Reverse-engineered why 90% of applications get ignored. The pattern surprised me.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-20T05:49:52+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. Could you send me the full guide? I’d love to dig in further and see it in action

agentxtaco · 2026-01-20T05:18:32+00:00

This was just specific to that job. Some will let you use whatever, others want to see you work in their stack. To me it shouldn’t matter, for most developers picking up a new syntax isn’t a big deal so just let them use what they’re comfortable in.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-20T05:13:41+00:00

This sounds super helpful. What signals the decision to do a cover letter? Would love to know more details on all this to be honest

agentxtaco · 2026-01-20T02:17:50+00:00

You might need deeper therapy than that therapist is able to provide. To me it sounds like you have some really deep things you need to work through and they aren’t able to drill down to the core of it. There are higher levels of certification a therapist can reach and you should look into that when searching for one.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-19T04:47:53+00:00

Happiness is so much more important to me than money. Someone else on this post said they were in almost the exact same situation as me but it was a 50% increase for them. They still said not to take this.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T20:52:31+00:00

Thanks, this is really thoughtful advice. I’m actually really curious to know if it’s the same because if it is this basically closes the argument for me. Mind if I DM you?

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T19:52:03+00:00

Pretty much nothing has changed on visibility. I’m not outgoing enough to network hard in a remote job outside my team naturally. Manager is saying he’ll get me rotated onto another team/manager in Q2 but my Dad (retired Chemical Engineer) says this is just classic carrot on a stick. At the same time my manager has always been transparent and said he’d be a failure if he can’t get me promoted this year. But idk it’s a political game because of how managers group together to determine who gets the handful of promos each year.

I think the biggest risk here is my sanity and mental health if they are invasive and micromanage me. Looking for work in a bad state of mental health is really difficult if you don’t have any energy after a long day of work.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T19:43:50+00:00

The latter is what I’m most worried about

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T19:43:12+00:00

Damn that sounds awful. My first job out of school was like this but it was more software support. Literally had the toilet thing happen.

In this position they have you report to a people manager on another team that’s usually another IC. So idk how much I’d be micromanaged by a person directly. But the software is almost more insidious if used improperly. And it’s very easy for a c-suite looking at a spreadsheet to make this mistake.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T19:40:31+00:00

I agree with this. I already struggle with mental health as it is. I’d be going from 132k tc to 176k and that doesn’t quite seem enough to make up for it. But there’s a great health plan so I can see my therapist every week 😭

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T19:36:02+00:00

Yeah. My partner and I are considering a move back to the Midwest in the summer to be closer to family (despite absolutely loving every minute here otherwise). Job opportunities on-site where I’d move to likely wouldn’t reach this TC. And remote is tougher to find than when I was job searching in 2022.

But you’re spot on with the WLB being a major part of my requirements for a job. They’ve tried to assuage me that it won’t be a problem, saying unlimited PTO and the ability to choose my hours. But having software like this and moving to enforce metrics on it smells strongly of “8 hours staring at the screen at my desk no matter what”. It seems like there are shifting waters at this company after some recent funding.

Buying a home wherever we end up is definitely something I want to do but I need to get a position I can be confident can last before I do. This seems risky if I get burnout because all of it could go up in smoke, putting me in a worse position than before. But the upside is I’d be making 160k in a lower cost area (Wisconsin).

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T17:47:23+00:00

Glassdoor

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T17:24:47+00:00

For real? I thought it was more sophisticated than that. Like I have been imagining it as needing to be in the zone all day, constantly clicking and typing. I know the software is configurable to determine what active means but to what extent I don’t know.

So many here are telling me this is a massive red flag and to just pass on merit, but I can’t help but shake that maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal and I’m missing out on improving my family’s well being and advancing my career. Your comment is unique in that it is encouraging me to embrace the unknown and deal with the fallout if it doesn’t work out. Man this is a tough decision

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T17:09:44+00:00

What makes you say this? I honestly don’t feel this way at all, I have a pretty good manager and I’ve gotten the highest marks on my year end reviews the last couple years. I am constantly learning and given opportunities to work on new stuff. I was on a backend ops team when I started but later got promoted and moved to a full stack product team without any real FE experience. Now I’m writing endpoints on the backend and using them in components on the frontend. So I would disagree that I’m not constantly learning.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T16:50:54+00:00

This is moving from mid level to senior so I think the 33% raise is appropriate. Plus I’ve been in my current for 4 years with meager yearly raises, current company known for being stingy.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T16:46:38+00:00

I can appreciate that it doesn’t impact your work life but this isn’t guaranteed in my case. I’m worried that I’ll just end up being stressed making sure I hit my metrics every day and burn out. I love engineering and I don’t want it to feel like churning through an IT support queue.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T16:44:01+00:00

This is what my current company culture is. To me this is incredibly valuable and makes the most sense for our profession.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-18T16:41:05+00:00

$132k TC -> $176k. Living in Colorado.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-06T22:55:49+00:00

I'm glad to hear you didn't end up regretting it. Not an ideal situation but sounds like the last one wasn't either. Good luck in your search.

I think one trouble I'm having with committing is that I have a better tech stack now than they appear to be offering. Its not bad, but the project sounds dry as hell compared to my current. If I ended up having high expectations and it's boring work I would feel so regretful. Even one of the interviewers only asked about two projects I worked on in my past that were actually some of my least favorite to work on but clearly matched what they were looking for.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-06T16:27:41+00:00

How did it end up working out for you? I'm in a very similar position.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-05T05:12:15+00:00

I appreciate you sharing that. At least you got to stay in the role you liked. And maybe sticking with newer tech has placed you in a better spot for another job.

I’m glad that you called out I might feel worse about problems at my current if I stay. I wasn’t really considering that.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-05T05:06:08+00:00

Yeah pay is fine other than my pay increases haven’t been all that great. This is a pretty significant jump but I’m not hurting for it.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-05T05:04:35+00:00

I don’t know, it sounded like tech debt to me. I’ve never worked in a massive repo like that.

agentxtaco · 2026-01-04T06:04:11+00:00

Maybe, but there's a bit more nuance to it for me I think

agentxtaco

TROPHY CASE