SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user shared the troubles they are facing as a job seeker. Although they have seven years of experience in cybersecurity, they are now struggling to even land a job interview.
They’re about to lose their job in a few weeks and are feeling immense pressure.
In a Jul 7 (Monday) post on r/askSingapore, u/Resident-State-1934 wrote that they majored in cybersecurity both at their undergraduate and master’s levels. They also have a few industry certifications.
In addition, they have good reviews and feedback from their former employers, having worked at three companies in the past seven years.
However, although they’ve been “applying like crazy” for an entire year now, they’re getting hardly any interviews
“In fact, most rejections are literally AI,” they wrote, adding that they “tried everything,” including two different resumes from Fiverr, one based on a recruiter’s advice and the other from a more senior worker in the cybersecurity industry.
In the past year, they’ve only had three interviews, of which only one was promising, but they did not land the job. The other two did not even fit his qualifications, and he wondered why they were interviewed for the position at all.
“Other than this, I’ve literally got no prospects, and I’ll be out of a job in 6 weeks. Yes, I’ll keep trying, but it’s really frustrating,” they added.
A number of commenters on the post have encouraged u/Resident-State-1934 to further polish their resume in addition to the tweaks they’ve already done.
“NUS/NTU kids are already graduating with OSCP/ OSCE3 and a few SANS certs; gotta remember you’re up against them who are probably willing to take a lower pay.
“I really recommend zhnging up your resume with a few certs while still applying, it’s not an industry where you can be stagnant,” one wrote.
“I would suggest you pause the cold applications for a week. Instead, identify 10 to 20 companies hiring in your space, then reach out directly to their TAs, team leads, or hiring managers on LinkedIn. You’d be surprised how much more effective this is than spraying resumes into the void.
“The market is brutal right now. Even very strong candidates are stuck. AI filters, keyword bias, and soft discrimination are real, but don’t let that devalue you, you just gotta beat the system a little smarter.
“I’ve been on the hiring side before in the internet/tech industry, so if you’re open to it, I’d be happy to help review your resume and give honest feedback,” another advised.
“How? I’ve only had two years of experience and a Sec+, and I had 17 interviews in a span of three months. Make your resume more human, and don’t ‘optimise’ till it’s too sterile (eg, full of technical jargon). Cyber roles are filling the market now, and with your expertise, you should be getting calls pretty quickly. Also, you can consider taking your CISSP, or other equivalents to boost your resume hit rates,” one commented.
Another reminded the post author that they’re still better off than others. “Many here are unemployed for six to 12 months or longer, and you are only going to be out of a job in six weeks, which is better than a lot of us here. I’m personally at the one-year mark of being unemployed, 12 YoE in total, and interviews normally go to 2nd-4th rounds on average. Don’t beat yourself up, the current market, especially in tech/IT, is brutal, and so many experienced candidates like you and me vying for 1 role.” /TISG