Job Searching in a Downturn

How do you conduct a job search in Silicon Valley in a downturn? The analysis of this tech expert‘s job hunt post-Meta is on-point. He spent three months from beginning to end, with the goal of landing somewhere he’d “be happy learning and growing for at least 4-5 years” in an industry interesting to him. He tracked 35 companies, applied to 27 (which he admits was too many), went through 13 full interview cycles, and ended up with 11 offers by last month. This timeline is fast and number of interviews high for a lawyer. For a legal search, 3-4 full interview cycles would be very good, with 1-2 offers in the end. But what he learned definitely applies:

1. Plan then apply. First, think about what you want (money/security, prestige, types of industries/work, etc.), and identify which companies and industries sound interesting. Talk to friends and research online to learn more.

Tailor your resume to the job. Include the impact of your work (e.g., how much revenue did it bring in, how did it help the company achieve its goals), explain your role (if you led a project, mentored others, drove collaborations), and highlight key projects. (See here on how to add metrics to a legal resume.)

The application process is “fairly standardized”: “You’ll apply online, submitting your resume and filling out some standard fields – or you’ll ask for a referral, where someone puts in a (hopefully good) word for you, and then you get a link to the form. Then a recruiter will set up a call to ask more about you, determine if there’s a mutual fit, and then schedule a screening interview. If that goes well, you’ll likely have a full panel interview (4-6 interviews), potentially across multiple days.” When he applied to 14 online, he only heard back from 6, but when he applied to 9 through referrals, he had a 100% response. I agree knowing a live person makes a huge difference.

2. Interviews. He spent his second month interviewing, from exploratory calls and phone screens to multiple panel rounds.

Yes: “Treating prep seriously, like a job, really helped. I would get down and carve out a few hours a day for prep instead of playing them totally ad hoc.” While engineers get coding/technical interviews, a lot of his advice still applies to lawyers. Do expect behavioral interviews. Practice answers (e.g., 60 seconds on your biggest achievement, resolved conflict, etc.), and make them interesting (skip the backstory!). Make sure you understand what the interviewer is asking; definitely ask questions if you are unclear. Also, talk through your thought process since your interviewer is not a mind reader. Further, take notes on questions and answers to iterate better answers for the next time.

Also yes: “The interview setup and experience tell you a lot about the company and what they value. Pay attention to the questions they ask and the people you meet. As an example, interviewing at CZI was really positive for me: I got to see exactly how passionate everyone was about the mission and how they got people from all backgrounds to work there (it was the most diverse interview panel I had).”

3. Offers/decisions. He spent the final month of his search fielding offers and negotiating them. He created a matrix first to target companies and then to determine their fit. He acknowledges the factors are “deeply personal,” but “it’s important to have your criteria known beforehand (feel free to refine them during the process) so that you can evaluate each opportunity fairly. Think about what you want in your life and your career. For [him], the criteria were a mix of the following:

• Company/role: what the company does (and what is its growth trajectory), what the org does, the role I’m interviewing for, and how my work ties to the mission, etc
• Team/Culture/People: how the company culture is, how my (future) co-workers are, diversity, etc
• Personal: growth opportunities for me, work-life balance/PTO, remote vs hybrid, compensation, how excited I am for the role, etc.”

4. Lessons learned. One was “recruiters matter a lot.” He found “a great recruiter makes a world of a difference as a candidate – there were a few that went above and beyond, helping me with extra prep calls, answering all of my questions, and being flexible whenever I needed a change.” Another was he wished he allocated his time better on interview prep – he spent too much time prepping for hard/technical questions “while I mostly got asked ‘easy’ or ‘medium’ ones.” Finally, get your references ready. He wished he asked earlier “rather than bother busy people at the last minute.” (See here for expectations on references in a legal job search.)