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Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

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Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#121

Post by iainctduncan »

Applying for remote work is a sales job. I have done it a bunch of times, landing work within two weeks each time, and this is how you do it:

- figure out for whom you are a good fit based on your experience - for whom and what are you a good solution?

- create a professional, to the point resume, highlighting your unique value prop for these people, and your experience that they will care about

- write a really good cover letter about it, and say in it "I realize you may not have considered remote, but I think I am a very good fit and would be a benefit to your company, would you consider discussing this possibility"

- go through stack overflow careers making a big list of everyone you'd be a fit for, regardless of whether they think they will hire remote. The whole world is your oyster.

- send out applications TWENTY TIMES A DAY. - follow up: after a few days, after a week, after two weeks, then drop them if you haven't heard.

That's really all there is to it, it's a sales grind. You get up and you do your TWENTY calls every damned day and you will find work.

Some folks might think these are high numbers, but here's the rub: when the answer come in, you want options. There's a sales saying: the best negotiating tool is a fat pipeline. If you get a hundred applications out in a week, and they take a few days to a week to get around to them, the following week you have a bunch to look into. But don't snooze, keep firing out another hundred that week until you close! That way, you get not just a job, but one that is actually good for you. You can do it, it's a sellers market in tech! So grind the numbers. Good luck! :-)

Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#122

Post by oehtXRwMkIs »

ARandomerDude wrote: post #37
seankimdesign wrote: post #31

Is your ultimate goal to break into the tech industry? If so, I'd spend a bit more time getting some actual working pieces of code on your GitHub. Editing documentation is a noble deed, but as an interviewer it wouldn't do much for me in assessing your skills. I know it takes a lot of effort as well as luck in landing that first entry-level job so all I can say is to keep knocking, but also be prepared to show someth…

^ This. I've known several people – usually in their early 20s – who claim to be smart and motivated. Most of them are smart. But when it comes time to actually build something, they'd rather play video games. So how do you distinguish yourself from the video gamers? Build something. Anything. If you want a full stack job, build a Twitter clone (with limited features) in React (or ReactNative) and Django. Even if you…

Is it still true that Java (with Spring) is still the best backed stack to know for finding jobs? Or is Python sufficiently popular now for someone to ignore Java?

Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#124

Post by catwind7 »

_drimzy wrote: post #109
beezechurger wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why cant ctci be supplemented by youtube videos? perfection is our enemy and many non faang jobs dont do LC interviews

Because ctci is a terrible book to start learning basics from. I agree with let perfect not be the enemy of the good, but CTCI/LC are not good, they are terrible and overwhelming for someone with no background in algorithms.

agree with this ^. Pretty sure the book was written with STEM (but really, comp sci) new grads in mind

Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#125

Post by msg »

whoknew1122 wrote: post #118
virtuous_signal wrote: post #30

As a self taught graduate in an unrelated major, in a rural area, I was fortunate to get an entry level job and then a fully remote job this past year. If you can do any contract work or part time work in the field to start with, that would help. Welfare helps. Then I would try to make sure not to target FAANG types of jobs or any markets where every job posting gets 300 bootcamp applicants. Some concrete advice belo…

> "Then I would try to make sure not to target FAANG types of jobs or any markets where every job posting gets 300 bootcamp applicants." The second job I landed in tech was a FAANG. I completely agree that you shouldn't target FAANG type jobs for your first job. Not because of the other applicants. I could care less about the other applicants. Where I work and do tech interviews (AWS), it's not about the other applic…

I interviewed people for Amazon as well before moving to another FAANG. All I would amplify here is that entry level is entry level, especially in software. None of the college hires have professional experience (maybe internships, but they had to start from nothing to get those anyway). So what you are trying to do is

1) not be an asshole; look at their leadership principles and figure out how you resonate with them; answer honestly if you never did that

2) beat the technical questions. they are a proxy for skills and experiences

I used and recommend Leetcode for #2... for entry level I don't think you should need the paid tier.

If there were a Leetcode for not being an asshole, I would recommend the paid tier.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#126

Post by brandall10 »

whoknew1122 wrote: post #115
mattbee wrote: post #56

Hey anon, I feel for you, and most of the answers here are giving you a 12-month plan when you need a 1-month plan. If you know Linux well enough to configure Wordpress, how about tech support for a hosting company? Try making some short email approaches to old-school hosting companies (I used to run one). They might be flexible enough to take a chance depending on how confident your approach is. They have lots of cu…

This is the advice I received when I first got into tech. Look for managed hosting services that run off Linux. WordPress, Minecraft, or just about anything that people sell as a managed service that runs off Linux. Another place to look into is web registrars. Once you get that first job, just soak up as much as you can. And keep studying on your offtime. Learning AWS is very valuable.

To add to your last comment, there are relatively cheap courses to help get AWS certifications on places like Udemy.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#127

Post by pknerd »

I know you're not asking about but did you think about starting your youtube channel and share what y you know and learning? This helps in multiple folds, you get to learn things in depth as you're teaching. You get another Income stream and it could present you as an authority.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#128

Post by gwbas1c »

gwbas1c wrote: post #119

I work remote. First: Employers hire people who can do the job, not sob stories. Focus on what you can do for a company, and only reveal your personal life situation when required. I have a wife that works odd hours and kids, but I will only bring it up in an interview when discussing how often I will need to travel to an office. (Often I'll just say that I can't move.) Second: I have almost 20 years experience and I…

I need to point something else out:

We (my wife and I) chose our situation. We chose to live where I'd have to work remotely. We chose that I would be responsible for balancing a career and childcare. We chose a lifestyle that requires two professional careers.

Why do I bring this up? Think back to when you decided to accept your situation as caregiver to your loved ones. What about your decision not to move. They were choices, even though they didn't feel like it at the time. (Did I have to marry and have kids?) That's why it's not relevant to your job search, beyond a simple "I can't move" phrase.

Everybody who makes good life choices has a situation that locks them down.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#129

Post by [deleted] »

rmk wrote: post #60
cjohnson318 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> pays well, and the learning curve is a bit lower I've done development and testing, and I would characterize QA as "same job, less pay". In both roles you struggle with vague requirements, lots of edge cases, and unrealistic deadlines. It is surprisingly difficult to get out of the QA pigeonhole. People assume the job is easier, and that you're not as capable as a developer.

As a developer, I emphatically disagree about the "same job" aspect. QA requires a pretty different mindset, one which developers lack entirely. This is particularly true about testing things like storage appliances, routers, switches, and such. Putting such complex systems through their paces requires specialist QA folks, including loads of manual QA'ing in addition to heavy automated QA. That said, despite how crit…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Advice for finding an entry-level remote job?

#130

Post by AlexDanger »

geocrasher wrote: post #99

I am sorry about the position you're in. For the last several years I have been balancing taking care of my terminally ill wife who recently passed away, all while working remotely in the web hosting industry. It's hard to balance. Harder than you think. Setting boundaries will be vital to being successful in any WFH role. Now that that's out of the way: You need to focus. You've described your abilities and that's f…

>Make multiple resumes, each with a focus on one thing. Use the resume that's best for the job. I recently saw somebody who must have had 20 different resumes to match the jobs they were applying for. It worked.

I'd like to second this methodology. It is a very effective approach. I've worked across multiple specialties within technology and I always tailor my CV to the job I am applying for. I highlight the most relevant experience and skills required and remove (or summarize) experience that is not relevant to the position.

Matching your CV to the job can be as simple as updating it to use the same keywords that you see on the job advert. It sounds trivial but many recruiters will filter job applications with a keyword search. If they dont see the exact keywords they are expecting, your CV will be thrown away.

Good luck!

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