I have been looking for over a year now. 25 years in IT. Sent out more than 900 applications. Reduced my rate in half. Do I just give up at this point and switch professions.

Two things - network and focus of your resume. Not sure if you are leaning on your network or not, but that is really the best way to get your resume and application considered. 900 applications via online submissions is a huge number but the reality is that most of these are weeded out by algorithms. So it’s likely that most of your efforts were for naught. So a better route is find a job via an online site, then do a search on LinkedIn for people in your network who work there - or are connected with people who work there. Then reach out to them and ask for 10-15 minutes of their time as you are interested in a role at their company and you would appreciate their perspective. Secondly, perhaps your resume is not focused enough for specific roles and doesn’t have the right keywords to get selected by the initial bots that weed out resumes. I suggest using a resume review service or website to help with that, or lean on someone you know that is good at it (a former colleague, mentor, supervisor, etc.).

How deep is your resume? Anything more than 5-10 years ago should be dropped - perhaps keep a "full" resume if you end up in discussions where the history is beneficial.

Think back 10 years - everything has changed. I no longer "run" projects, now I'm an honest broker between the teams and leadership.

Sorry to hear about your experience. My suggestion would be to under the cloud technologies (AWS, GCP and Azure) as that market should continue to grow for the next 10 years and tailor your resume towards cloud related positions. There is a 10 billion dollar DoD contract to be awarded for JWCC that would open a lot of opportunities in medium to long term (esp for US Citizens)

A recruiter told me I am basically competing with everyone in the world who does what I do due to the advent of remote work. Companies can select people from anywhere based on sought after skillset. Talk about intimidating! I am going to upskill in an adjacent tech arena complimenting my current experience and skills and reach out to my network (the two things I’ve not yet tried). I have shortened my resume and created multiple versions. Also I too am broadening my net by seeking roles in other states (on-site).

Our Oracle ERP implementation company is always looking for resources

No look at the market and what people need, example Linux is always a good thing, Office 365 and Azure, get certified in them, don't be a quitter just because things are tough right now.

I just pivoted into project management but it wasn’t the job I initially applied for. Have you considered applying for roles that are adjacent to project management and would have enough alignment that your skills could transfer?

It really is tough right now. I sent over 1,500 applications during the space of 4 months. I only got 11 phone screens and from those screens I got moved into 6 interview streams. And the Chief of Staff job I applied to was changed to a project manager role because of what I was saying as I was interviewing.

Please DO NOT give up. Your expertise lies in IT and I don't think switching professions is going to be any easier now. It's not just that the market is tough and filled with talented professionals now, but also that you might be over-qualified for several of the roles that you are applying for.
Others here may have covered it already - have you tried to find connections through LinkedIn to prospective people who can refer you internally instead of your resume landing in a heap of resumes? Also, keep yourself up-to-date on the latest know-how in your functional areas. This will be critical in making a good impression with your interviewers when you get the chance. All the best!

I am in the same boat. 25 years experience in IT and 15 as an enterprise architect. Jobless for a year and trying to switch jobs but need to find some kind of income to stay afloat in a foreign country waiting for a decision on my work permit.

I am aiming for higher positions based in the experience I am in. At the same time trying to create content on the 25 years I have been in IT

So my story reflects this, I had been in video game production for 27 years. I'm in Quebec, so it makes getting a Directors role here like up there with getting hit by lightning from a land shark. Not only because I have too much experience, I only speak English here. You can't be a manager and be English. So there is language and ageism. I was vocal about this on LinkedIn, I had worked in this industry, which is maybe like a lot of companies with backstabbing, ego's, and forms of nepotism. Now, there is an influx of new software, making my job a lot easier, so now everyone who can get a copy of these software thinks they can do my job, minus the skills. I have seen so many people like this, I've seen some spending 100k in schooling are still bad, but they will get hired, and hopefully molded into a corporate cog, or there are thousands more to be able to take that spot. I had an interview with a companies art director, and it went very well. Then, they wanted me to interview with a lead artist, one step below the AD. Now I had 3x the experience, worked in games, VR, simulations, Sr. surface artist, and I mentioned that I did not know how to do one thing, I did not get the job. I looked at the leads artwork, and it was bad.

Another time I did not get a job was because the internal recruiter thought I did not show enough enthusiasm for the job.

I decided to take my experience and start my own unfunded studio with my wife's permission and support to try to make a go of it.

If you have 25 years of experience an IT, you need to look at jobs where you’re overqualified that requires 10 to 15 years of experience and change your résumé to being an expert in those fields and quantify your achievements throughout your tenure.

Not many companies need someone at your level of expertise. And so they don't make the budget for it. So when someone overqualified comes in and is willing to accept a low offer, that's very risky for the company bc it's likely you'll leave for the next better offer that comes in as soon as you can. This has happened to me and so I don't hire overqualified anymore.
You might want to pivot to something that is more of a resource or trainer in what you do. Or project-based contracting. Companies can more easily budget for 1-off expenses like this as opposed to hiring an expert in in-house.

How many interviews have you gotten from 900 applications? If your response rate is very low, the issue is your resume. Need to change your approach vs doing the same thing but hope for a different result.

Is the layoff season coming again? #layoff

Same. Can’t add much but I am in the same boat. It’s rough. And I’ve been doing the contract thing - it blows - every couple of months you’re just back on the job hunt and my resume looks terrible with all these 3-6m stunts 🤦🏼‍♀️

PMs are the first ones fired during downturns. We're in a downturn.

Just came here to add that it isn’t you. The market is just absolute trash right now. I’m in a similar boat. I’ve worked at all of FAANG, have had zero interviews the past year and can’t even get a freelance gig right now. Whereas the past 5-6 years I’ve had recruiters reach out constantly recruiting for jobs. You have to also keep in mind they’re still rehiring from the thousands they laid off + ppl seeking remote positions so the market is just a mess.

I notice that you say you're a product / project manager. I would make sure that you have two CVs, one for Project and one for Product as the two roles have very different competencies IMO.

Computacenter are a growing company in the states, I'm not sure which location they are hiring but keep an eye out.

If you want me to read your resume and give feedback, I would be very happy to - have been a professional services manager before and seen 1000s CVs.

It’s been the same 20 plus years in automated logistics and business management, and same boat I refuse to go less than I am
Worth I put my resume together and I used to write the resumes for Yale grads coming into the army officer corps. So I can def write one , still had it professionally looked at and edited and still nothing. I’ve had applications sitting in review status for months at companies and still get we are going through our process. When I was a talent specialist I was told that was the worst thing to say as it makes people feel like your company isn’t worth looking into if the recruiting team themselves aren’t on point, now it seems it’s the norm to be dismissive and indirect.

Google has some interesting courses you and take Couseera that give you certification I'm not even done the data analyst course and I've been offered four jobs already 6 figures plus, companies are looking for certs specifically so headhunters on linkdin search for it they have some it certs as well, maybe take a few weeks and bang off the course I guarantee if you add these certs head hunters will come looking for u and you will be able demand what ever u pay u want u can find more about it cousera.com the best part the causes them seleves are free but you do have get membership to cousera but it's really affordable and if your stuck finically they offer scholar ships that even c I very their monthly cost. Worth checking out never to late to refresh and learn what the biggest dogs are doing.

Yes.You should considering a new career that is more in demand.
Remember, for every team of 6, 8, 10, 20 Software Engineers and Technical resources, there is only 1 or 2 PM, Manager positions.
As such these roles come up a lot less and there is lot more competition.
Also something that is tabboo to discuss , but is widely prevelant. Managers (IT or otherwise) tend to be more white and male and American (in US). Immigrants and minorities are disproportionally represented, so in an interview scenario also, you may be getting passed on very early if you don't fit that demographic.