How are people actually getting data engineering jobs right now?
Like I'm starting to feel it's impossible or I'm seriously missing something crucial.
I've applied to 700+ DE/related positions over the last 5 months and already have 200+ rejections, and I'm pretty sure a lot of the rest are companies ghosting me.
I'm also not really a fresh graduate, like my main job for the last 3+ years has been more niche data ingestion, validation, migration type work. It's not really a standard data engineering job, but there's definitely overlap. I also have about 8+ months in a part-time data engineering startup role working with AWS glue, redshift, IoT core and S3. It's part-time and I get paid in equity.
I've had about 3 solid late-stage interviews, so I'm not complete trash, but I still keep losing to "someone more senior" or "a better fit" person.
At this point just trying to figure out what is actually working for people, like is it referrals, meetups, internal transfers, adjacent roles, or does everyone getting a position right now just have 5+ years of experience.
I have a PhD in a different engineering field and usually list that, but starting to wonder if that's somehow hurting my chances.
Just looking for honest answers from people actually getting offers right now, not really looking for motivation.