The thing that seemed to work best for me was reaching out to dev shops in my area and starting a conversation even if they didn't have a position posted. Go to meetups and talk to people, join their discord, etc... and job fairs, as lame as they seem, produced contacts for me that are still reaching out "just in case" even though I found a position eventually.

What's old is new again. Get those soft skills warmed up and go out and shake hands.

I completely agree with you. All the best jobs I've had have come from personal relationships.

Job fairs are super underrated. When my spouse and I were a bit in flux years back for where we were going to live long-term, we ended up living in the city where we met which is very much not a tech hub - only a few big companies that hire engineers - despite spouse applying to various places in SF, Denver, and Seattle.

He landed the local job first by going to a career fair that I randomly discovered on Twitter. Affected the whole trajectory of our life.

I believe they're the current "cheat code" to the hiring process. If you get called up for an interview after talking to a company at a career fair, there's a good inclination that you have already passed or at least have a leg up on the "culture fit" part of the interview.

With hundreds to thousands of people spamming every job posting under the sun the second it is posted, just getting your credentials read by a human is a major barrier right now that career fairs help alleviate.

Belated reply for posterity: another cheat code for job fairs is pre-researching the companies there.

Typically, attending companies are listed (or you can ask an organizer for a list). Do some quick searching and type up a summary.

Company name. What they do. 1-2 questions. Emphasis on companies you've never heard of!

You'd be amazed how many doors open when you walk up to a recruiter for a small, specialized company and know exactly who they are and what market they're in. (Remember: that poor person has probably spent all day explaining that to everyone else)

I'm sorry to hear that. I have close friends who are brilliant (and seniors) but spent 6-8 months finding a new job. Plan accordingly.

Took me over a year to find new employment. Hell, at one point I was getting rejected from low/no-skill positions. Y’know the same ones that had been bitching and whining not too long ago about “no one wants to work”.

In the end, I was saved solely by the grace a nepo-referral. for a job I was arguably less qualified for than all the ones that had been rejecting me.