To the senior engineers feeling anxious from all the doom-and-gloom posts /u/BootyMcStuffins CSCQ protests reddit

I wanted to share my experience for anyone feeling anxious about the posts here. I work at a large company that’s had layoffs in recent years, and I let myself spiral into the fear that I’d be next—ending up delivering food for door dash or something. So, I decided to start looking for jobs to get ahead of the curve.

For context, I’m a staff engineer with 15 years of experience, self-taught, no degree, and currently leading a team of about 80 engineers.

The first night, I updated my LinkedIn status to “open to work” and applied to about a dozen companies in the Northeast US. Over the next week, I received 3 rejections and 6 positive responses. Additionally, about 10 recruiters from other companies reached out to me without me applying.

I pursued 5 opportunities. Most involved around 4 interview rounds, including system design, coding, and behavioral interviews. Surprisingly, only one company asked leet-code-style questions. The majority focused on practical challenges that reflected the actual work, which made the process feel more like pair-programming than a test—a refreshing change. I avoided companies with big take-home projects because, honestly, who has time for that? I could use whatever programming language I wanted for most coding rounds, except one where I had to re-learn Java during the interview. I was still able to pass the round pretty easily.

The entire process was relatively pleasant. I ended up with 1 rejection and 4 offers within two weeks. Ultimately, I chose to stay at my current company due to some positive organizational changes, but the experience significantly reduced my anxiety.

Now, I feel confident that if I were to get laid off, finding another role wouldn’t be an issue. I’m sharing this not to brag, but to counteract the overwhelming negativity I’ve seen here. This sub caused me so much stress that I struggled to relax with my family, but I hope my experience can offer a more positive perspective to those in a similar position.

If you’re a senior engineer with solid experience, remember that the job market is still open for you—even in uncertain times.

I wanted to share my experience for anyone feeling anxious about the posts here. I work at a large company that’s had layoffs in recent years, and I let myself spiral into the fear that I’d be next—ending up delivering food for door dash or something. So, I decided to start looking for jobs to get ahead of the curve.

For context, I’m a staff engineer with 15 years of experience, self-taught, no degree, and currently leading a team of about 80 engineers.

The first night, I updated my LinkedIn status to “open to work” and applied to about a dozen companies in the Northeast US. Over the next week, I received 3 rejections and 6 positive responses. Additionally, about 10 recruiters from other companies reached out to me without me applying.

I pursued 5 opportunities. Most involved around 4 interview rounds, including system design, coding, and behavioral interviews. Surprisingly, only one company asked leet-code-style questions. The majority focused on practical challenges that reflected the actual work, which made the process feel more like pair-programming than a test—a refreshing change. I avoided companies with big take-home projects because, honestly, who has time for that? I could use whatever programming language I wanted for most coding rounds, except one where I had to re-learn Java during the interview. I was still able to pass the round pretty easily.

The entire process was relatively pleasant. I ended up with 1 rejection and 4 offers within two weeks. Ultimately, I chose to stay at my current company due to some positive organizational changes, but the experience significantly reduced my anxiety.

Now, I feel confident that if I were to get laid off, finding another role wouldn’t be an issue. I’m sharing this not to brag, but to counteract the overwhelming negativity I’ve seen here. This sub caused me so much stress that I struggled to relax with my family, but I hope my experience can offer a more positive perspective to those in a similar position.

If you’re a senior engineer with solid experience, remember that the job market is still open for you—even in uncertain times.