Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

news.ycombinator.com

11–20 of 32 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#11
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. It's funny, I actually started all of this NOT using Git. I wasn't until I was about 3 months into the Python Geocoder I mentioned about did i start to use Git!

Yeah man, many people do that. It's just hard because maybe 50 resumes come through and you breeze through twenty githubs before writing down who to call back. Sometimes -- that's all you get ( a twenty second look), so make sure to explain your story in the cover letter.

What about if everything is in private repositories?

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#12
I see some common ground between us. I, too, got roped into being a generalist early. After 15 years it's an advantage (you can call yourself a consultant), but can be trying before that.

I suggest you pick the stack you enjoy the most, pick a project that gets you excited, and stop learning new things until you've mastered one (well, one set).

If you're not sure which that is yet, pick a newer technology that no one can claim deep experience in. I've seen people get involved in projects early on, start blogging and talking about it, and next thing they're being flown around the world to present at conferences with a good stream of consulting income. Pretty sweet gig. Does require excellent communication skills, but they can be learned and pay off forever.

When I read that you are using analytics to make improvements, I see an opportunity missed: quantify your impact in dollars. Engineers are usually bad at this, but managers are good (assuming a top down push for metrics, which is common), so talk to yours and find out how you're earning your keep. Then put that on the resume and see how it helps things.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#13

First off - don't listen to recruiters. Second, tailor your resume more towards programming/software engineering vs. IT/sys admin. If you want to get out of healthcare domain then consider dropping some of the references to that tech (Pick, SAP) and focus on more general stuff (python/java, SQL server). Edit: your resume looks great given that you've been working for 3 years. There are some really solid projects list…

In addition to that, OP should provide a URL for his geocoding project. It's more convincing if there's an actual demo to look at.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#14

small comment: Sometimes I like to see activity (on Github) for more than the last two months. It makes me wonder if someone is really passionate about building things, or is just looking for easy employment. You did a good job of addressing that in your HN post, but I would bet that a few companies are holding that (good activity, but only fairly recently) against you. Good news, that problem will fix itself with an…

I have a very empty github profile, because most of my work is in house. Plus personal projects have the potential to make some money, plus, it seems a bit of a security risk dumping everything, including settings files with passwords into github.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#15
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. It's funny, I actually started all of this NOT using Git. I wasn't until I was about 3 months into the Python Geocoder I mentioned about did i start to use Git!

Yeah man, many people do that. It's just hard because maybe 50 resumes come through and you breeze through twenty githubs before writing down who to call back. Sometimes -- that's all you get ( a twenty second look), so make sure to explain your story in the cover letter.

That's great, at least those 30+ will be safe from working in your "passionate" company. I mean you just have to open-source everything you are working on these days, right? And who cares about BitBucket, only mainstream things are "cool".

PS: can you point me to Google's latest search algorithm on GitHub? Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#17

They say that half the applicants can't even do FizzBuzz, but then we have people like you who can't find jobs. What is the true story?

It feels increasingly like there are too many programmers for too few programming jobs.

Here in Denmark many companies are so picky that they only hire people with a MSc in CS/CE. Many of them have also outsourced HR to recruiting companies which is an absolute disaster for people who are self-taught or only have a BSc.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#18
Find some local developer meetups and start connecting with folks there. You'll get a lot more actionable advice that is pertinent to your local market, and maybe one of them is willing to take a chance on hiring you to do Python development work with them.

Networking with recruiters will definitely lead you nowhere. They are only looking to place people that are a "sure bet" on paper, and aren't accustomed to sifting through for hidden gems like yourself.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#19
If you don't have a degree, then you will have to prove yourself through your work. Which you already have understood, which is smart.

I've looked through your projects specifically https://github.com/taurenk/PinPointGeocoder and it is decent code but not good enough, if these are the only projects you can show. The code has many newbie smells such as bare except clauses, faux modularization (the RegexLib class) and methods that are to long and to complicated. I think you need much more practice. In a few months, you can revisit the old projects you wrote and see how much better you can code them then.

What you've written in only 8 months is impressive (I wasn't very good after 8 months), but it's not there yet. If you go at it at 8 more months then I think you would make an excellent hire.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

#20
post #17

They say that half the applicants can't even do FizzBuzz, but then we have people like you who can't find jobs. What is the true story?

It feels increasingly like there are too many programmers for too few programming jobs. Here in Denmark many companies are so picky that they only hire people with a MSc in CS/CE. Many of them have also outsourced HR to recruiting companies which is an absolute disaster for people who are self-taught or only have a BSc.

If you can relocate, check the country just to the south from yours ;) Particularly the city of Berlin.
Post reply on HN