Agree. For interrupt work for my team, I often spend more time writing the story and prodding coworkers for PR review than I do writing code. GH Copilot has been our tool of choice and it's been a great, advanced tab complete. Haven't used it for much more.
I'm a techie with a Fortune 10, and have helped on the recruiting side of the house. I've been told very clearly, with slideshows confirming, that non-DEI applicants need not apply. There's <10% hiring quota that they could fit. All our new hires without an incredibly strong in-team reference are H1B people who are incredibly incompetent.
LinkedIn recruiters have been where's it been for me in all but my first internship and my current job (referral from prior coworkers). Whether I see a post on LinkedIn or get a direct message from them, that's how I got 5 of my 7 jobs.
Will agree on the connections side of things. My team recently hired a new engineer, having received of thousands of applicants, including many through the corporate referral program. The only people who made it past recruiter screening were those whose referrers messaged the hiring manager directly. With recruiters getting blasted with unqualified applicants (mostly migrants with only a cert to their name) and AI applications, it's hard to get any legit applications some daylight to be reviewed.
I work for CVS. I've made lots of referrals to super-qualified people, for them to be auto-rejected. The company is tightening their belt it seems - no layoffs as far as I've seen, but corporate travel was cancelled and some contractors' contracts weren't renewed.
It's a wonderful company and pays super well, great people, but good luck getting in.
