I spent an entire weekend looking at job boards just to feel confused

Getting lost in the noise of job platforms

I spent last Saturday morning staring at my laptop screen, half-heartedly clicking through JobPlanet and a few other career platforms. It felt like every other notification was about some massive shift in the tech industry—like someone high up at Google leaving to start their own AI venture, or Samsung suddenly shifting their entire focus toward robotics. I don’t know why I keep checking these things on my day off. Maybe it’s a compulsion. The platforms are all trying to make it easier to see everything at once now, blending job postings with company reviews on the same page. It’s supposed to be efficient, but honestly, it just made me feel more overwhelmed. I found myself jumping between HBM design roles and some random startup openings, and after two hours, I hadn’t actually applied for anything. I just felt tired.

The reality of tech movement these days

There’s this constant hum in the industry about how people are just jumping to whatever the next big AI project is. It used to feel like a career move, but now it feels like everyone is just trying to find a lifeboat. I saw reports about how people are getting poached for non-memory semiconductor roles, and the salaries being thrown around are wild. It makes you question what you’re doing in your current cubicle. I remember reading that some significant portion of workers under a certain age are already planning their exit within two years. Is that even a career strategy, or is it just panic? I read about a founder who sold off their company for nearly 900 billion won, and it makes you think about stability versus chasing the next big thing. It feels like the industry is shrinking even while it’s expanding, if that makes any sense.

Trying to plan when everything keeps shifting

I had a conversation with a friend who is actually thinking about going back to school for something like food tech or AI-based culinary studies. They’re worried about 2027 and beyond. It’s funny—or maybe it’s sad—that we’re obsessing over where we need to be in three or four years when I can barely figure out my tasks for next Tuesday. They told me that even for specific programs like the Global Culinary Arts department at Sejong University, they are starting to push AI curriculum. It feels like nowhere is safe from this, and I don’t know if that’s actually good news or just another requirement I’m not prepared for.

The cycle of checking and rechecking

I checked a few positions that pay around 80 million to 120 million won, just to see what they were asking for. The requirements for R&D roles are becoming so specific—System-on-Chip, foundry process integration, you name it. I’m not even sure if my current experience would translate well or if I’m just looking at a different language. It’s been three hours, and I haven’t even updated my resume file. I just saved a few bookmarks that I know I’ll never look at again. My internet speed at home is okay, but it felt like the site was lagging whenever I tried to filter by company size or growth potential. Maybe that was just my own hesitation stalling the browser.

Is there actually a point to all this searching?

I still don’t know if I’m looking because I want to leave or because I’m afraid of being stuck. I ended up closing all the tabs around 2:00 PM. I didn’t reach a conclusion. I didn’t send out any emails. I just made a cup of coffee and stared out the window for a while. There’s this lingering uncertainty that no matter how much research I do on these platforms, the actual decision to leave feels less like a calculated career choice and more like a gamble. I guess I’ll check again next weekend, or maybe I won’t. It’s hard to tell.