This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dray Jankowski, former employee at CrowdStrike and current senior director of product operations and program management at Wunderkind. Business Insider verified his identity. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I still remember the morning I found out I was getting laid off from CrowdStrike.
I went to bed thinking everything was fine, and when I woke up, there was a mysterious meeting on my calendar for later that afternoon.
That’s when I saw the email that said the company was doing a reduction in force as it adjusted to changes driven by AI. It wasn’t about financial trouble. It was sudden, impersonal, and final. At 30, it was my first layoff.
I was shaken. I worked hard to get where I was. At CrowdStrike, I was a program manager working closely with the team that makes motion sensors. I also worked at Amazon and Raytheon and consulted with companies such as Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson. I had what people would consider a “great résumé.”
Little did I know how brutal the job market would become and how hard it would be to find the right fit.
The job hunt begins
In the first three months after my layoff, I applied to 52 jobs on my own, and I hated every second of it.
At first, I wasn’t even looking. I had savings, and it was summer. I traveled to Yellowstone, spent time with my mom and my two dogs, and casually applied to roles I actually liked.
Instead of being quiet about my layoff, I also decided to be vocal. I started making YouTube videos and launched a podcast called “The Reboot Era,” where I talked openly about layoffs and invited others to share their experiences.
Even with my background, the job-search process was frustrating. I’d turn to ChatGPT with basic questions like, “Should I update my résumé for this role?” and I started noticing how many people were stuck for months because they didn’t know how to optimize it for applicant tracking systems. When I looked for help online, most of it was locked behind paywalls.
LinkedIn “Easy Apply” felt like a black hole. Company websites made me create a new Workday account every time. The process was tedious, slow, and draining. So when an AI-powered application platform reached out to me after seeing my posts about layoffs, I invited them onto my podcast with a catch: I wouldn’t promote anything unless I tested it myself and believed it worked.
How AI helped me land my role
At first, the results didn’t seem promising. The very first call I got was from a car wash near my house.
A week later, something changed. I started getting legitimate interview requests for corporate roles that matched my experience and salary range. One message on LinkedIn asked if I wanted to interview with a company I’d never even heard of. That’s when I knew the AI had applied for me.
Over the course of about a month, the platform sent out 812 applications on my behalf. It also shows you which keywords to hit in your cover letters, and you can set your own parameters.
With AI handling the repetitive work, I could focus on preparing for interviews, refining my résumé, networking, and continuing my podcast.
In total, I received five serious interview requests that were aligned with what I wanted. I moved forward with two. One didn’t pan out, but the other moved fast. Within two weeks, I had an offer.
That’s how I landed my current role as senior director of product operations and program management at Wunderkind, a marketing technology company that helps brands re-engage customers who leave their websites without making a purchase.
AI didn’t get me the job. It got me the interview. From there, it was on me to show up, connect, and prove I was the right person.
The takeaway
I think the job market is going in the wrong direction.
First, companies decide they can automate many standard workflows and lay off workers. Those employees are then pushed back into the open job market, forced to apply for new roles. Now, they face AI screening systems that evaluate them against opaque criteria they can’t see or understand.
If the applicant is using AI as well, they get rejected by the screener AI if they sound too robotic. Then, even when you do get the interview, many offers ask you to meet with a digital recruiter who’s not a real person and will ask automated questions.
None of that seems fair, and it often feels like AI is working against job seekers in this brutal market. It took me more than 800 applications to get one great offer, so it is reasonable if you need help. When used correctly, AI can be the tool that gives you your time and momentum back.
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