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Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

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Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#31

Post by djangpy »

cheema33 wrote: post #13

Without seeing your resume, it is difficult to answer your question. For me, all the crypto stuff on a resume would be a flag. Maybe not a red flag, but pink or orange. I know it is a personal opinion, but the entire crypto industry is tainted in my eyes.

I have always seen Crypto as a red flag. Initially, there was just a suspicion, but then I ended up meeting with some Crypto people in real life, and corresponding with recruiters in the Crypto space. And if I was on the hiring department, Crypto on a resume would get a hard-pass from me. It filters out people with a mentality that I do not like to be around.

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#32

Post by hx8 »

starttoaster wrote: post #28
jstarfish wrote: post #22

> if my resume has black balled me as a hiring risk I think you're being a little paranoid. It's the market right now; everywhere is laying off or looking for ways to reduce headcount. This just isn't a good time. Despite that: > After probably a few hundred applications (mostly SWE but some product) I've only received first interviews from maybe ten? This has been my experience since internet applications became a t…

> Nothing about you really stands out as problematic, but in my own opinion your heavy startup/crypto background makes you seem like someone only interested in money/getting rich quickly. > You might be a great candidate, but I'd fully expect you to check out if a better offer even looked in your direction. Given a choice between you and a more-conservative candidate, I'd pick them. Something about this seems... off…

How much extra money would you need to leave your job and go to another one, with similar culture/benefits/other considerations? Most people wouldn't go for 1%. Many people wouldn't go for 15%. You have to take into consideration things such as the risk of moving to an unknown situation, the intangible benefit of your work place reputation where you currently are, the value of how your experience will look on your resume, etc. If given the choice between two candidates, the one that I suspect will leave for a 1% raise and the one that will need 15%, I'll hire the 15%.

Then there's the fact that some people have a perception that those in crypto/startups value promises of future money very highly. You wouldn't hire someone that you think will leave for a bit of equity the next time a hype wave hits tech.

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#33

Post by [deleted] »

hx8 wrote: post #32
starttoaster wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing about you really stands out as problematic, but in my own opinion your heavy startup/crypto background makes you seem like someone only interested in money/getting rich quickly. > You might be a great candidate, but I'd fully expect you to check out if a better offer even looked in your direction. Given a choice between you and a more-conservative candidate, I'd pick them. Something about this seems... off…

How much extra money would you need to leave your job and go to another one, with similar culture/benefits/other considerations? Most people wouldn't go for 1%. Many people wouldn't go for 15%. You have to take into consideration things such as the risk of moving to an unknown situation, the intangible benefit of your work place reputation where you currently are, the value of how your experience will look on your re…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#34

Post by hombre_fatal »

I was the first hire of a major bitcoin casino as my last main gig, but I don't think it's had any impact.

I'm having a pretty bad time landing interviews. I'm not trying too hard yet, but it's pretty disheartening to get rejected for jobs with a listing that matches exactly what I was doing at my previous job.

"Thanks for applying but we've moved on to other candidates!" on a job similar to what I just spent 6 years doing really makes me feel like an imposter. Is everyone else applying to this job an ex-FAANG SWE but me?

I'm sure it's mostly due to the super competitive market (I haven't looked for a job in 10 years). But I also realize I have no big names on my resume. And as big as the bitcoin casino might be, it doesn't seem to have helped me. I fear that maybe it's just not seen as a particularly legitimate job, and might even seem sketchy or corny.

Sometimes I wonder if the gig is up and I should just work at Costco for the season. I've only applied to 15 carefully selected jobs though. I would not be in a good mental state if I applied to 100+ like you have, jeez. I should start trying harder if that's what it's gonna take.

Maybe we should set up a Discord for some group support.

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#35

Post by starttoaster »

hx8 wrote: post #32
starttoaster wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nothing about you really stands out as problematic, but in my own opinion your heavy startup/crypto background makes you seem like someone only interested in money/getting rich quickly. > You might be a great candidate, but I'd fully expect you to check out if a better offer even looked in your direction. Given a choice between you and a more-conservative candidate, I'd pick them. Something about this seems... off…

How much extra money would you need to leave your job and go to another one, with similar culture/benefits/other considerations? Most people wouldn't go for 1%. Many people wouldn't go for 15%. You have to take into consideration things such as the risk of moving to an unknown situation, the intangible benefit of your work place reputation where you currently are, the value of how your experience will look on your re…

Speaking in percentages in this context is generally not super useful, in my opinion. For example, 15% on top of a $200k/yr salary is a pretty decent increase if we're talking about a similar role/set of responsibilities, and seemingly similar culture/benefits. That's almost an extra $800 take-home per paycheck. Assuming a semi-monthly payroll cycle. I just bought a new induction stove and oven for $900, that pay increase would have almost covered it by itself in 2ish weeks. We're talking about a lifestyle change with that bump.

15% on top of a $80k/yr salary on the other hand is a pretty measly $350 extra per paycheck. I wouldn't give up my current workplace culture for that, no.

> If given the choice between two candidates, the one that I suspect will leave for a 1% raise and the one that will need 15%, I'll hire the 15%.

I guess I want to know what magic intuition this hiring manager possesses to gauge what dollar amount a person they just met would be willing to walk away for, though, where they are sure the other person would surely walk for a 1% bump.

I work for a startup today, and can tell you that I've certainly considered looking to FAANG positions for a higher salary. I don't know how much other people pay attention to the performance of IPOs lately, but equity is not as nice as cash in hand right now. And I don't know how much people here pay attention to crypto news beyond the headlines, but DevOps/SW Engineers that work for failed crypto startups don't typically get the same dissolution payouts that the CEO/founder did. I believe using either background as a signal for a person's level of greed is hugely misleading.

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#36

Post by therealdock »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #34

I was the first hire of a major bitcoin casino as my last main gig, but I don't think it's had any impact. I'm having a pretty bad time landing interviews. I'm not trying too hard yet, but it's pretty disheartening to get rejected for jobs with a listing that matches exactly what I was doing at my previous job. "Thanks for applying but we've moved on to other candidates!" on a job similar to what I just spent 6 years…

Hey so first off, this is semi-unrelated but could we connect? I've been curious about the gaming/gambling industry for a very long time and would love to pick your brain on it.

I totally agree on the Discord support group as I'm in the same position as op and yourself.

https://discord.gg/6udgskZCAF

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#37

Post by throw06112023 »

djangpy wrote: post #31
cheema33 wrote: post #13

Without seeing your resume, it is difficult to answer your question. For me, all the crypto stuff on a resume would be a flag. Maybe not a red flag, but pink or orange. I know it is a personal opinion, but the entire crypto industry is tainted in my eyes.

I have always seen Crypto as a red flag. Initially, there was just a suspicion, but then I ended up meeting with some Crypto people in real life, and corresponding with recruiters in the Crypto space. And if I was on the hiring department, Crypto on a resume would get a hard-pass from me. It filters out people with a mentality that I do not like to be around.

You're not an employer, so your opinion is irrelevant.

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#38

Post by weddpros »

djangpy wrote: post #31
cheema33 wrote: post #13

Without seeing your resume, it is difficult to answer your question. For me, all the crypto stuff on a resume would be a flag. Maybe not a red flag, but pink or orange. I know it is a personal opinion, but the entire crypto industry is tainted in my eyes.

I have always seen Crypto as a red flag. Initially, there was just a suspicion, but then I ended up meeting with some Crypto people in real life, and corresponding with recruiters in the Crypto space. And if I was on the hiring department, Crypto on a resume would get a hard-pass from me. It filters out people with a mentality that I do not like to be around.

sounds just as bad as racism

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#39

Post by user_named »

edbaskerville wrote: post #16

I'm 41, haven't had a normal full-time job in my adult life (unless you count 5 years of grad school), and I will go seriously looking for work in a couple months! I have no evidence for the following outlook, but I'm depending on it: if you're educated, if you're skilled, if you're a motivated learner, and if you have a good attitude, then you're not unhireable. Rather, you're in a rather enviable, privileged positi…

Well, you clearly don't know how hiring works. If your resume looks off you're not getting anywhere. No matter how motivated.

Re: Ask HN: Am I unhireable?

#40

Post by strken »

starttoaster wrote: post #28
jstarfish wrote: post #22

> if my resume has black balled me as a hiring risk I think you're being a little paranoid. It's the market right now; everywhere is laying off or looking for ways to reduce headcount. This just isn't a good time. Despite that: > After probably a few hundred applications (mostly SWE but some product) I've only received first interviews from maybe ten? This has been my experience since internet applications became a t…

> Nothing about you really stands out as problematic, but in my own opinion your heavy startup/crypto background makes you seem like someone only interested in money/getting rich quickly. > You might be a great candidate, but I'd fully expect you to check out if a better offer even looked in your direction. Given a choice between you and a more-conservative candidate, I'd pick them. Something about this seems... off…

I like money too, but I also like other things. I have a bias towards staying at a company because of the non-monetary value of knowing other employees and knowing the work, and because I prefer stable steady money to a (slightly) greater amount of riskier new job money. There's a number where I'll leave, but I won't jump ship over e.g. a $5k difference unless I already want to quit for other reasons.

I don't think it's wrong to have a preference for employees like me when hiring. Churn has a cost and employees with a history of churn inflict that cost more often.

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