21–30 of 94 posts
Interest rates are probably at their peak. Speculation about interest rate cuts have begun. It's not long before tech companies start hiring again for fear of missing out on the best candidates.
That might not be enough to get you fat FAANG cash. But, it will definitely get you “A Job”.
You mostly need to be able to talk like you have not been coasting at your previous job for the past 11 years. Get up to date with the C++ 20 standard and be able to speak intelligently about it and you’ll be doing better than most.
Re: Mentors - reach out to someone who you enjoyed working with in a previous role, looked up to, and would enjoy working with again. Just ask them to have a quick chat, and have specific questions about your job hunt ready - ask them to share their approach to a job search, share what you've done, and ask if they have any advice for improvement. If the chat goes well, you can ask if it's alright if you reach out again. You don't necessarily need a full "mentor", just some guidance.
Re: Referrals - This is not strictly about typical "referrals", but if you can have a chat with a recruiter, you often can similarly cut through initial screens / red tape.
I have had a ton of luck reaching out directly to in-house recruiters for roles I'm interested in on LinkedIn. They're often constantly on LinkedIn, frequently doing outbound, and IME they're often happy that someone reached out - and this can be more effective than spending an hour hand-crafting a cover letter. Keep the message to a couple sentences, share why you're interested in the company, and again, ask to have a quick chat.
End of year is the worst time to be looking even in bullish markets; New Year is always when hiring picks up as the hiring managers are finished with their vacations, new budgets are in, and the summer vacation is too far away to mess up the process.
Pesonally I'd pick a "enjoyed bug fixing" over leetcode-prepped every time. My tip is to focus on soft skills; being amusing in interviews has always been my superpower :)
This post title struck a chord with me. I was PIP'd from Amazon earlier this year and am currently on a medical leave which is going to end very shortly. I'm going to have to go back to work and probably will just take the severance and GTFO because culture in my org is toxic and unreasonable, and my first PIP was designed from the start to be impossible. I was a high performer, but have no real mentors. I have a cou…
In 2014, I relocated to the Bay Area with my spouse and one-year-old child, armed only with $9k USD and 2 bags of belongings for the whole family. I had secured a job, but unexpectedly, the company ran out of funds within six months. The first week after my termination, I was just lost in space and time, freaking out. Over the next two weeks, I applied to every possible software engineering job, sending at least a th…
2014 was basically peak ZIRP and startup era. I don’t think this could be replicated today. I know way too many people from Google/Meta layoffs who are still looking despite willing to take pay cuts, just to keep the lights on.
Software isn't done eating the world yet; it is worth hanging in there. End of year is the worst time to be looking even in bullish markets; New Year is always when hiring picks up as the hiring managers are finished with their vacations, new budgets are in, and the summer vacation is too far away to mess up the process. Pesonally I'd pick a "enjoyed bug fixing" over leetcode-prepped every time. My tip is to focus on…
In 2014, I relocated to the Bay Area with my spouse and one-year-old child, armed only with $9k USD and 2 bags of belongings for the whole family. I had secured a job, but unexpectedly, the company ran out of funds within six months. The first week after my termination, I was just lost in space and time, freaking out. Over the next two weeks, I applied to every possible software engineering job, sending at least a th…
2014 was basically peak ZIRP and startup era. I don’t think this could be replicated today. I know way too many people from Google/Meta layoffs who are still looking despite willing to take pay cuts, just to keep the lights on.
One thing you didn’t mention is your resume. Are you writing the right thing when applying? Saying you’ve worked on bug fixing most of the time is a great skill but needs to be communicated differently.
Something like:
A team player with long experience improving legacy code bases and maintaining projects with little guidance.
Working with different languages is fantastic too, ensure having example for each but in your resume intro (objectives), focus on your highest skill and make keywords related to the job description in bold. Recruiters spend only 6 seconds skimming resumes so make sure to give them a reason to stop and read.
Make your LinkedIn profile up to date, populate all your skills and your work history.
Good luck!
This post title struck a chord with me. I was PIP'd from Amazon earlier this year and am currently on a medical leave which is going to end very shortly. I'm going to have to go back to work and probably will just take the severance and GTFO because culture in my org is toxic and unreasonable, and my first PIP was designed from the start to be impossible. I was a high performer, but have no real mentors. I have a cou…