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Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

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Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#121

Post by noprocrasted »

devinprater wrote: post #108
noprocrasted wrote: post #66

It's primarily a discovery problem, on both sides of the market. Candidate-wise, everyone is slinging ChatGPT'd resumes left and right, which just leads to an arms race where the other side has to use LLMs to filter them, which just makes the situation even worse. The bar for "senior software engineer" is insanely low right now (and no, Leetcode doesn't count - I'm talking more pragmatic skills like being able to use…

Wait, you mean there are senior software engineers who don't know how to use a *nix terminal? I've been using them since I was like 16 or so.

They know that it's a magic box into which you paste whatever incantation is in the README.md or spoonfed to you by an LLM, but otherwise have no mental model of how it works. Hell, they didn't even have the reflex of pressing "arrow up" to correct a mistyped command. And don't get me started on the lack of mastery of their tools - whether Docker, package managers or other tools they use daily.

(and speaking of LLMs, those can actually be a wonderful teaching aid - but they don't seem to be bothered by their lack of knowledge and so don't even try to take advantage of them)

I bet the guys are good at Leetcode though, or whatever bullshit interview process that hired them. This is in a Western European company that has adopted all the "best practices" possible, and places high importance on career progression, and these are considered senior SWEs on track to become engineering managers.

Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#123

Post by NBJack »

iambateman wrote: post #22

I had a friend with plenty of experience in HR get laid off. He looked for a job for 13 months. One of the top 3 smartest people I’ve ever known looked for seven months and had to take a big step back in his career, despite having Amazon and Home Depot on his resume. Both of them said that even getting an interview was almost impossibly hard. These are people in different parts of the county, and in different industr…

HR, particularly recruitment, was one of the biggest hit departments when the blood-letting started at Meta in 2022. The hiring freeze that followed didn't help.

Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#124

Post by pbgcp2026 »

FireBeyond wrote: post #107
x3cca wrote: post #43

Candidate discovery is absolutely miserable right now. For a lot of people standing out is their resume and their LinkedIn page and the processes that exist just plain aren't getting the right eyes on those. If you're getting recruiters continually its probably less about your qualification (not to downplay them, I'm sure they're lovely) and more about being on a handful of company's candidate and talent banks. Every…

You can also tell how garbage a pipeline ATS screening and other such shit is by the sheer number of positions you see that are advertised for four to six weeks, go off-market only to re-appear 2-3 months later. You know what's even more exhausting for an employer than having to invest energy into the top of your hiring funnel? Having to redo it every few months because an ATS filtered much of the cream off the top a…

Those are the "visa applicants ghost jobs".

Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#125

Post by pbgcp2026 »

noprocrasted wrote: post #121
devinprater wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, you mean there are senior software engineers who don't know how to use a *nix terminal? I've been using them since I was like 16 or so.

They know that it's a magic box into which you paste whatever incantation is in the README.md or spoonfed to you by an LLM, but otherwise have no mental model of how it works. Hell, they didn't even have the reflex of pressing "arrow up" to correct a mistyped command. And don't get me started on the lack of mastery of their tools - whether Docker, package managers or other tools they use daily. (and speaking of LLMs,…

@noprocrasted - thank you for your 100% spot on comments. +1. And you summarised it so well that I hope they will be remembered by job seekers of today.

Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#126

Post by pibaker »

devinprater wrote: post #108
noprocrasted wrote: post #66

It's primarily a discovery problem, on both sides of the market. Candidate-wise, everyone is slinging ChatGPT'd resumes left and right, which just leads to an arms race where the other side has to use LLMs to filter them, which just makes the situation even worse. The bar for "senior software engineer" is insanely low right now (and no, Leetcode doesn't count - I'm talking more pragmatic skills like being able to use…

Wait, you mean there are senior software engineers who don't know how to use a *nix terminal? I've been using them since I was like 16 or so.

You can 100% work your way to a senior position without ever leaving windows. The people who are like that just don't tend to be hanging out on platforms like HN.

Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#127

Post by adi_kurian »

troupo wrote: post #116
adi_kurian wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people on Earth would trade up to your idea of a shitty job.

I don't succumb to statements of performative moral superiority. (I do succumb to feelings of hunger, so I might end up at one of those shitty jobs anyway)

Right, that was basically my point.

Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#128

Post by leonhard »

mbgerring wrote: post #27

My current job search has been the longest and most difficult of my career (5 months so far). Caveats: - I’m only applying with climate tech companies - I’m trying to transition back to engineering after a detour into product - I’m trying to pivot into more hardware-focused roles Most companies I apply to don’t respond at all, and I’ve had about 6 phone screens, two technical interviews, and one “we’d love to hire yo…

can you talk about the art installation section of your resume? it sounds really cool. how did you get into this niche and found projects? and is this kind of work not suitable as full-time freelance work?

Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#129

Post by maerF0x0 »

mbgerring wrote: post #27

My current job search has been the longest and most difficult of my career (5 months so far). Caveats: - I’m only applying with climate tech companies - I’m trying to transition back to engineering after a detour into product - I’m trying to pivot into more hardware-focused roles Most companies I apply to don’t respond at all, and I’ve had about 6 phone screens, two technical interviews, and one “we’d love to hire yo…

Be sure to talk with and apply at https://charmindustrial.com/ I dont have an in / network I can share with you, but Peter was a great person to work for :)

Re: Ask HN: Is the Job Market Actually Bad?

#130

Post by noprocrasted »

pibaker wrote: post #126
devinprater wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, you mean there are senior software engineers who don't know how to use a *nix terminal? I've been using them since I was like 16 or so.

You can 100% work your way to a senior position without ever leaving windows. The people who are like that just don't tend to be hanging out on platforms like HN.

To be clear, this was developing software running on *nix environments, and they were all using Mac (or WSL) and the usual open-source *nix dev tools. This is not a case of developers purely targeting Microsoft environments (indeed it would be excusable in that case).
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