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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?

#201

Post by ktrulr »

hmwhy wrote: post #93

There are a lot of good advice given to you already and I just thought I'd share some of my personal experience with you since I some of your experience are similar to mine mostly because you appear to be self-taught. I found out the hard way that "being able to learn fast" is a potentially very dangerous mindset to have when you are looking for an entry-level job for the following reasons: * You could easily open yo…

Great advice. Could you share some advice/tips for an Individual contributor tech role for someone in 40's?. I haven't faced an interview for a long time. Familiar with latest technologies. I am not desperate for a job change. But still I think, one doesn't want face rejections since it will hurt. @OP. Sorry about posting something relevant to you. I hope you will find a job soon.

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

#202

Post by all_usernames »

I'll give some nontechnical advice: make real human connections. Let people know you (as you have in this post) and be genuinely interested in their work and problems.

Throughout my career, from the first paid job I was offered to the best and most lucrative unsolicited offers I've received in senior management, it's all come down to personal connections. People that knew me personally and knew a little about my life, or secondary connections -- friends of friends.

Your location shouldn't make much difference these days -- everything is happening online. Ask around about meetups, panels, pair programming, clubhouse rooms, or anything else interactive where you can share a bit of your story.

I'm connected to some highly successful people, and their main secret sauce is connections. It's nothing mysterious, but really just basic human kindness, generosity, and a collaborative spirit goes a long way. I find most people genuinely want to be helpful and especially so for people who have achieved some level of success already. So the other part of the advice is to scan your world for accomplished people, and just tell them your story. (Better yet, ask what their problems are and offer to solve something for them.)

This was a great Ask HN, thanks for taking the chance.

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

#203

Post by DuckBoy »

killtimeatwork wrote: post #191
klondike_klive wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about if I was a stay-at-home dad for a year? I haven't included that in my resume - I figured if I were asked I have no problem speaking about it, I'm actually super proud of it, it just doesn't strike me as something I should put in my list of experience.

Employers worry about gaps in CV because of two possible scenarios: - you were actively looking, but were unable to find a job during that whole time - for them it's social proof that you suck - you're actually picky and "high maintenance"

"you were actively looking, but were unable to find a job during that whole time - for them it's social proof that you suck"

Gee... I would hope I don't suck. Most places I apply to ghost me when they find out I'm deaf! They don't want to "deal with accommodations".

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

#204

Post by lynguist »

leesalminen wrote: post #52

Just an anecdote for you- in 2009, I wanted to drop out of college because I preferred partying. I obviously needed income and was dissatisfied with the jobs I’d had in the past (fast food, waiting tables and hotel customer service). Like you, I had always been a tech “nerd” and had built websites and recycled computers for my church/charities in the past. One day I came across a job post for a small SEO firm that wa…

But how did you pay for your livelihood at 11$/h? That costs in the end more than what you make! I was in a similar situation, but I quit because the job was costing me more money (paying for transit and food) than I was earning.

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

#206

Post by literallycancer »

oehtXRwMkIs wrote: post #122
ARandomerDude wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^ 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?

If you are starting from scratch, just choose the stack with highest average compensation.

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

#207

Post by Temporarily21 »

Layke1123 wrote: post #62

Unless you love learning to code and love continuous pressure to learn even more, don't get an entry level as a software engineer. Try to find a job that only takes one or two deep level of knowledge in a tech stack, and keep that. What most companies want an entry level job today is someone willing to work 120 hours a week to meet arbitrary deadlines to maximize profits. Avoid FAANG.

What would be an example?

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

#208

Post by LoudPipes »

ChicagoDave wrote: post #149

Lots of good advice here. I'll add learn AWS. The video training on acloudguru.com is excellent. If you get a few certifications (udemy.com has excellent test prep) under your belt, that may open doors and it's all remote-enabled work. For a few hundred dollars and focused time, you can learn a lot about modern software development.

AWS has plenty of free AWS courses: https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?price=price-free&q=AWS...

FreeCodeCamp on youtube has plenty of free, high-quality content.

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

#209

Post by CptFribble »

nec4b wrote: post #194
pbreit wrote: post #15

The boards are pretty good. https://weworkremotely.com/ https://www.tecla.io/ https://remote.co/ https://www.flexjobs.com/ And if you're up for it, I highly encourage trying to try Zapier which is an amazing company and has terrific remote recruitment. Even if you don't get the job, great experience. https://zapier.com/jobs/

> And if you're up for it, I highly encourage trying to try Zapier which is an amazing company and has terrific remote recruitment. Even if you don't get the job, great experience. I've just check their job openings. In their application form they are asking questions about race, ethnicity, gender,... Is it legal to ask such questions and what is the relevance of such questions?

The reason they ask is that companies are obligated to hire without regard for race, gender, etc - but in the past, many companies would exclude minority groups on purpose but just say "oh we just pick the best candidates, not our fault they're all of the same race."

So the way we are trying to solve this problem is by requiring all companies to collect demographic information on their candidates, and store it somewhere. No one involved with the hiring (theoretically) will see your answers, they just go into a drawer somewhere.

Down the road, the government will ask the company to pull out all the records they collected and look at them in aggregate. If the company is not hiring a diverse enough workforce, there are supposed to be some kind of consequences.

So essentially, companies are required to ask, but you are not required to answer. There will always be an option to say "I prefer not to answer" or something.

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