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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?

#161

Post by crnkofe »

Here's my two cents. I'd strongly suggest as a junior hacker NOT to go job hunting without a decent portfolio(can be GitHub or similar) and at least one decent language or tech specialization. I've been recently through a lot of interviews as a senior and I can tell you the bar is very high. Making one or two mistakes on whiteboard coding is the end of that interview. Solving hackerrank challenges live while explaining how to do it is also quite hard and a very different skill from day-to-day software development. Also recruiters are trigger-happy in online interviews which are currently still the norm due to the pandemic.

I'd suggest to rummage through your existing network for opportunities. Also QA and IT Support roles with a bit of operations work might suit you since they involve a bit of software development but should be lighter on development skill-set requirements.

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

#162

Post by T-zex »

mettamage wrote: post #159
AlexDanger wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 rel…

Question: how do you deal with gaps in your resume? Let's suppose you were a machine learning engineer for 2 years, a web developer for another 2 and a product owner for 3 years. I presume that some experiences would almost make it seem that you're not dedicated to the role you're applying for if you leave them in. So you have to leave them out. How do you deal with that?

Why would you make such an absurd presumption? Life is life and there are lots of circumstances pushing you to make tough choices. Always being able to stick to your dream job or career path is not an option for most people.

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

#163

Post by ldjb »

mettamage wrote: post #159
AlexDanger wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 rel…

Question: how do you deal with gaps in your resume? Let's suppose you were a machine learning engineer for 2 years, a web developer for another 2 and a product owner for 3 years. I presume that some experiences would almost make it seem that you're not dedicated to the role you're applying for if you leave them in. So you have to leave them out. How do you deal with that?

That's an interesting question and something that hadn't really occurred to me.

Personally, over the past few years I've been a developer, a product owner and now a product manager.

But if I were to apply for a new developer role, would I leave out my current product manager role from my CV? Absolutely not!

It's generally considered a bad idea to have gaps in your CV. And actually having worked various roles can actually be to your advantage. There are transferable skills you would have gained as a product owner that you can apply to a developer role. In fact, very few developers will have the skills required to be a product owner, so employers should look favourably upon your skillset.

Case in point: my experience as a developer has put me at quite an advantage in the product management field. Due to my technical knowledge/experience, I can understand how systems work better than most other product managers, and I'm better placed to know what the development team needs of me.

So I would say, don't leave gaps in your CV, include all the really good experience you have, even if it is varied, and use that to your advantage to show how these experiences will help you in the role you're applying for.

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

#164

Post by fecak »

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…

Resume writer here. Don't overdo the resume customization thing - I've had clients who wanted to spend lots of time tailoring each line of a resume to the job, and the time invested really isn't worth it. Especially if it becomes far too clear to the reader that you were essentially pandering.

For most people, different resumes for different roles (web dev, mobile dev, etc.) make sense, but if you have 20 resumes for different roles you're probably applying for jobs that you are highly unqualified for - nobody has expertise in so many areas where they need 20 resumes. 2-3 for most is probably plenty.

The key difference in most resume customizations is how you define yourself to the reader. I use summaries to tell the reader who I WANT them to think you are. If the job is "web developer", I want to tell the reader right away that you are a web developer right in the summary. You've defined yourself as what they are looking for, checked their first (and most important box), and they will now keep reading.

If that summary said "embedded developer", they may stop reading. If there was no summary and your first job title is "data analyst", they may stop reading.

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

#165

Post by fecak »

mettamage wrote: post #159
AlexDanger wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 rel…

Question: how do you deal with gaps in your resume? Let's suppose you were a machine learning engineer for 2 years, a web developer for another 2 and a product owner for 3 years. I presume that some experiences would almost make it seem that you're not dedicated to the role you're applying for if you leave them in. So you have to leave them out. How do you deal with that?

What you are referring to aren't what we'd traditionally call gaps. Resume gaps are usually periods of unemployment. What you're referring to seems to be some career inconsistency.

I write resumes all the time for people who have bounced between different types of roles. In those cases, having a couple resumes makes sense. For the description you have in your comment, if this person is applying for ML roles, we provide more detail and emphasize that role. If they were applying for a product owner job, you emphasize that aspect and those skills.

As I mentioned in another comment, you can also use a summary to define yourself. If you're applying for product owner jobs, you define yourself as a product owner with skills in web dev and ML. If you're applying for a web dev job, you define yourself as a web dev with skills in ML and product.

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

#166

Post by dfraser992 »

AskHNremote2021 wrote: post #10
TurkishPoptart wrote: post #3

Very interesting. How did you find projects to contribute to in GitHub for documentation editing? I've always wanted to do this kind of work but haven't been able to find opportunities in it.

For GitHub, I looked at projects that interested me, but not necessarily having the skills to contribute code. So I would pour through the docs and find errors, typos, mistakes. These kinds of things. Cleaning up. Sometimes added documentation that was missing.

Here is a repo of options for freelance technical writing:

https://github.com/malgamves/CommunityWriterPrograms

In the process of doing this type of work, you surely will learn new things and probably will help you figure out exactly what you might want to focus on / become an expert at / etc. You'll come to understand systems from a user's perspective which always good for developers.

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

#167

Post by andi999 »

Just to consider: for your first job in tech, you actually do not want to work remote (since the first 2 years you learn how things are really done in that industry, and learning from coworkers). Then you can do remote work (if you do not need to think anymore to do the work). I understand you have different constraint, but if you find a good tech position, is it possible for you all to move for like 2 years?

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

#168

Post by charleyramm »

iainctduncan wrote: post #121

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…

I needed this advise myself a few years ago before landing a similar role. What helped me was claiming ‘job seekers allowance’ which comes with a requirement to grind out a certain number of applications per week.

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

#169

Post by blackrock »

ldjb wrote: post #163
mettamage wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: how do you deal with gaps in your resume? Let's suppose you were a machine learning engineer for 2 years, a web developer for another 2 and a product owner for 3 years. I presume that some experiences would almost make it seem that you're not dedicated to the role you're applying for if you leave them in. So you have to leave them out. How do you deal with that?

That's an interesting question and something that hadn't really occurred to me. Personally, over the past few years I've been a developer, a product owner and now a product manager. But if I were to apply for a new developer role, would I leave out my current product manager role from my CV? Absolutely not! It's generally considered a bad idea to have gaps in your CV. And actually having worked various roles can actu…

How’s the compensation (pay and/or stock options) for your product manager role now, as compared to your development roles of past?

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

#170

Post by blackrock »

playingchanges wrote: post #43

One more angle since I haven’t seen anyone mention it. Instructions on how to bootstrap a software portfolio: Pick a language (sounds like you chose JS which would be my pick as well), buy a copy of cracking the coding interview, make a leetcode.com account, make a codepen.io account, and get to work. If you’re smart and dedicated you can teach yourself this stuff and these are the best tools to help you in my opinio…

L33T Code teaches you nothing about building reliable, fault-tolerant, and performant computer systems.

It’s irritating as fck that these FANG companies are so brain dead, that this is all that they can focus on.

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