Ten years at one company, then his first layoff. Five months of searching followed: around two hundred applications, seventeen interviews, two final rounds and three work assessments, most answered with silence or a standard rejection.
He started by tailoring every application. It took forever and still ended in rejections. So he built three strong résumés for different niches and cast a much wider net. The job he accepted came from one of those broad applications. From application to offer, five weeks.
The process was four interviews and a brief work assessment that came with no feedback at all. He admits he prepared very little for the interviews.
The offer is far from ideal. Red flags appeared throughout. But it keeps him in his industry, ends the gap on his résumé and pays twenty percent more than he was making. He took it — and he plans to keep looking.