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Ask HN: What is the job market like?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the job market like?

#11

Post by nsvd2 »

red_hare wrote: post #7
ge96 wrote: post #3

Check r/cscareerquestions ha usually blood bath for juniors eg. thousands of applications to try and land a job. r/experienceddevs too a little different vibe there but some insight on job market But hey if you don't use AI when doing an interview, might have a better leg up than those that do eg. pause for 5 seconds between responses, ear piece, looking at a screen, someone replacing you after hiring, etc...

> pause for 5 seconds between responses I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I've gotten so aggressive about monitoring for this. I do most interviews zoomed in on the candidate's eyes and I rubric on how they "thought" through the problem, not just the results. Thankfully the interview tools are catching on as well and now tracking this like browser focus, number of monitors, window size, and sending notifications whe…

Surely all of those metrics can be easily gamed by a competent software engineer.

Re: Ask HN: What is the job market like?

#12

Post by not_your_vase »

I don't have lived experience, but "Who is hiring" had only 2 or 3 posts from my country this whole year. Until about 2 years ago there were 5-8 posts in each threads.

(I'm in a small central-European country, that is full of tech companies, both domestic and international)

Re: Ask HN: What is the job market like?

#13

Post by itstotallykyle »

Been applying since January after a startup layoff and seeing mixed results. I have 14 years of experience spanning datacenter ops, Security certs, and all 3 major clouds. I’ve led hundreds of people across multiple technical disciplines.

Right out of the gate, I was getting great callbacks and final rounds. Then, around April, the pipeline completely dried up. I’m doing the work for EVERY application like generating custom resumes, tailored cover letters matching their culture, and engaging with leadership on LinkedIn.

I’m down to one lead at my partner’s company, but it’s a long shot. It feels like a lot of DevOps/SecOps/IT leadership roles are evaporating. Partially because companies are over-indexing on AI/LLMs to handle architecture complexity without realizing what those tools actually lack in practice.

After climbing the ladder for over a decade, I’m worried about the future of the market, but I’m not ready to stop fighting. Has anyone else with a leadership/infra background hit this exact same wall since April? How are you pivoting your approach?

Re: Ask HN: What is the job market like?

#14

Post by mooreds »

red_hare wrote: post #7
ge96 wrote: post #3

Check r/cscareerquestions ha usually blood bath for juniors eg. thousands of applications to try and land a job. r/experienceddevs too a little different vibe there but some insight on job market But hey if you don't use AI when doing an interview, might have a better leg up than those that do eg. pause for 5 seconds between responses, ear piece, looking at a screen, someone replacing you after hiring, etc...

> pause for 5 seconds between responses I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I've gotten so aggressive about monitoring for this. I do most interviews zoomed in on the candidate's eyes and I rubric on how they "thought" through the problem, not just the results. Thankfully the interview tools are catching on as well and now tracking this like browser focus, number of monitors, window size, and sending notifications whe…

We actually state in our job listings that we will have an onsite interview as part of the process (we pay for travel/hotel, of course!).

Seems to weed these folks out.

Re: Ask HN: What is the job market like?

#15

Post by MeetingsBrowser »

bwestergard wrote: post #8

To go by the numbers, it's pretty good. Not as good as the truly anomalous post-pandemic peak of hiring. But still good compared to almost every other occupational group. https://www.comptia.org/en-us/resources/research/tech-jobs-r...

I don’t know how to make the statistics match my perceived reality.

Both in this thread, and people I know in real life who are looking for jobs are struggling hard. Mass layoffs are becoming more common and the time spent between jobs is measured in six month increments.

And yet, the numbers say we are in a hiring market with more job openings than ever, except for during the pandemic.

My perceived reality and the numbers almost could not be further apart.

Re: Ask HN: What is the job market like?

#16

Post by tomashertus »

not_your_vase wrote: post #12

I don't have lived experience, but "Who is hiring" had only 2 or 3 posts from my country this whole year. Until about 2 years ago there were 5-8 posts in each threads. (I'm in a small central-European country, that is full of tech companies, both domestic and international)

Just guessing, Czechia? The Central European software engineering market seems to be softening as well, likely due to second-order effects from the U.S. tech layoffs and decreased demand for remote roles from SV companies.

Re: Ask HN: What is the job market like?

#19

Post by skylurk »

nsvd2 wrote: post #11
red_hare wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> pause for 5 seconds between responses I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I've gotten so aggressive about monitoring for this. I do most interviews zoomed in on the candidate's eyes and I rubric on how they "thought" through the problem, not just the results. Thankfully the interview tools are catching on as well and now tracking this like browser focus, number of monitors, window size, and sending notifications whe…

Surely all of those metrics can be easily gamed by a competent software engineer.

> competent software engineer

hired :)

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