It sounds like if you're trying all of this and it's still not working, something about the way you're selling yourself isn't working. Have you tried changing your resume to better match different job descriptions? Try having someone give you feedback on the way you interview. Are you coming on too strong? Maybe you dont have enough specific examples in your answers or too many specifics and not enough leadership/direction. I would also use LinkedIn if you're not already

My last three jobs...

• Applied directly to the req on the company job portal
• Recruiter contacted me about the role
• Recruiter contacted me about the role

I work for the Federal Government and just got my job by applying to something else on Career Builder. After you submit a resume or application they give you the option to mass apply to jobs. I did that. I had no clue I had even applied for the job. I've now been working for them for 10 years and have had four promotions. I'm now on a leadership role. I never even meant to apply to it.

If you're not getting interviews then the issue probably has to do your resume. Maybe formatting. Maybe the contents or job history. Have you been out of work for a long time? Lack newer tools/knowledge? Too much job hopping?

If you are getting interviews then the resume and where you're applying is fine. Either you're probably lacking in soft skills, interview skills, or not impressing them. There could also be a mismatch between the salary you want and what they want to offer.

I’m seconding what the other commenter had to say. Tech is a bit hard to get a job in right now, but it hasn’t been that way for 3 years. At this point it’s time to look in the mirror and see what’s going on with you to make you seem unappealing. You could also just have a very bad resume, so work with someone you know who is doing better and have them review your resume and even do a mock interview. There is no magic bullet for this, you gotta figure out why people keep passing on you. If you’re not even getting interviews, then it’s your resume. If you are, it might be your personality or interview skills. I can’t really say without knowing you.

And good luck! I think you’ll find something if you figure out whatever the road block is.

I've done a few things.

I have a mailing list for all my recruiters. They all get added in whenever I get pings on LinkedIn or cold calls. When I am looking for work the mailing list all gets BCC'd a message saying I'm looking, here is my resume, what I'm looking for, etc. When I book an interview I BCC them all saying one of the recruiters has setup an interview, if you work on their behalf do not submit my name as I know there are issues with multiple recuiters doing that. They all get the info, and honestly all the recruiters I've worked with have loved this.

Second is apply to everything. There have been places where their job description was my exact work history and yet I get no response. No one is hamed by you applying all over. They want candidates and if no one applied then the jobs would stay empty. I found a job in 4 months of looking but I applied to probably 70 jobs. Some were me trying to get a huge raise and position job, a few were worst case scenario. The job before my previous one took 9 months of looking and a few hundred applications. I did get a few offers along the way but not things I wanted to do.

It is all a numbers game. I've been a developer for 25 years and it has never been a one and done task. I have all sorts of crap to toot my own horn and I'd say that in 90% of the jobs I apply for I'm overly qualified and yet many times I didn't get a call because the person fielding my resume and application didn't move it along. Was the role filled? Did they think I'd get bored or expect more pay? Did they not like the font I'm using? I will never know.

Oh and your interview skills needs to be worked on.

You've been looking for work for 3 years? Have you been out of work for 3 years? If you've been out of work for 3 years, what type of tech do you do?

Infrastructure? Administrator? Developer? Security?

Have any certifications? HR likes to see those even if they are basic ones.

Since it's been 3 years, have you been keeping your skills up to date? Tech changes so rapidly, take for example, I completed my AZ-305 2 years ago, since then I've had to renew twice and each time the test has new stuff. Azure tech changes constantly.

My current position is Senior Consultant, I got it by leaving a different position and contracting for a few years. A big consulting firm scooped me up on my second contract.

This was a LONG time ago, but... I was an electronics tech without a job. I managed to talk to (not interview with) an executive at a company I wanted to work at but wasn't encouraged. He said something on the order of "Maybe later" and that was enough. He (or rather, his secretary) started to get calls from me every Monday and Wednesday morning right at their opening time to check whether Later might be now. Most of the time I was told he was busy. But after about a month they finally had me come in for an interview. I don't know if they were just tired of my calls or if they were impressed with my diligence. I was hired, and worked there for the next 14 years.

I don't know what to tell you, dude. I'm visibly disabled and have given up the idea of market rate compensation.

I've heard good things about the advice given in the Ask a Manager blog.

Maybe it's worth looking into to see if your cover letter/resume/interview skills are up to snuff, depending on where you seem to stall out in the process.

Tech is an oversaturated market. Regardless of what you do, youre going to have a tough time getting a job in that sector.

I'm a fairly high level software engineer at a massive tech company. I only graduated college less than 7 years ago. I climbed the ladder pretty fast at a startup, then moved over to a large corporation once my title was high enough.

I got the job I am currently at by literally just applying on their website. It took a couple of months for them to get back to me, but once I got that initial email, I had an interview within a day or two, and had a job offer after about a week.

That said, this was 2 years ago when companies were desperate to find engineers. Now the economy has taken a bad turn and many companies aren't hiring engineers. I know mine isn't right now. In fact, we laid some engineers off a few months back.