Retrospective on My Job Search

In early November 2025, I resigned from my position at Scilife, looking for a new role starting March 1st 2026. It’s now end of May, and my search is finally over: I am beyond excited to be joining the amazing folks at Duna! I thought I would write down some thoughts and takeaways about my time looking for work. This isn’t a guide or anything. There will be no hacks, no cheat codes, no rant or name-and-shame. Just some numbers and some thoughts. Context I have been doing software development for about 15 years, primarily in frontend. During the second half of my career, I have held some form of a leadership position: tech lead, engineering manager, then VP of engineering. Initially, I looked for senior leadership roles, typically something like director or head of engineering. As time passed and I reflected on what I really wanted to do, I started looking more into senior IC positions, like staff engineer or tech lead. For reference, the last time I was actively looking for a job was…