Наталя Хандусенко Work 23 April 2025, 14:57

An experienced Software Engineer quit his job to spend more time with his newborn son. He was going to find a new project in 3-4 months, but his job search dragged on for 220 days.

Software Engineer with over 10 years of experience, Oleksiy Krychevsky, quit his job in February 2024 before the birth of his son. The IT engineer’s plans were to help his wife and spend more time with the baby, and after 3-4 months to find a new project. He thought it would be easy, like before, but he was faced with new IT realities. He was already ready to go to work at McDonald’s, but thanks to his wife’s support, he didn’t do it.

Unsuccessful CV mailing and first technical interviews in 2 weeks

2.5 months after the birth of his son, Oleksiy started sending out CVs. And immediately encountered a low salary range in vacancies and minimal feedback. This alarmed the IT specialist.

After another 2 weeks, Oleksiy was invited to 2 technical interviews, which he failed because he decided not to prepare for them. And then the IT specialist realized that it wouldn’t be easy.

The next 3 weeks are for applying for jobs and reviewing theory.

Over the next 3 weeks, Oleksiy continued to respond to vacancies, sat down to study theory, and began taking notes.

Until recently, Oleksiy’s main profile was developing web applications using TypeScript or PHP. But the job search was delayed, so he decided to expand to Web3 projects.

«At the same time, I’m starting to look for projects in the Web3 profile, with which I have no commercial experience, but I know that there’s a lot of money there, and I have knowledge in related technologies, so I think it will work out. Also, along with this, I’m starting to think that maybe I have problems with English,» the Software Engineer said on LinkedIn.

4 months into the job search — depression is starting to set in

I’ve been looking for a job for 4 months. During this time, there have been minimal responses and no offers. I’ve also received several rejections with the reasons «overqualified» and «you’re very direct in your dialogues.»

«I’m starting to understand that something is wrong and looking for ways to solve this problem. At the same time, I’m starting to feel depressed, that I’m an old relic of the past and no one needs me anymore, and my money is running out, and I have a family,» shares Oleksiy.

Over time, the IT specialist decided to «speed up» his LinkedIn profile and began actively publishing posts. Then he ordered a consultation with a specialist in filling out work profiles and CVs, who helped «polish» Oleksiy’s work pages.

«Meanwhile, I’ve already started applying for jobs with half the salary expectations, which I’m also not being hired for, because ‘you’ll run away when you find exactly what you’re looking for.’ With Web3, I also expect the endings to be ‘you’re a cool dev, but you don’t have enough focus knowledge, we can’t offer the desired amount, and for less you’ll burn out,’» Oleksiy continues his story.

5 months — thoughts of working at McDonald’s began to creep in

«It was already the middle of the 5th month of job searching, there were no offers, I was melting wildly and only my wife’s support kept me from going to work at McDonald’s or selling shawarma (I’m not devaluing the people who work there, it would just be an unrealistic downgrade for me),» writes Software Engineer.

6 months — offers from gambling and porn

«At the beginning of the 6th month, I started receiving responses to my reviews and offers for tech lead / solution architect / CTO positions. Gambling, porn, but I didn’t care anymore, I needed a job and money.»

7th month — offer in a startup

Oleksiy was approached by the owner of a recruitment agency who was looking for an assistant for a friend who was a service technician.

«We’re going through a short screening of what was interesting and what wasn’t. We talked about personal, parenting, attitude towards management. She told me that the position was strange, because there was no exact clarity about who exactly was needed, but she said that everything was OK, gave me a list of questions, I answered them, and then we waited for an answer from the service center».

Next was a 40-minute interview with the service center. I immediately received positive feedback and an invitation for an interview in the office.

Alexey was only looking for remote work, but the service center said he would have to travel to the office for several months. Although it was far for an IT specialist, he still agreed.

«The technical interview took place at the whiteboard. We were building an architectural solution to their business problem (they already had a solution, he wanted to see how I would build it). Everything went great. The main criterion for passing a possible probationary period was to think along the same lines as him. I agreed to everything, and then it was time to wait for the offer,» said Oleksiy.

October 1st — first working day

At the end of September, Oleksiy received an offer. After signing all the contracts, he started working on October 1.

«The first 3 months (of my trial) were also pretty fun, but that’s another story.
«Don’t give up and you will always get what you want, and also appreciate those who are truly close to you,» the IT specialist suggested.

At the request of dev.ua, Oleksiy provided brief advice on finding a job based on his own experience.

Don’t give up.
Note your weaknesses and improve them.
Don’t bend to the market if you really consider yourself a worthy specialist and there is such an opportunity.
Work on your work pages and CV.
Prepare for the interview.

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