John Hall

In early 2018, I was sitting in my cubicle at my internship, early into my final semester of college. By that point, I had gained a few valuable months of experience, and I was beginning to feel more comfortable in a professional IT environment. Then, my phone rang. It was a recruiting company asking if I was interested in staying at my current company or if I wanted to hear about a specific role they were trying to fill.

I was taken aback. I wasn’t even sure how they had gotten my number. Just a few months prior, I had been desperately searching for an internship, and now recruiters were reaching out to me. (Of course, these days, that’s a fairly common occurrence for IT professionals on LinkedIn.) It was a sign of the strong job market at the time—if you had some experience, getting interviews wasn’t particularly difficult. Though I ended up staying where I was interning, it felt like opportunities were everywhere.

That’s why I was so surprised when I recently read an article about a Berkeley professor who claimed that even his outstanding students were struggling to land IT jobs. To quantify what he meant by "outstanding," he clarified that these were students with a 4.0 in-major GPA—top of their class, yet still unable to break into the industry.

At first, I assumed there had to be other factors at play. Were these students being too picky? Did they actually have the technical skills required for the roles they were applying to? After all, by this point, I had learned firsthand that a high GPA doesn’t necessarily translate to being a knowledgeable or competent employee.

But then, a few months later, the issue hit much closer to home.

I had been working with a fantastic intern—one of the best I’d seen. His technical skills were excellent, his attitude was impeccable, and his online portfolio showcased a huge variety of projects he had worked on over the years. I knew he had a strong preference for working at a specific company after graduation, and I had encouraged him to apply. However, when he accepted a full-time role at our company instead, I assumed that he had either changed his mind or that our upper management had made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

It was a complete shock when I found out what had actually happened.

During his last semester of college, he had sent out over 400 resumes—and didn’t get a single interview.

How Did the IT Job Market Change So Drastically in Just Seven Years?

Discussing the issue with an old coworker, we reflected on how things used to be. The traditional belief was that companies could hire entry-level employees, train them into mid-level professionals, and in return, get a great deal—these employees would provide high value for lower pay over a long period of time.

But then something changed.

I believe the Great Resignation played a major role in this shift. When I was in college, employers often told me they would immediately discard any resumes where an applicant had left a job after less than two years. This created a strong incentive for employees to stay put in their roles, even if they weren’t fully satisfied.

However, since the Great Resignation, job hopping has become the fastest way to increase your paycheck. Now, as soon as an employee gains enough experience to prove their worth to another company, they leave. As a result, many companies have seemingly stopped investing in entry-level talent. Instead of hiring and training junior employees who might leave after a short time, they prefer to hold out for already-experienced professionals, even if it means positions remain unfilled.

Is IT Really Overstaffed?

I’ve heard some IT professionals argue that the industry is overstaffed, and that some workers need to transition into other fields. But is that really true? Or are companies simply failing to recognize entry-level candidates who could genuinely contribute to their products?

Only time will tell.