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Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#371

Post by burlesona »

Miktor wrote: post #349

This is probably a long shot - and I'm sure you'll see quite a few posts like this over the coming weeks - but I'm going to swallow my pride and ask nonetheless. I've been a data entry clerk for the past twenty years, working for a major bookmaker in Northern Ireland. With the coronavirus pandemic hitting recently, many businesses have decided to lay off large numbers of staff. I've just become one of the unfortunate…

Hey Miktor,

It was quite a while ago now, but I got into software from almost the exact same place you're in now: I'd been laid off in my previous career, and I needed a job really bad. I'd been hacking stuff on the side, and I used that as my resume. I found that Stack Overflow Jobs had a lot of remote options, as well as sites like We Work Remotely. It's worth applying to a handful of companies and writing a good cover letter just telling them your story and how excited you are to move into software. I think you'll be successful.

Best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#372

Post by justinv »

0x5002 wrote: post #265
benttoothpaste wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are on H1 then once you lose your job you'll be immediately out of status. Now being out of status is not a very big deal, but it does mean you'll need to find a new employer willing to sponsor you as soon as possible. USCIS is generally forgiving if your out of status period is not too long (they might require you to leave and then re-enter the country to get back to status though). Also living out of status…

As far as I'm aware, that is only true for L1, not H1B, which has a 60 days grace period. I don't know how it affects folks with AOS to an I-485, though.

I believe it's like this:

L1 - if you lose your job and you have no other status (ie have not filed for green card or have your H1B), that's it. You have to leave within 60 days and you cannot work at another company in the US.

H1B - you can switch to a new company and they port your H1B with USCIS. Otherwise, 60 day grace period to leave.

Adjustment of Status to 485 - if it has been pending with USCIS for more than 180 days & you have your EAD, you can port to another company under the AC-21 act.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#373

Post by jee1shi »

dathinab wrote: post #192

My predictions: DISCLAIMER: I'm not a expert wrt. any of this. Don't listen to me ;=). It's all just speculation. Companies which plan to downsize since a will will do it now, using COVID19 as a excuse. Companies who have shifted some "bad consequences" into the future might now book them using COVID19 as a excuse for why they exist. Companies who are already on the last straw will end now, (Such which without COVID1…

What's the difference between a software engineer and "just" a programmer?

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#374

Post by ptero »

generatorguy wrote: post #100
pletsch wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are all your clients technical? If not, might want to consider a revamp of your site, make it more what your work will do for them (online presence) than your specific skill set (PHP, Drupal).

and remove the comment about sneaking an easter egg in to drupal core. If I were looking to hire a web developer I wouldn't want a sneaky one.

This.

Also, I would not worry about making your site high-tech. Plain HTML is fine. A wall of text is fine. But I would focus more on explaining what you can do ("build a website supporting X", "integrate Facebook, cell phone, IoT alerts"; whatever), not the tools or languages you use. For extra credit, link to a few small examples to showcase some of the cool features you can do. My 2c.

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#375

Post by skissane »

TAForObvReasons wrote: post #128
edouard-harris wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chiming in here with a bit of data on the hiring side of things. I'm the cofounder of SharpestMinds, an ISA-powered mentorship marketplace for data scientists. For all the obvious reasons, we track the hiring rates for our grads very closely and have been keeping close tabs on the pandemic's effects on the tech job market. Our observations so far: 1. Hiring in tech has definitely not gone to zero, even for the junior…

> SaaS businesses with predictable revenue streams and some degree of economic insulation from the "meatspace" economy Those are most likely lagging by a few weeks or a month. Monthly subscriptions are arguably the easiest to cut and companies are looking to cut non-essential services.

Subscription models vary across SaaS vendors (and even across different offering tiers at the same vendor). At the low end of the market, monthly subscriptions are the norm. As you move up to bigger deal sizes, annual subscriptions become more and more common.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#376

Post by puzzledobserver »

Cyberdog wrote: post #34

I'm a contract full-stack web developer. I've been "laid off" in that my last remaining client, who was already behind on her bills, told me to stop all work and she has no idea if/when she'll be able to pay her outstanding bills. I have no idea where next month's rent is going to come from. If anybody needs some contract web dev done, check out my info at https://albright.pro/ and reach out ASAP. I will cut you one…

I am sorry to hear this. Would freelancing websites like Upwork be able to help? I hope things work out soon!

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#377

Post by TecoAndJix »

impostervt wrote: post #87
Cyberdog wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, that's pretty much any job board. AngelList's jobs area [0] in particular has good deal of equity-only positions - no pay, but a share in future earnings (which, it can't be overemphasized, are entirely theoretical). Unfortunately, my landlord and debt-owners do not accept hope for the future as payment. 0: https://angel.co/jobs

I guess I meant more like, short term, not a real job. I'm stuck at home for a few weeks (through end of April likely), so why not try some random idea? Keep my skills up, have something to do, etc. If anyone has a halfway decent idea for an app or website, I'm a UI guy with a lot of time on his hands.

I have been watching Picard (the new Star Trek show) and came to the realization that all the greatest sci-fi interfaces do not have keyboards. Searching for a person? Tap here, tap there, swipe up, and push forward and BAM “looks like person of interest was on goobazoar on the night in question”! Anyways, I’m in the security space and have been doing lots of HackTheBox [0] in prep for the OSCP [1] this year. With active boxes, they kind of just throw you in the deep end and you just google tools and exploits to see if they work. After a few boxes you start using the same tools over and over again (enumeration mainly) and they are all command line based. there is this tool called metasploit [3] that is labeled a skiddy tool (script kiddy AKA run stuff without knowing what they do). it let’s you type in software/OS name, lists the exploit, add a few parameters and BAM! (Usually). In fact On the OSCP you can only use metasploit once because it’s so easy. We have metasploit pro at work and it’s GUI based and even easier! You can integrate it with their scanner (Nexpose) and make the whole process pretty streamlined from enumeration to exploitation. The problem is their pro tools are very expensive and all the FOSS stuff is command line and not integrated. You also have to use the keyboard! I have been imaging an interface where everything is touch based - a screen filled with little cards with pictures on them that do things. Click on one picture, does an action, and populates other cards on the screen. You drop these new cards in colored circles on the screen where it either turns green, yellow, or red. If a circle goes green the action worked and it becomes a gold card. You stack the gold cards together for an exploit chain and a successful stack means you rooted the box (or whatever goal you had). A lot of time paths you take seem promising but then don’t produce fruit so you would have to try different combinations of the gold cards. The ultimate skiddy tool! On mobile so apologies for the formatting.

[1] https://www.hackthebox.eu/ [2] https://www.offensive-security.com/pwk-oscp/ [3] https://www.metasploit.com/

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#378

Post by ccajas »

dathinab wrote: post #192

My predictions: DISCLAIMER: I'm not a expert wrt. any of this. Don't listen to me ;=). It's all just speculation. Companies which plan to downsize since a will will do it now, using COVID19 as a excuse. Companies who have shifted some "bad consequences" into the future might now book them using COVID19 as a excuse for why they exist. Companies who are already on the last straw will end now, (Such which without COVID1…

A remark about the unrelated tip: A good chunk of companies, if not the majority, out there are looking for "just a programmer", noted by how much they advertise and place emphasis that you must know specific languages and software tools (especially if React or Java is gonna be part of your job title), over broader concepts like design patterns and algorithms.

This can be a problem when you want to sell yourself as a proper SWE, when the people in charge of the hiring pipeline only understand simple pattern-matching for "React Wizard with 5 years experience". And you can't be too picky about where you want to work, even though they might continue to be picky for employees. It unfortunately makes it so you either already have to already be a very good match for their specific needs, or you are compelled to lie on your resume.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#379

Post by lainga »

linsomniac wrote: post #351
Eiriksmal wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>market was already fairly saturated ... did not appear to be seriously hiring ... an employers market This was my experience in the job market last year, as well. A lot of open listings, but curiously picky requirements for who would be considered for a role. I definitely got the impression that companies were just idly trawling for fresh meat, without seriously pursuing any senior talent (read: highly experienced a…

Last year we were hiring, for both junior and senior positions, and had a hell of a time finding people to make offers to. We were absolutely serious and did end up hiring someone. I will say though that we were definitely on the picky side. Our company tends to have a very hard time getting rid of employees that aren't working out, so we are extremely reluctant to hire a "maybe".

Local law?

Re: Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

#380

Post by hkmurakami »

_bohm wrote: post #367
WFHRenaissance wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apply for jobs at defense contractors, they're always looking for people that know C++. It will not be glamorous work, but I think it might be a good bet for you. Raytheon Missile Systems is hiring in Tuscon Arizona, inquire about remote work. Also, I recommend you learn SQL (just learn SQL Server or Postgres).

OP specified they live in Northern Ireland so it is unlikely they will be able to get a job with an American defense contractor as a non-citizen who can't obtain a security clearance.

They should have various tiers for security levels. What is often the challenge is that the most interesting work requires citizenship + clearance. Since OP is fine with rote work there might be some possibilities here.
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