through.

Final Thought

Most job seekers are playing by yesterday’s rules.

They’re hoping the market will improve. Hoping that a recruiter will magically reach out. Hoping that they can slide through another panel interview with half-baked answers.

But hope is not a strategy.

The market has changed. And the only way to win now is to change with it.

Adapt. Execute. Stay sharp.

And remember — you only need one yes.