Job hunting is hard, stressful, unpaid, demanding, and it takes a lot of perseverance. The last time I looked for a job was back in 2022. I remember it took 2 months, 160+ applications, and a lot of work.
I wanted to share my experiences to let people in a similar situation know they’re not alone, and encourage them to keep pushing. I know it helped me when I talked with friends and mutuals looking for a job and learned we all had similar difficulties, numbers, and outcomes. When I shared a post about this, with all the stats on LinkedIn it gained a lot of traction (compared to my usual posts).
It’s 2026, and I was looking for a job again. And again, I wanted to share experiences with the community. This time with more introspection and details.
Without fake modesty, I honestly believe I have a strong product manager profile with 10 years at orgs from MIT spinoff startup to S&P 500 corporations. Yet, it’s been tough – in 2022, and in 2026.
So, once more, a gentle reminder to you – and me – you can be smart and qualified, motivated, and it can still not be the right fit. Things can get messy and out of your control. That’s just how it is. Keep going and try to stay positive.
On personal context, privilege and disadvantage
I think it’s fair to underline different privileges and disadvantages at play, to have a more holistic overview and context around my ‘job hunting situation’.
My privilege
- Young(-ish)
- Experienced
- Big community / well-connected
- Highly educated & ‘certified’
- Passed Toptal ‘vetting’
- Based in Europe (sort of) + European Timezone
- White male (sorry, but it is a privilege)
- Having a bit of savings
- Fairly quickly getting a project on Toptal, so I’m OK financially while looking for in-house roles
MY DISADVANTAGE
- Not in EU/EEA
- Overqualified trap*
- The “Post-Termination” Narrative**
- Neurodivergent
*With financial crisis in play, many companies would prefer to find a strong medior than senior, a strong senior than staff etc. Also, being ‘Staff’ or ‘Principal’ often also means there are simply fewer seats at the table, which adds to the duration and difficulty.
**I need to navigate and explain being made redundant.
On Stigma
Being unemployed quite sucks. And it sucks to fail to live up to this unrealistic picture of ourselves, fueled by LinkedIn and social media (mis)representation and rose-colored glasses. All of a sudden, you’re unemployed, unwanted, unvaluable, unproductive, un… un… un…
For the first time in my life, I decided to turn on the dreaded ‘open to work’ badge on LinkedIn. It’s a part of the tiny experiment of mine, to see if it would help or hurt. I felt, and still feel, a bit uncomfortable seeing the badge and I’m afraid of looking desperate. I think this type of stigma is unhealthy and unproductive, but it is also very deeply rooted.
Again, a kind reminder – to you and me – you can be smart and qualified, motivated, and still unemployed. It can happen to anyone, and it does not make you a lesser person.
On Ugly
Some of the worst were people ghosting after multiple rounds, including take-home assignments or small projects that take 4-5 hours on average. In 2022, a CTO added me on LinkedIn, told me we’re might be a very good match, asked me for a take-home project (5h), and then no response at all from the org or him (I followed up on LinkedIn, and on hiring email – nothing).
A well-known product management agency asking for an ‘unrelated’ take-home project… which was in fact related to the business run by the founder’s boyfriend. (I know, ‘televisa presenta’.)
In my opinion, this was a quite unethical way to ‘brainstorm’ and get free ideas and viewpoints, or, in the best case: highly non-transparent and clumsy.
A MANGO (or whatever FAANG is called nowadays) company that provided 0 feedback on rejection and/or areas for improvement, after 3 rounds. I even asked for it, but the recruiter never responded.
[This one was potentially a mishap or some shitty policy change, as I interviewed at the same company ~4 years ago, and actually got invited to a 15-min debrief and feedback call.]
On Difficult
One of the most difficult areas for me is actually finding and applying for jobs. I have a list of remote-first job boards and use LinkedIn to find opportunities, but after 30 to 60 mins of applying, I always feel drained. Not sure what the trigger is, but this is the worst part for me.
Waiting on the updates is the worst. As I write this, I’m waiting for the update/final decision by a company I really liked. They said they’ll get back to me within a week, and it’s been two and a half.*** I totally understand things happen etc. but the waiting is one of the worst parts for me. Personally, it’s easier to even get a negative answer quickly than to wait and wait and be anxious.
***Future Milos here – that company did not extend the offer in the end.
The process overall takes a lot of energy. In this newest round of job hunting, one week I had 4 calls in 5 days, some personal problems, and by the end of the week, I literally got sick. You need to keep pushing through, and it’s just very draining. Especially difficult if you’re working in parallel. (Also difficult ‘logistically’ with calendar conflicts and similar.)
On Nice
I would like to end this section on a positive note.
I know from firsthand experience how difficult, time-consuming, mentally tolling, and frankly difficult and shitty a job search can be. (Especially if you are unemployed and searching.)
However: If you stay curious and try to look at the whole situation as an experiment, you can discover that:
– You’re meeting new people, oftentimes smart and interesting
– You’re exploring new orgs and their business models
– You’re working on your ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ skills
Also, I was lucky to have great former managers who took time to hop on reference check calls when needed and provide context. That’s a very nice moment as well, and I’m grateful.
The Numbers & What I Did
Let’s get to the gist of the matter…
The numbers & What I did in 2022
The numbers & What I Did in 2026
Contract ended: 31st of January 2026
Started applying: 29th of December 2025
Accepted an offer: 12th of March 2026.
Job hunting duration: 73 days
Hours used on the job hunt: 28 (+/- 10%)
Applied to: 57 positions
No answer at all: 26 orgs
No right away: 26 orgs
No after process: 2 orgs
Interview(s): 5 orgs
Ghosted me (after the interview !?): 1 org
I ended the process: 1 org
Accepted offer: 1
2026 vs 2022 + Some Learnings to Share
In 2026, I moved from a ‘shotgun’ approach in 2022 to a slightly more targeted strategy in 2026. While the hunt took about two weeks longer this time around, I did get an offer in the end, but conversion rates were similar. It feels to me, that you should apply to more positions, rather than less.
However, my subjective feeling and mental wellbeing was better in 2026 than 2022 job hunt – but there’s many factors involved here to claim the ‘targeted’ is easier on you than the ‘shotgun’.
Looking at these numbers from 2022 and 2026, the math of job hunting remains stubbornly difficult, regardless of your seniority or strategy. But the biggest shift wasn’t in my conversion rates; it was in my perspective. Whether you choose the ‘shotgun’ approach or a ‘targeted’ one, the outcome often hinges on variables entirely outside your control: market timing, internal pivots, applicant tracking system (ATS) automations, or even a recruiter’s bad day.
At play, there’s a painful reality of neurodivergence, privilege, randomness, and the systemic ‘ugliness’ of modern hiring that has not yet been solved.
The hiring process is optimized to avoid false positives – but it’s not (as) optimized to avoid false negatives.
Do not let a temporary ‘unemployed’ status or someone ghosting you define your value. You can be the perfect candidate and still get a ‘no’, and that’s okay. Keep your data transparent, your privilege in check, and your self-worth separate from your LinkedIn badge.
Treat the process as an experiment, stay curious about the people you meet, and remember: you aren’t just looking for a job, you’re navigating a season. It will end. And when it does, you’ll realize you were ‘enough’ all along, even when the spreadsheets said otherwise.
- Featured image created with GenAI
- All images, if not stated otherwised, created with GenAI