SxC97

I completed my bachelors in CS back in December 2020 and was able to land a cybersecurity analyst job via a personal connection. It's been ~2 years and I'd like to switch to a software development job, but it's been difficult.

I've applied to over 400 jobs over the last 3 months and have recieved nearly as many rejections, and at this point I don't know what to do.

The core problem I see, is that most positions need atleast 2-4 years of experience to even be considered. This is fine for mid-level positions, but I see this for entry level positions too!

I feel like I have a strong resume with several side projects in several different disciplines, along with strong technical knowledge and management experience at my current job, but how can I convery that to a hiring manager? I've tried applying on LinkedIn, google job boards, via the HN Who's Hiring posts and have still not managed to make any progress.

I'm currently back in school, finishing my masters in computer science (remotely), hoping that this might help somewhat with my job search in the long run, but I'm starting to have my doubts.

So, to anyone reading this who works in the tech field, how did you land your first job? And what should someone in my position do to land their first job? Should I look into head hunters? Hire a resume specialist? Lean on personal connections more?

Thank you for all of your advice!