Mailbag: Engineering Manager Struggles On The Job Market
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In This Issue
A laid off engineering manager in Dallas can’t land an IC role and doesn’t understand why
Three ] objections hiring teams have when a manager applies to an IC role
Why your resume is working against you and how to rebuild it
The “watered down” resume strategy
How to handle the “why IC?” question
This week’s letter comes from a reader in Texas who’s living through one of the ugliest dynamics in the current market. I get some version of this email every single week now.
The Letter
RR,
I got laid off in January from a telecom company in Dallas. Engineering manager, six years in the role, eleven years at the company total. I came up as a backend engineer before moving into management, so when the layoff hit, I figured I had options. Worst case, I’d step back into an IC role for a while and ride it out.
That was five months ago. I’ve applied to over 200 senior and staff engineer roles. I’ve had four phone screens and zero onsites. Meanwhile a guy on my old team, someone I hired, got a few offers in six weeks.
I’m not above the work. I kept coding through most of my management years, code reviews, occasional features, the whole thing. I know the market for managers is dead right now, so I’m genuinely trying to go back to being a doer. But it feels like I’m locked out of both doors. EM roles don’t exist and IC roles won’t touch me.
What am I doing wrong?
Jerry, Dallas
Jerry, you’re not doing one thing wrong. You’re doing one thing wrong three different ways, and it all traces back to the same root cause: your resume is telling the truth, and the truth is disqualifying you.
Let me walk you through what’s actually happening when your application lands.
What the Hiring Team Sees When a Manager Applies Down
