Fintech/SWE: Importance of Industry Experience

Question

Looking to make the leap from automotive to fintech. I've been in automotive for 9 years, moved from engineer to principal engineer to architect in a 1k+ employee $2B revenue company, so I feel my qualifications are solid. Yet, I've received a few rejections pre-interview from top-tier fintech companies with comparable tech stacks.

The rejections were vague, so trying to piece together how to give myself best shot for future applications. Is industry experience critical? Maybe my resume just isn't as good as I thought it was?

Curious everyone's thoughts.

linuxftw · Accepted Answer

Did you apply through their online applications? Online applications are the worst way to get serious consideration, easiest way to get an auto-reject. Instead, message a senior level engineer on the team, express your interest in the company, and ask if you can get a referral.

asko23nlka23 · Answer

Definitely try to get a referral. If you can't, reach out to hiring managers / recruiters. Applying through online portals is often a black hole. Also don't beat yourself up over it. Even as a highly experienced person within tech it's very common to never hear back from companies after applying.

jinyung2 · Answer

if the applications you are filling out are anything like the ones us new grads go through, feels like 95%+ of them are rejections. The resume parsing schemes and other hoops you have to jump through just to not get automatically rejected is a struggle 😅

suggest what other's have said and reach out to connections to cold message recruiters for a particular company you are interested in on linkedin or a similar platform. I think once they see your experience the  conversation will get started. good luck!

Fintech/SWE: Importance of Industry Experience

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