Is your interview prep mostly just grinding LeetCode?
For technical and research roles at OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, that's not what matters most.
Here's what they actually look for:
If you're a new grad sending 500 applications into the void, here's the chart that explains why.
Tech's share of total employment climbed for almost 20 years straight. Then it peaked, right around when ChatGPT dropped, and it's been falling below trend ever since.
You're not bad at job hunting. You're job hunting in the first real contraction this industry has had in your lifetime. The old playbook (apply, wait, repeat) was built for the line going up. It's not going up.
*Sauce: BLS, Haver Analytics, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research (GIR)
My boss ordered me to stay late every day to train my replacement. She’s making $85K, I make $55K -same role. When I asked why, HR said,“She negotiated better.” I smiled sweetly and said, “Happy to help!”
Tech job searching is essentially running a high-intensity project.
11 companies
57 interviews
46 recruiter calls
16 post-offer conversations
countless informal chats
The author also emphasizes practice interviews and networking. Lacking either makes the job search much harder.
I'm joining OpenAI next week!🥹 The job search turned out to be really challenging but also super rewarding, so I wrote a small blog to share what I learned along the way and hopefully make the process a little less mysterious for the next person. https://t.co/6FigSBdenD
In today’s job market, what happens after receiving that email almost feels like a dream.
The way that woman fought for the job is truly admirable. But for most people, what matters more is simply continuing to try again and again.
I once interviewed a woman for a job and was absolutely certain she wasn’t interested in working with us.
She arrived a few minutes late, looked exhausted, and kept glancing at the clock. Her answers were short, and there wasn’t much enthusiasm in her voice. By the time the interview ended, I had already crossed her name off my list.
The next morning, I received an email from her….
Seen a lot of posts saying OpenAI offered a high price, but top talent rarely leaves for just one reason.
Culture matters more than most companies are willing to admit when it comes to keeping people.
I’m excited to share that I’ll be joining OpenAI and look forward to working with the exceptional team there.
It was a difficult decision to move on. I’m incredibly proud of the amazing team at Google and everything we’ve built together. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with all of you.
Scraped 39,230 SE jobs at 4,742 US companies. 2026 Hiring Isn’t What I Expected
-Senior now beats Lead in pay.
-Half of SE postings mention AI/LLM, non-AI resumes may get filtered out.
-Remote is only 14%.
-80% don't even list a seniority level, you're applying blind!
#Hiring Looking for engineers interested in paid 1:1 sessions with job seekers.
What you do
Resume reviews, mock interviews, referrals, and recruiter outreach.
Compensation
We bring clients. Set your own rate and keep 90% of earnings.
Remote. Flexible.
Reply if you're curious
Hey guys. I’m building a platform to help people land jobs in tech 🚀
Now I’m looking for mentors to support our candidates with career guidance.
If you’re
💻 working in tech,
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DMs open📩
@goelarushi27@huggingface@Tu7uruu Thanks for sharing this 🙌 super helpful!
I’m really interested in your industry. Would you ever consider doing mentoring on the side?