Job seekers are losing confidence as fake tech postings rise

Product management coach Shobhit Chugh says a stretched-out search process is pushing candidates to blame themselves as tech hiring stays tight and many postings may never be filled. His advice: stop relying on mass applications and rebuild human connections.

Why it matters: - Long job searches are eroding candidate confidence, especially for product managers and other tech workers facing fewer real openings. - Candidates can spend weeks on applications and still get no response, which can turn a market problem into self-doubt. - The mental-health toll is growing as job seekers pour time into applications that often go nowhere.

What happened: - Shobhit Chugh, a former Google product manager who now coaches product managers through career transitions, said job seekers are misreading the market and blaming themselves. - He pointed to data showing a product manager can apply to 60 roles over five months and hear nothing from two-thirds of them. - Chugh said the pressure is especially intense when the search drags on for months and candidates lose confidence before interviews even begin.

The details: - Analysis published in the Columbia Law Review found the ratio of hires to job postings has fallen by half since 2019, from about eight hires per ten postings to four. - In information and technology, the analysis estimated about 48% of postings were effectively not being filled. - A LiveCareer survey of 918 human resources professionals found 93% said their employer posts roles it does not intend to fill soon, and 45% said that happens regularly. - Survey data published this year found job seekers submit an average of 62.6 applications and spend about 44 minutes on each one. - That adds up to more than a full working week spent on applications alone. - Greenhouse candidate research found 72% of job seekers say the process harms their mental health. - Chugh said the process is especially damaging because candidates often internalize the lack of response as a personal failure. - He said a senior product manager who has shipped serious products can start second-guessing their abilities after a long, silent search. - Chugh argued that applications feel productive because they create a visible count, but the roles that get filled are usually filled through people. - The tech market is still hiring, but not at pre-pandemic levels. - Layoffs have eased from their 2023 peak, and product manager postings worldwide were reported up 12% in early 2026, the highest level in three years. - Displaced workers are still competing against one another for a narrower set of real openings. - Chugh said the average search is about six months, but the right strategy depends on the candidate’s situation, including whether visa status is tied to employment. - He said he usually starts by asking clients what they have stopped doing. - Chugh said the answer is often networking, because reaching out to people feels unbearable when a job search is going badly.

Between the lines: - The job market problem is not just weak demand. It is also a trust problem, with candidates unsure which postings represent real openings. - That makes volume-based application strategies less effective than relationship-driven searches. - The advice mismatch matters because a six-month search can be manageable for one candidate and urgent for another.

What’s next: - Chugh is steering candidates toward more direct human outreach instead of relying on application volume. - Intentional Product Manager, the coaching business Chugh founded, is part of that career-transition work. - Chugh also hosts a podcast interviewing product leaders. - More information is available at the company's website.

The bottom line: - In a market full of silent postings and slow responses, Chugh says the real risk is not just unemployment. It is the confidence damage that keeps qualified candidates from staying in the hunt.