[spacecadet]

This. There was a power shift and now that companies are sitting on their capital making interest, they are acting on a more selective pattern then years prior. There was also way too much hiring during COVID, so new people thought that was the market... but it was inflated and so now it is also more competitive for the all applicants.

Best advice as others have said- get out there and network, join side projects, contribute to open source.