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Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

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Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#271

Post by skrebbel »

azangru wrote: post #255
wizardforhire wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This and… Use your new free time by not applying to… Work on a project that interests you and share it online Exercise both physically and fiscally Spend time with people you care about and also care about you And keep working on projects and sharing them, maybe even with hn The comments on here are legion of individuals who post some project and have to then fight away recruiters…

What do fiscal exercises look like?

I think they mean “learn to buy cheaper groceries” but I hope they mean “deadlift 20 years of income tax filings”

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#272

Post by gloosx »

I got laid off at the end of the last year and had some savings which allowed me to live comfortably for another 6 months jobless. I enjoyed this time, worked on some personal projects, and learned a lot. Eventually ran out of savings and started applying in the spring – the recruiter will set up an interview for you very quickly, so there was no problem on that side, although the quality is low, usually, it is a mechanical interview for X/Y/Z 10000-employee conglomerate looking for 10001st with cosmic high expectations (from a 2007 methodical book), so you have to rely on the quantity a lot to find what you want (it's a good practice anyway). In the end, I was lucky to find my gem by leaving a short resume in an HN "Who wants to be hired" thread :) You never know when and where you will find your destiny – but you can always pull more out of the chance – if you advertise vigorously!

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#273

Post by whatatita »

ItsBob wrote: post #85

I thought I'd add a data point to this discussion. I'm in the UK and the traditional dev/tech job route was via something like JobServe, Indeed etc., where you see a role advertised via an employment agency and you send your CV hoping for a callback. I'm in a stable contract so I'm not looking but two weeks ago, I was contacted by two agents, one day apart, both unrelated to one another, completely out of the blue. T…

I've had similar experiences with UK recruiters, and heard the same from colleagues and friends in the industry. Recruiters there seem to gather a lot of applicants for a role, promise the world, then drop most of them.

I have had good recruiters in the UK but they're few and far between.

Best to treat them like company contacts. Let them apply for a role or two for you, and contact somebody else for another role. I used a dozen recruiters at any one time when I was last applying in the UK.

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#274

Post by vegancap »

I got laid off, started working for an unfunded start-up, they ran out of cash. Had to look for other jobs, it took something like two months to find one. I applied to probably the most jobs I've ever applied for whilst on a job hunt. Previous job hunts have taken like... a couple of weeks and I've had multiple offers to choose from. It really came down to one solid offer this time around. Most of my applications were just rejected immediately, without even speaking to anyone. It's easily the worst I've ever seen it. I suspect a lot of jobs are waiting to see if folks laid off by Google/Meta/Twitter would apply, hence why I was getting rejected immediately, having not worked for one of them. Just a theory though... but either way, it's really really tough at the minute. Hang in there, mate. You will get something, it's just going to take a bit more digging this time around.

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#275

Post by Uptrenda »

I believe the market really is just bad right now. When I was job searching it probably took me 3 times as long. I noticed that there were hundreds of applicants per role when normally I'd have noticed less than 20 maybe? Even at my current company they told us that hundreds of people were applying. That's how many you have to beat just to get in the door.

I think it's caused by a number of factors:

(1) Investors are spooked about the health of the economy and are giving out less funding. Less funding = slower startup growth = less hiring for new roles.

(2) Since funding is slowing down startups can't count on future raises as much and are being told to preserving capital. Runway becomes more of a priority = also less hiring.

(3) ''"Covid revenue spikes lead to surges in hiring and lay offs when revenues reversed.'" I've been told it was only non-technical roles but I don't buy it.

I think what happened was companies needed to trim fat to satisfy scared investors and Covid was used as the perfect excuse to make layoffs seem like they were outside of companies control. But everything was about the mentality of scared investors. Investors were literally angry that more people weren't fired... So yeah, this is quite a toxic time to be in tech. But I do think it will stabilize eventually.

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#276

Post by selestify »

ImageXav wrote: post #214
fullstackchris wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, why should we have to be "motivated" to get a job, when the company can just get rid of us at any time? What's the point? Seems like a double standard.

You could also leave the company at any point, so why should they hire you? There's got to be some give and take in a relationship with an employer. If you're feeling exploited, you're not in the right role. And that will show in the quality of your work. Work can be fun and interesting, and someone who enjoys what they do will relish the opportunity to learn. I know that for me interviewing, though tough, has always…

That’s a luxury only affordable when there’s a wealth of choices available. If my choice is between a boring job from an employer I don’t respect, or no job at all, I’m taking that job.

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#277

Post by expertentipp »

skrebbel wrote: post #271
azangru wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do fiscal exercises look like?

I think they mean “learn to buy cheaper groceries” but I hope they mean “deadlift 20 years of income tax filings”

My self confidence and well-being from cardio was crushed by a 4-page letter from tax office in a language I don't understand, even though I speak 3 languages already.

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#278

Post by exikyut »

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: post #192
Tao3300 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Big gaps in employment Really curious what you suggest as a remedy for this one. It seems to boil down to "sorry, you're screwed now" or "lie but don't get caught"

I once took 3 years off to play an MMO game (not joking). After that had to restart from the bottom of the salary ladder, but climbed back pretty quickly. This is a universal secret weapon - drop your salary requirements, like, a lot, to get hired. You can usually climb back.

EVE Online? :P

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#279

Post by jwmoz »

ItsBob wrote: post #85

I thought I'd add a data point to this discussion. I'm in the UK and the traditional dev/tech job route was via something like JobServe, Indeed etc., where you see a role advertised via an employment agency and you send your CV hoping for a callback. I'm in a stable contract so I'm not looking but two weeks ago, I was contacted by two agents, one day apart, both unrelated to one another, completely out of the blue. T…

The UK job market, particularly London is pretty good for this. I had a bunch of recruiters doing this end of last year when I started looking for a new role. They are incentivised to put the work in.

Re: Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?

#280

Post by fxtentacle »

Be careful when batch applying. My company, for example, requires applicants to repeat a code word in the email subject line. Last time we had an opening, it was clearly stated in the job description, yet 90+% of applicants didn't do it. We then sorted them onto the same pile as those guys from India that booked a CV spamming service, meaning no human ever looked at the CVs of people who didn't follow this simple request.
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