Super terrible. First off, there were far fewer tech companies total. Worse, the internet was still immature. Which had a couple consequences. One, there were

Super terrible. First off, there were far fewer tech companies total. Worse, the internet was still immature. Which had a couple consequences. One, there were just fewer jobs and yet a lot of people competing for them, so it was especially hard if you didn't have a strong resume. Second, remote work was uncommon so if you didn't already live in a tech hub city you were pretty screwed. Third, performing the hiring process via the internet was iffy. Going through the process back then often involved stuffing a printed resume into an envelope and mailing it somewhere along with a printed cover letter, then waiting for a return letter or a phone call (which will probably just go to your voicemail or answering machine). Granted, the tech field was a little better but not much, and not universally.