Advice for Job Seekers

There is a great contradiction in the 2026 job market: Employers are struggling to fill roles and job seekers are struggling to land those roles.

The macro trends here are interesting,but I'd like to focus on what individuals have agency over. If you have been struggling to find a job, macroeconomic theories will not help you. In fact, trying to blame the economy, even if justified, is counterproductive.

I have spent a healthy amount of time sourcing and interviewing folks for a variety of technical roles. I have witnessed too many good, smart, hard-working people ruin their chances at a job. The following is my advice for job seekers.

The caveat here is that I am a hiring manager at a small company; however, I think much of this advice applies to organizations of any size and industry.

Seek Friction

It has never been easier to apply for a job. Software tools, particularly with AI, have removed virtually all friction from the process.

Without friction, the average job seeker can (and does) submit many more applications. Many more applications sent means many more applications received. Many more applications received does not mean much more time in a hiring manager's day.

In the old, friction-filled job market, employers only received applications from applicants who were good and enthusiastic fits for the position. If someone was not a fit, they would not spend the time and effort to apply, since they would be unlikely to get the job and therefore not get a "return" on their investment. In today's frictionless job market, that poor fit now submits an application, because the investment required is minimal.

In response, employers now are constantly seeking signals of intent. They need to know whether you actually believe you are a fit for the role, or if you used an AI tool to mass-apply to 1000 jobs. They need to know whether you were willing to endure friction for this job.

Here are some tangible ways to achieve that:

Do not use AI in your messages and application. Employers can smell Claude-speak; even if it reads fine, it is still a signal that you took the easy route

Communicate specific, niche things about the role and company. This can be a piece of content from the company or a mutual connection with a hiring manager or current employee. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it is not low-hanging fruit and you are being genuine (see next point).

Find an opportunity to meet someone in person. If they host in-person events, go! If they are going to be at a career fair, go!

Be genuine

I interview too many candidates who have memorized what they think are perfect answers to interview questions, but they completely fail the most basic question of all: "How was your weekend?"

Fifty percent of any job interview is the hiring manager figuring out whether their team will want to spend 40 hours a week with you. You are courting friends, be open and try to form a connection to the interviewer. Do not rehearse answers or read from notes. How would you feel if you met someone at a party and they started answering all your questions from an index card? You would leave that conversation ASAP.

In a similar vein, you should assume that your interviewer can smell bullshit a mile away. The best way to not come off as a bullshitter is to not bullshit in the first place.

The most common form of job interview bullshitting comes in response to the question "Why are you interested in the role?"

Most careers do not involve saving the world. That's perfectly fine! You don't need to pretend that you have an intense passion for building B2B SaaS!

The bullshit answer which I've heard a thousand times is: "I'm incredibly passionate about < Niche B2B SaaS function >." You are not excited. Your job interviewer works in this industry, they know it is not saving the world.

Acceptable answers that can be genuine are:

• I want to work at a company of < Size/Stage > because...

• I want to work at a company with your culture because...

• I want to improve as a(n) engineer/designer/marketer

• This seems like a hard problem, and I want to solve hard problems

Your hiring manager's goal is to build a coherent model of who you are, what motivates you, and why you could fit into the role. I typically reject candidates not because I am confident they are bad, but because I cannot build that coherent model. If you, as an applicant, attempt to obfuscate that model with bullshit, then any decent hiring manager will throw you out of the process.