I left my job four months ago because of family and personal mental health issues. Since then, I've sent out thousands of applications but haven't received an interview. I have about six months before my parents expect me to leave home, so I'm under significant financial pressure. I have two years of experience as a data engineer, and during college I worked on backend development with FastAPI and Microsoft SQL Server. I'm currently targeting backend developer roles involving generative AI, and my personal projects include using the Gemini SDK and Pinecone to build retrieval-augmented generation applications. I'm based in India and would appreciate practical advice on improving my applications and finding interviews quickly.
3 Answers
Leaving during a difficult personal period is understandable, but the current market makes having a financial backup especially important. Alongside the job search, consider contract work, freelance data tasks, short-term backend work, or other temporary income so you aren’t relying on one outcome six months from now. Keep the search focused and structured, and make sure you have support for the mental health issues that contributed to leaving your previous job.
Given your experience, focus your search on data engineering roles first rather than making backend work with generative AI a requirement. You already have relevant professional experience there, which should make it easier for recruiters to match your résumé to their requirements. Create a résumé tailored specifically to data engineering, using the same terminology as each job description, and prioritize a smaller number of well-matched applications—perhaps around ten carefully targeted applications per day.
A very high application count with no interviews usually means the problem is happening before the interview stage. Review whether your résumé clearly shows measurable work, uses a straightforward format that applicant-tracking systems can parse, and emphasizes your two years of data engineering experience. Keep the FastAPI, SQL Server, Gemini, and Pinecone work as supporting evidence, but don’t let personal AI projects obscure your main professional qualification. Also consider a lower salary or adjacent role temporarily if your financial deadline is firm.
It may also help to ask former colleagues, classmates, and local professional contacts for referrals instead of relying only on online applications. A referral or direct introduction can get the résumé in front of a person.
I’ve tried asking recruiters for feedback, but they generally don’t respond. I’ll revise the résumé around data engineering and target those roles more directly.