Ask HN: Is the job market in Europe tough or is something wrong with me?

[boa00]

Context: I'm a SWE with 2 years of experience, I’ve worked with ML/data engineering and Python backend stack (Django). I'm from Russia, but I have an EU passport and looking for a job within the EU (because of the situation and new conscription laws in my home country, it gets dangerous)

I've been searching for a job for 3 months with no success. I got to the technical interview only in 3 companies, in the first one I got rejected after the final interview with the founder (4 interviews in total +1 big home project, in the end, they chose somebody else). Today, I got rejected from the third place, although I thought I did really well (prepared as much as I could) and I'm not even sure what I could've done better during the tech interview

I feel really depressed and completely burnt down, especially given the situation in my country and how much effort I've put into the job search. I track companies that have relevant positions and reach out to people on Linkedin directly, and it works much better than just applying. At this point, I think I got +20-30 referrals and a dozen of phone screens, and I got rejected even for the positions where my background fits 100%. I'm not sure what I could do and I feel helpless.

I've been searching for a remote position within any EU country and perhaps I should apply to all possible jobs, including on-site, but I don't know if it would change the situation for the better :(

[throwaway4good]

As far as I know the job market is still good in Germany and Northern Europe.

I think your problem is that you aim for purely remote jobs even though your experience is just 2 years.

I suggest you go for an on site job and see if you can do remote work after you have been there for a while.

[albert100]

In your situation it might be difficult to find a job while you are still in Russia.

If you are interested in moving to Bulgaria and working on diverse web projects (mostly Python and PHP, also OCaml), maybe we can work together.

You can reach out to me via the contacts that are on my profile.

[danielovichdk]

Are you still in Russia ?

[boa00]

Right now, yes. I have a job here, and I would get fired if start working from other country, so it's important to find a job first and then move

[sidibe]

I've not been faced with this situation, but from outside it seems like if you have an EU passport the first thing to do is move and from there find any job for now. From here it is surprising both times that people are so complacent about a good chance of conscription, though I'm sure missing information and the feeling of being there in person.