I am not laid off but I am looking. There is a lot less jobs available. The ones on LinkedIn are all old job posts being refreshed and don’t exist anymore. I was finally able to get 1 interview with Google because I reached out to the same recruiter I rejected a few months prior for another role.
Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
261–270 of 332 posts
Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#262Looking to quit w/o anything lined up. Rejected a few offers before the shit hit the fan. Starting to hate the field and need some time to think.
Wait til right before the summer, not only will the picture economically be more clear, but there's a summer to enjoy. Right now is a slower holiday season where you'd expect a more relaxed work experience, and a bad time to travel or enjoy life. That assumes you're in the northern hemisphere!
Thanks for the tip! I’m in CA.
Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#263Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can second this, after doing this many years the recruiters start to swarm your phone and inbox starting in January.
I can third this. Usually companies are busy making plans for the new year. Then somewhere near February is where they start looking for the people who can make it happen.
So January will be quiet as well?
Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#264I'm not laid off but actively looking to change after spending a couple of years at my current employer. Despite being a staff engineer, managing 12 engineers, and having a solid revenue stream tied to my current team - I've mostly gotten rejections without interviews, 1-2 low ball offers, or radio silence. I cannot imagine how hard this must be for those laid-off, hopefully this storm passes soon. EDIT: you cannot m…
Red flag for me immediately re: your current company is a staff engineer (no offense meant at all, but staff is not a people leadership role typically) managing 12 people (which is far too many for any individual to manage).
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Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#265I'm not laid off but actively looking to change after spending a couple of years at my current employer. Despite being a staff engineer, managing 12 engineers, and having a solid revenue stream tied to my current team - I've mostly gotten rejections without interviews, 1-2 low ball offers, or radio silence. I cannot imagine how hard this must be for those laid-off, hopefully this storm passes soon. EDIT: you cannot m…
Red flag for me immediately re: your current company is a staff engineer (no offense meant at all, but staff is not a people leadership role typically) managing 12 people (which is far too many for any individual to manage).
I remember once a bank director telling me he manages 100 people. Inner eye rolled hard. Being in charge is not managing.
Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#266Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, but how much would you be willing to give up when you're old and decrepit to have one year off in the prime of your life? And that's assuming you even live long enough to get to retirement...
I think there is an assumption hidden in your words, that years earlier in life are in some way more valuable/fun/important than years later in life. I get it, HN's demographics skew really young, and I bet a lot of people here believe that. Even as I approach elderliness, I still feel that every year of my life has become much more joyful, exciting and enriching than the previous year. I would absolutely not trade a…
Looking at my grandparents, they definitely had some good retirement years. Then some medical issue hits and it seems things go downhill very fast. Point is, you never know how many good years you'll get...
Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#267Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#268Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've not been laid off either. I'm currently taking a break from jobs. I'm starting to think that it's time to go back to full-time employment. But I'm looking at the job market and think it might be better to give it 4-6 months. Let all the companies that are going to do layoffs have their layoffs and then join a company still looking for new devs in a few months.
>But I'm looking at the job market and think it might be better to give it 4-6 months. I'm fascinated by this. How does one do this? Two options I can think of are being independently wealthy and being dependent on another. Are there other ways to accomplish being so comfortable with, "eh, gonna be unemployed another 4-6 months and see what happens"?
Don't mean to sound condescending but I am fascinated by this fascination.
If you move to SEA your cost of living might be as low as $500/m depending on the frugality and living standards. Its not for everyone obviously due to various life circumstances (caring for relatives, wife with kids, illness). But for the young, single and free there is a world out there that doesn't require you to have a 300k/y job to survive in upper Manhattan and service the car / house loans :)
I wish people explored the world a bit more. It really does give perspective in terms of how the rest of 99% live outside of our tech bubble.
Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#269I'm not laid off but actively looking to change after spending a couple of years at my current employer. Despite being a staff engineer, managing 12 engineers, and having a solid revenue stream tied to my current team - I've mostly gotten rejections without interviews, 1-2 low ball offers, or radio silence. I cannot imagine how hard this must be for those laid-off, hopefully this storm passes soon. EDIT: you cannot m…
>> Despite being a staff engineer, managing 12 engineers, So this is actually a warning to me as a hiring manager. Good staff developers absolutely are technical leaders but if they have day-to-day people management skills I'm at best confused, at worst skeptical. Managing 12 engineers is a full time job before you even get to staff developer responsibilities.
Isn't this a responsibility of a an engineering manager and core competence? I believe Staff engineers work across squads and tribes to help solve various technical and architectural challenges.
Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)
#270Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, but how much would you be willing to give up when you're old and decrepit to have one year off in the prime of your life? And that's assuming you even live long enough to get to retirement...
I think there is an assumption hidden in your words, that years earlier in life are in some way more valuable/fun/important than years later in life. I get it, HN's demographics skew really young, and I bet a lot of people here believe that. Even as I approach elderliness, I still feel that every year of my life has become much more joyful, exciting and enriching than the previous year. I would absolutely not trade a…
In '09, I had a "year off" after the Netapp layoff and the job market wasn't exactly hopping.
I had WARN and severance that would last me all summer, fall, and a bit into the winter before I ran out of that.
So, I spent all summer and fall and a bit into the winter (the thing that finally had me head to my parents' house was a snow storm from the Dakotas heading east in October) driving, hiking, and taking photographs.
There were some hikes that I did then (petroglyphs at Ozette, Ramona Falls on Mt. Hood) that would be much more challenging now that a decade and a half have passed. My endurance for driving has also gone down - I noticed this coming back from Dickinson, ND after the eclipse of 2017 (I really should have gotten a hotel room in Minneapolis) compared to the last leg of a trip from Twin Falls, ID to SF in '08. I can't do 10h drives anymore like I could when I was in my thirties.
And so while there's the "a year off when you're 25 vs retire earlier in your 60s" debate, I would tend to argue for the "when it's a question of experiences to be had, regrets are often the more costly side of the equation when looking back on it later in life."
Also note that not everyone has the same life trajectory of a family and kids and grand kids to look forward to in their later years. For me (single, no kids, on the far side of the half way point between 18 and 81), I am very glad that I had my great road trip when I was in my 30s rather than trying to do it when I was retired.