Back on DEV.BG: Episode 108 - Why the Job Market Is Rough Even for Senior Developers
Back for Round Two
A few months after my first appearance on the DEV.BG podcast, I got invited back - this time for episode 108. The topic was a lot heavier than "how to find your first job." This time we talked about a problem hitting people much further along in their careers: why is it so hard to find a new job even when you have five, ten, or more years of experience?
Joining me again were Sara Stamova and Ivan Zlatev, but this episode had a different host. Georgi Karamanev, a software engineer and the creator of the "Digital Stories" platform, led the conversation. Georgi wasn't picked at random - over the past year he'd been laid off from two companies, back to back. He'd lived through exactly what we were there to discuss, which made him the right person to keep us honest instead of letting the conversation stay theoretical.
What We Discussed
The Market Has Actually Changed
We started by naming what a lot of senior developers are feeling but not always saying out loud: this isn't the same market it was two or three years ago. Fewer open positions, longer hiring processes, and companies being far more selective about who they bring on, even at senior level. It's not just a junior problem anymore.
AI Is Reshaping the CV and the Interview
A big chunk of the conversation went to how AI has changed both sides of the hiring process. Candidates are using it to polish CVs and prep for interviews, and companies are using it to filter and evaluate faster. We talked about how AI is showing up in technical interviews specifically, and what that means if you're used to prepping the old way - it's not just about knowing the answer anymore, it's about how you use the tools available to get there.
Domain Expertise: Asset or Trap
One of the more interesting threads was around domain expertise. Years of deep knowledge in one industry can make you extremely valuable, but it can also narrow the number of companies willing to hire you. We went through both sides - when to lean into your specialization and when it's holding you back from opportunities outside your usual space.
Competing With Talent Leaving Big Tech
Senior developers today aren't just competing with each other. Layoffs at large tech companies have pushed a lot of highly experienced people back into the market, which changes the competitive landscape for everyone else. We talked about what that shift actually looks like from the hiring side and how to position yourself when the applicant pool includes people with big-name companies on their CV.
The Psychological Side Nobody Talks About Enough
This is where Georgi's experience mattered most. Getting laid off once is hard. Getting laid off twice within a year, while still being good at what you do, messes with your confidence in a way that's hard to explain to someone who hasn't been through it. We spent real time on the mental side of a prolonged job search - how to keep showing up to interviews without letting rejection wear you down, and why the timeline rarely matches what you'd expect.
Standing Out and the Role of Your Network
We also got into what actually moves the needle when you're trying to stand out: building genuine professional relationships instead of cold-applying everywhere, and how a lot of senior roles get filled through connections before they're ever posted publicly. Chaos on the hiring side - unclear job posts, inconsistent processes, interviews that don't reflect the actual job - came up here too, and why it's not something you can fully plan around.
Where to Actually Invest Your Time
Toward the end we got practical: given limited time and energy during a search, where should you actually focus? We talked through the trade-off between going deep on domain expertise versus staying broad on technical skills, and looked at a concrete example of building a working product with AI in just two days as a way to demonstrate capability quickly, rather than relying on a CV alone to make the case.
Why This One Hit Differently
I've been fortunate not to go through what Georgi went through, but sitting across from someone who had, twice, made the whole conversation feel less like advice-giving and more like an honest account of what's actually happening out there right now. If you're a senior developer currently searching and starting to doubt yourself, I hope this episode makes clear that the market is genuinely different right now, and that struggling with it says nothing about your ability.
Thanks again to DEV.BG for having me back, and to Georgi for leading a conversation that needed someone who'd actually lived it.
You can watch the full episode below:
Thank you for reading, and let's connect!