Debugging “Where to spend my time?” in the job search 🌲

Something I hear a lot from jobseekers is, “I don’t know where to spend my time.” There is so much you could do—resume tweaks, projects, networking, interview practice—but little signal about which would help most.

Below is the “decision tree” I guide my mentees down, organized by “stuck point.” After identifying where they're stuck, we pinpoint why, then use that to define top priorities.

I don’t know what career direction to take

This “quadrant” could help:

1. What are you good at, and enjoy?


2. What are you good at, but don’t enjoy?


3. What are you passionate about, but not good at?


4. What are you not passionate about, and not good at?

If you need a job ASAP, choose in-demand roles that want what you’re already good at (1), even if you don’t enjoy it (2). As you gain seniority, you'll unlock more 1 and 3 opportunities. Avoid 4.

Don’t sweat being hyper-specific if you’re entering a new field because entry-level roles are generic. For example, stuck between accessibility guru or design systems specialist? You’ll start as a fullstack generalist anyways.

Should I broaden the roles I’m applying to?

Weigh the potential upside of more opportunities against the extra time required:

• Writing a resume version tailored to that role


• Learning skills that you’re missing for that role


• Preparing for role-specific interview formats

If it overlaps with your existing skillset and interviews you’re doing, it’s often worth trying.

I’m applying but not hearing back

I check for these 3 common reasons:

1. Missing skills/experience

Go line-by-line through a target role and grade each job requirement: My resume...

1. demonstrates several examples of it


2. has it but not deeply enough


3. is missing it

Confirming your grading with industry folks is ideal. Job descriptions are often unrealistic wishlists, and insiders know what actually matters.

This may be your main area to improve if you have 3’s. 2’s should be noted, but prioritize them relative to other gaps. For example, shallow React experience may be lower priority if your resume isn’t finished.

Prioritize adding projects to your resume that address your gaps. If you don’t know what to build, go for “technically robust and universal” over “creative.” Companies prefer candidates who have built features like theirs in their exact stack. Use the most popular tools for the field (React for frontend, Python/pandas for data science, etc.). Focus on features every app has: authentication, forms, data tables, as well as current hot topics like LLM agents.

2. Resume/ LinkedIn not doing you justice

You may be qualified, but your profile isn’t written in a way that fully brings that out.

A common mistake is to submit “general” resumes where all your skills, relevant or not, are given the same space on the page. Instead, have relevant experience take up at least 60% of the page and shrink less related points. For the exact same person, a tailored resume will look like a stronger fit over the general one.

Another mistake is omitting specifics, leaving recruiters unclear about the depth of your skill. Example:

• Generic: “Built a chat app with React.”


• Better: “Built a chat app (React, Socket.IO, Node) supporting 500 concurrent users. Added OAuth and reduced message latency by 40% by batching events.”

A third is lacking clarity in how an experience relates to the role, particularly those from previous careers:

• Unclear: “Managed inventory for grocery store.”


• Better: “Managed inventory for 5,000‑SKU store using performance reports and weekly audits. Identified 12% overstock through Excel script.”

For maximizing LinkedIn, I recommend Emily Worden’s content, e.g. How to Write a LinkedIn Headline, How to Effectively Announce ‘Open To Work’.

3. Weak network

If your resume reads well to both you and industry insiders, then the best use of your time could be sourcing quality job leads.

Dedicate time just for finding job sites, forums, or people that specialize in your industry, match your values, are local to you, etc. They can surface less-known, strongly-aligned opportunities. Be active on LinkedIn to boost your visibility. If you see a good role but it closed, you can connect with people who work there and ask them to keep you top of mind when more roles like it open in the future.

I’m hearing back but failing technical screens

Prioritize technical interview prep over projects and networking.

You can further focus your study scope by format:

• Leetcode/ algorithms: typical at larger companies, these test your knowledge of data structures.


• Hackerrank/ take-homes: also common at larger orgs, these are time-limited tasks asking you to implement a larger function utilizing data structures.


• Build a small feature: more common at startups, this incorporates Leetcode Easy concepts in the context of a practical feature. Your “on the job” skills translate more naturally to these.

You can prioritize companies with interview formats that you're stronger at. For example, I’m extraordinarily talented at misreading take-home instructions and implementing the wrong thing. Meanwhile, a human interviewer correcting me before I get started drastically improves my success rate. Therefore, I prioritize interviews at companies without take-homes.

To narrow even more, technical interviews consist of these sub-skills:

• Knowing key syntax by heart: print, string/ array manipulation, sort…


• Data structures: knowing patterns > completing lots of problems
  
  
  
  
  • Advanced topics such as dynamic programming, heaps, etc. are less frequently asked. Unless you are going for MAANG companies, you can deprioritize technical interview studying once at this point.
  
  
  
  
  
  



• Talking out loud: articulating your thought process as you solve the problem

Find resources that work for your learning style to practice your main gaps in isolation, then all together.

I’m fumbling soft-skill / manager interviews

These ask some form of the same questions:

• Technical strength/ product impact: “Tell me about your biggest project”


• Conflict: “Tell me about a conflict/ disagreement and how you resolved it”


• Tradeoffs: “How do you decide what to do when everything feels urgent?”


• Cross-functional collaboration: “How do you work with PM’s/ designers?”


• Process improvement: “Tell me about a project that failed”


• Failure and learning: “What is your weakness?”

Prepare 1-3 specific stories for each in the STAR format, and rehearse them out loud.

Tips:

• Writing a strong resume doubles as prep for these interviews!


• You can record yourself to emulate performance pressure.


• For remote interviews, you can have your prepared answers on-screen—the interviewer can’t see it.

I’m getting to final rounds but not getting offers

This typically means you’re qualified, but other candidates who also made it through are edging you out.

If you’ve made it this far, recruiters are usually willing to give feedback. It’s a win-win to help you and keep in touch, especially if you met their bar but they only had one opening. How I interpret:

• If they say something about not meeting their technical bar, work on your technical interview skills


• If they don’t, it could be something about your manager screen answers


• Some feedback can be unfair/ not a good way to evaluate a “good engineer.” Disregard and be glad for a bullet dodged.

For a more accurate analysis, a hiring manager that hires for your role is the ideal person to get help from at this stage. Show them your recruiter feedback emails, present your manager interview answers to them, etc., and they can pinpoint how you could further improve.

Spacing out final rounds and dedicating time to reflection and improvement can be an overall time-saver. I once scheduled 3 final rounds back-to-back, applying the same approach, and got rejected by them all. After some coaching on my manager screen answers, I received an offer soon after. In retrospect, those 3 rounds felt like needlessly hitting the same wall.

Beyond the “Priority Playbook”

Balance priorities with what’s fun

This guide pinpoints your objective next best step, but that can be the toughest one. Balance it with tasks you have more energy for that also benefit your growth. For example, if you’re a web dev that prefers Vue, go for it—the foundations carry over. If you’re in the early rounds and dread Leetcode but find system design more interesting, do it—you will need to prepare for it down the line anyways. If you enjoy writing, blog about your learning to broaden your network.

Focus on the current step

It’s overwhelming thinking about all the upskilling and interviewing you’ll need to do. However, there’s no need to think about all the steps at once, as long as you know your current steps are must-do’s towards your destination. Like a video game, take it one level at a time.

Be curious, not pressured

"I'm ‘running my code’ to see what knowledge gaps pop up" is more approachable than "I have to nail this interview." Aim to learn, not to pass.

“I’m stuck and making no progress” can be reframed as “I’m stuck because something isn’t working, and that’s valuable information. It helps me eliminate what -not- to do and get closer to what does work.”

Closing thoughts

Your job search can be thought of like a decision tree algorithm: each step is about finding your next best moves, not solving everything at once. Strive for continuous, intentional iteration.

Any questions or want a deeper dive into any of these? I couldn’t possibly fit all my mentoring and resume writing experience in one post. Let me know what you’d find helpful, I'd love to help!

Also available in Bluesky thread format 🧵:

How to get past “I don’t know where to spend my time” in the job search, a thread 🧵

— Shell 🍋 UX Dev/ Resume Writer (@miffens.bsky.social) 2026-01-01T00:01:57.545Z