Market Pulse: June 23, 2025

The Tech Hiring Market Through My Eyes In Recent Weeks

Before we begin:

I’m running a promotion for all founding subscription members. You can either get one of two options for free:

1. Resume/LinkedIn Resume Review: this has been a very popular service so far and will likely make this a long term offering

2. A handful of questions answered via email. I don’t have the bandwidth to do calls at the moment, and quite a few folks have asked to do this vs a resume/linkedin review if they’re not actively looking for a job so figured to offer it to everyone else.

Remember, paid subs will also get:

• 2+ paid posts per week which will be a combo of:

  • Outlines of my accepted offers like this issue will be

  • Outlines of my career coaching calls

  • In depth lessons I’ve learned in recruiting that will break down from all angles for recruiters, job seekers, and hiring managers

Note: Once you upgrade to funding, either DM me directly on substack or email me at randomrecruiter3@gmail.com with a screenshot of your payment.

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In This Issue

• The deal that almost got away

• Why decision making is getting slower

• Lessons from a failed AI PM hire

• Budget cuts, canceled roles, and tough calls

• When it’s time to walk away from a client

• How to control the controllables in a slow market

• Perspectives from job seekers, recruiters, and hiring managers

• TL;DR

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1. The Deal That Almost Got Away

We started this past week on a high note.

We closed a deal for a data engineer at a large financial services firm in NYC. Hybrid role. Strong comp. Good team.

But here’s the part that matters:
This candidate did his final round two weeks ago.

And the offer just came in.

To put that in perspective, we’re talking about a contract role with a three round process:

• Take home technical test

• Behavioral round

• Live coding interview

Normally, a contract role moves fast. But not this one.

The client liked him. Said he was the front runner. But they still wanted to compare him to other finalists.

Why?

Because in this market, even good isn’t good enough.

They’ve been burned. Fake candidates. Unqualified hires.
They know bad hires cost money and headcount and they don’t want to lose either.

Even their coding round wasn’t about “can you do the job” as much as “how do you think?”
It was risk management. Plain and simple.

And the message is clear:
In today’s tech market, hiring is no longer about speed. It’s about certainty.

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2. The AI PM That Got Away