Despite applying to hundreds of positions and going the extra mile in a hackathon, a Singaporean engineer receives little recognition in a tough job market.

A Singaporean software engineer is sharing their frustration and uncertainty about the job search after being unemployed for four months, despite applying to hundreds of positions. In an emotional post on February 1, the individual detailed the challenges of finding a job in an increasingly competitive market, even with over a year of experience in the industry.

The engineer revealed that they left their previous job due to a “really toxic boss,” and since then, their attempts to secure a new role have been met with little success. After sending out countless applications, they received fewer than 10 callbacks, most of which led to nothing. One of the few opportunities they had was an invitation to participate in a hackathon, which they saw as their last chance.

In a bid to impress potential employers, the engineer worked tirelessly to prepare for the hackathon. They spent hours coding test projects in various languages, learning new libraries, and trying to assist their teammates in order to contribute to the team’s success. During the event, the engineer made the most commits, helped debug issues at their own expense, and went without lunch to finish tasks others could not complete. In the subsequent interviews, they answered all technical questions with confidence, believing their efforts would result in a job offer.

Despite this, the engineer was ultimately rejected, while other teammates who had put in far less effort received job offers. The rejection left the engineer puzzled and disheartened, questioning how companies assess candidates. “Do they even check the quality of the code or the number of commits?” they wondered, expressing confusion over the lack of recognition for their hard work.