Ask HN: How to Get a Job?
8 comments
> automated resume screen-outs (my current issue)
Let me know if you want to use the resume maker that I created. Do you have a contact method like an email?
Let me know if you want to use the resume maker that I created. Do you have a contact method like an email?
Have you posted in the threads by https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=whoishiring ?
Perhaps you can make a rehearsal here and someone can give some advice.
> Compared to everyone else bragging about how hot the market is, my experience has been a complete crapshoot.
I've read too many post about how hot the market is and how difficult is to hire developers, but I also have read too many post like yours about sending a million of applications to have a chance.
My guess is that it depends a lot on the subdivisions of the market. Some parts are too hot. Some parts are too cold.
Perhaps you can make a rehearsal here and someone can give some advice.
> Compared to everyone else bragging about how hot the market is, my experience has been a complete crapshoot.
I've read too many post about how hot the market is and how difficult is to hire developers, but I also have read too many post like yours about sending a million of applications to have a chance.
My guess is that it depends a lot on the subdivisions of the market. Some parts are too hot. Some parts are too cold.
The fake listings are a scandal. In my last job search I was starting to file tickets with the administrators for them. I was building an automated workflow system for handling leads and had I not got my current job I would (together with my pal ‘nemesis’) have been filing 50-100 complaints a week.
Define more what you want.
Employers often are hiring roles with new tech that nobody has 5 years of experience in so just because you have little or no experience in X is not a real problem.
Side projects are a way to fill gaps also if you think creatively you can cast your own experience positively.
Do not think of yourself as a victim, it shows in your resume and your interviews if you do, it will kill you.
One thing I am grateful for is a situation that gives me multiple motivations and opportunities to make peace with a career that has by no means gone in a straight line. One day I talked to a postdoc and was very bitter about things that went ‘wrong’ and made a bad impression.
Because I care strongly about what at least one person in this environment thinks I am like “damn… I can’t let that happen again”. (It’s no accident I am profoundly interested in that person because this person has themselves gone sideways in their career but seems to have a lot of grace.)
Next time I am talking to a grad student I tell a story of going sideways that they find spellbinding because people in that situation are most afraid of getting stuck and not being able to change.
So inside the same person you can find stories of losing and winning, stories of defeat and triumph. My current situation rewards me for keeping a PMA and could punish me badly if I let the beast out so it is the kind of basic straining that helps me grow.
Go look up Bob Firestone’s writings on job interviews, they were a big help to me when I was at the worst place in my career.
Define more what you want.
Employers often are hiring roles with new tech that nobody has 5 years of experience in so just because you have little or no experience in X is not a real problem.
Side projects are a way to fill gaps also if you think creatively you can cast your own experience positively.
Do not think of yourself as a victim, it shows in your resume and your interviews if you do, it will kill you.
One thing I am grateful for is a situation that gives me multiple motivations and opportunities to make peace with a career that has by no means gone in a straight line. One day I talked to a postdoc and was very bitter about things that went ‘wrong’ and made a bad impression.
Because I care strongly about what at least one person in this environment thinks I am like “damn… I can’t let that happen again”. (It’s no accident I am profoundly interested in that person because this person has themselves gone sideways in their career but seems to have a lot of grace.)
Next time I am talking to a grad student I tell a story of going sideways that they find spellbinding because people in that situation are most afraid of getting stuck and not being able to change.
So inside the same person you can find stories of losing and winning, stories of defeat and triumph. My current situation rewards me for keeping a PMA and could punish me badly if I let the beast out so it is the kind of basic straining that helps me grow.
Go look up Bob Firestone’s writings on job interviews, they were a big help to me when I was at the worst place in my career.
I don't think it's your problem. There is something shitty going on. There are new tools that people want. But they are mostly old tools combined together with Python and parsing Yaml. Nobody asks about the basics that are the base for the "new" tools. Which is a pity, cause most of the time, if you know those basics, you have no problem with those new tools. No one asked me ever about the main problem of softdev - how you organise your work and workspace. In the last 15 years, stuff got a lot easier, not harder. But getting a job became harder. There is no shortage of workes - salaries should go down, but didnt. During the pandemic it got worse. I would say that people in a lot of places are fighting for their own survival and they have dig themselvs in "trenches". Recruiters are also making money on finding best fit - if companies would start to educate people that dont fit, recruiters would lose their jobs.
On the other hand, does any one knows how to find an IT company organized at least like an average warehouse? I've worked from micro, through medium to big IT companies looking for a well structured, organized IT company or how to find one. An average warehouse is better organized the most IT companies. People in a grocery store have better work ethics then in an average IT company.Those are my observations. Agile after what I saw is an excuse for chaos and incompetence. Never I have seen a company using any flavour of Agile and being organised at the same time.
Nobody, when applied to non-IT company, would close me in an empty room with a big wallscreen and no fucking big head would shout on me during interview. This happend to me in a big well known Berlin startup. Such shit happend to me many times during my interviews. Another thing, the non office worker has better regulated and protected job. the office workers are treated today like XIX century workers I would say. Non regulated work time, overtime, burnout is normalized. This shit ain't normal.
On the other hand, does any one knows how to find an IT company organized at least like an average warehouse? I've worked from micro, through medium to big IT companies looking for a well structured, organized IT company or how to find one. An average warehouse is better organized the most IT companies. People in a grocery store have better work ethics then in an average IT company.Those are my observations. Agile after what I saw is an excuse for chaos and incompetence. Never I have seen a company using any flavour of Agile and being organised at the same time.
Nobody, when applied to non-IT company, would close me in an empty room with a big wallscreen and no fucking big head would shout on me during interview. This happend to me in a big well known Berlin startup. Such shit happend to me many times during my interviews. Another thing, the non office worker has better regulated and protected job. the office workers are treated today like XIX century workers I would say. Non regulated work time, overtime, burnout is normalized. This shit ain't normal.
I applied for 3 jobs and got 5 interviews. That was UK, where are you?
Easy answer is your CV might be poorly written.
I'm definitely no expert, but my CV is my contact info first, then one short paragraph describing myself, then a skills matrix of:
Make sure you mention every common keyword you see in job adverts for the sort of role you want at least once.
Easy answer is your CV might be poorly written.
I'm definitely no expert, but my CV is my contact info first, then one short paragraph describing myself, then a skills matrix of:
language | years | relevant sub things
e.g.
javascript | 15 years | react, angular, node, jquery
C# | 13 years | .Net Core, EF6, EF Core, ASP.Net
2013-2016 Senior Software Engineer, Acme Consulting
- Designed and Implemented purchase order system for core product in C# and SQL Server
- Headed up greenfield project of new invoicing product built with react + node
- championed and headed up switch from SVN to Git
Make sure you mention every common keyword you see in job adverts for the sort of role you want at least once.
Post your resume here first
Seems impossible at the moment. Most interviewers I had in the past year were hostile and seemed intimidated. I think people are afraid to hire.
There is also the indecisiveness, hiring managers that don't know what they want and of course the broken hiring process.
There is also the indecisiveness, hiring managers that don't know what they want and of course the broken hiring process.
i think the title is misleading.
better: "Ask HN: HOw can I get a job I really want?"
or, it sounds like you want even more than that.
which is fine.
but that's very different than 'how do i get a job?'.
better: "Ask HN: HOw can I get a job I really want?"
or, it sounds like you want even more than that.
which is fine.
but that's very different than 'how do i get a job?'.
It's generally agreed that online applying is a crapshoot. Between automated resume screen-outs (my current issue), "fake" job listings posted for compliance reasons and other issues this seems to be considered the worst method. If I had to estimate: Probably around 70% of applications I've sent out have been ignored, and the other 30% were very quickly screened out.
From what I've seen, two alternatives are always suggested. One is to search through your network. Unfortunately I don't really have a network. Most of my past positions are filled with lifers who are still at the company when I worked with them. Others, I just don't have the sort of professional relationship to just reach out and ask. The other alternative is to site back and let recruiters come to you. This did not work for me. After opening up my profiles and updating my information, I had surprisingly few recruiters coming in. The ones that did were either just shopping bad roles (poor pay, body shops), spamming roles completely irrelevant to my experience (junior roles, roles that would obviously fall through as I'm not the type they're looking for) and of course, the robotic, spammy Amazon recruiters.
The tiny minority of recruiters that do not fit the above category, frankly were hiring for roles that I just don't want. My past [professional] experience has been with a specific tech stack at companies that aren't the greatest. These are the sort of roles I get because well, it make senses, on paper I'm completely qualified. While I'm attempting to follow through with one of these because the pay seems ok, the reality is that I don't really want another role like that. They've been negative to my growth both career wise and tech wise, and I'd like to take my career in another direction.
So then what can I do? Compared to everyone else bragging about how hot the market is, my experience has been a complete crapshoot. It'd be unlikely for me to ever land a role I really want, but can I not have any standards at this point?