In the current tech job market, for average pay, the competition is pathetic.
Yesterday I was with a friend who was shortlisting applicants for a React.js internship at his startup (βΉ20-25k, wfh, part-time).
At least 80% applicants had no live project and public source code.
Their github activity was either blank or had useless commits just for showing consistency.
One guy had 30 Readme update commits in Nov π
Many of them had broken links in resume.
Most of them had no posts or anything positive on their LinkedIn.
My friend was willing to hire candidates without experience because he isn't paying much, but still those who applied were simply unemployable.
I think the main competition that exists in the low to mid pay range is the "crowd".
Hundreds or thousands of applicants on almost every such job.
It increases the possibility of the HR not going through the resumes properly.
This is why I suggest people to put more human element in their job hunt.
Do it the old fashioned way.
Talk to people.
Approach them with your proposals.
What is the worst they can do?
When you directly contact the startups and can get past this barrier of resume shortlisting, you'll get hired easily if you're good enough to do what they need.
In the worst case, they'll ignore or reject you. But it's still better than mindlessly applying through job portals.