After interviwing 40+ people for ai engineer roles over 7 months and also being a Job aspirant prior. this is what i have observed and wanted to share with you
i’ve spent the last year on both sides of the hiring table and honestly its been eye opening. i interviewed about 40 to 60 people for a small team while also sending out hundreds of my own applications prior to getting this job. the two realities are just... completely different.
what really shocked me as an interviewer was how every single resume looks the same now. with ai everyone has the same keywords and perfect structure. it actually makes it harder to choose.
After all of this when i started to look out for my next jobs i started noticing myself (and other recruiters) of how we used shortcuts to decrease our work. its not even conscious half the time. you start looking for "signals" like:
- did they work at a company where our last good hire came from?
- is there any real proof of ownership or just a list of skills?
- do i already feel like i can trust them before the call even starts
if a resume gives a strong trust signal you subconsciously ask easier questions. if it doesnt you probe way harder. thats just how human brains work i guess. hiring is more about heuristics (mental shortcuts) than just raw skills. people look at brand names, colleges, and career patterns to manage risk.
The weird part was when i was applying earlier i myself felt totally random. Just apply and wait for nothing. but seeing it from the other side i realized there are actually hidden patterns and pipelines that platforms like linkedin don’t show for a job aspirant(as we are no there icp).
like why cant i see where people from my specific background actually move to? why am i shown random jobs in industries i dont care about?
i actually started building a small tool for myself just to answer stuff like:
- where do people from my current company usually go next?
- which companies actually hire from my ecosystem?
- what transitions are common vs just random luck?
it makes the job search feel less like throwing arrows in the dark and more like making a bet based on data.
Not selling anything here; just wanted to share because i’ve struggled on both sides. has anyone else felt like hiring is more about these hidden trust signals than actual applications? curious to hear if others see these patterns too.
Posted Mar 3, 2026, 11:30 AM UTC