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Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

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Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#51

Post by begueradj »

Do not sound "desperate" like this in your job interviews (no offense) because an employer will not hire you to solve your problems, but to solve his problems. And do not have a "begging attitude" because you offer your services (skills). Your eventual employer is your client (client of your competence).

> but even still with low expectations I'm not getting many replies.

Do not sell your skills cheap. If you have low expectations, seek for less qualified jobs while applying for what you feel you are meant for.

Many people went through more or less tough a situation. So do not panic. It is ok to go from failure to failure until the final success.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#52

Post by colund »

Don't give up! The job market is tough, but I'm sure there are jobs out there that would be a good fit for you. For example, check LinkedIn for job postings. It's just much harder to land a job these days, but I think it's temporary until companies realize they need to hire again.

Some tips: Reach out to recruiters who have contacted you in the past. Sign up for online CV databases. Use your network and contact former colleagues to see if their companies are hiring. Work on a side project that excites you and makes you proud to change your mindset, or take an online course. Try to get excited about the challenge instead of thinking about giving up. I just watched a YCombinator video which, among other things, talks about not giving up too soon: https://youtu.be/al-15mMAS18.

Also, try to get feedback when you're rejected. Are you showing genuine interest in the job? Do you ask insightful questions, and do you submit take-home assignments without bugs?

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#53

Post by silverquiet »

flkenosad wrote: post #39
silverquiet wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hell, what if you’re not even passionate about tech, but you trained for it and became a pro? Like imagine telling an out of work electrician that they should exit the industry and just do it as a hobby.

If your an out of work anything, why not consider other careers? Work is work and if nobody's paying for it, is it really work?

Probably because of spending 4+ years of school training for it, tens of thousands or even more on said schooling, and a decade or more of your life after honing those skills on the job? It’s not an easy thing for all of us to just throw away.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#54

Post by flkenosad »

starbugs wrote: post #40
tokai wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds bad, but it is actually very pampered to belive one has a right to work with something that one is passionate about.

> it is actually very pampered to belive one has a right to work with something that one is passionate about. Everybody has the right to seek work that they are passionate about and they should do so even if it's tough. What would the work look like if nobody would be passionate about it? Maybe you have spent too much time in bad positions?

It's not about the type of work you are doing. You can be passionate about work, in general. You know? Value punctuality, discipline, putting in a hard days work, and knowing that you're contributing to something greater is enough for most people.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#55

Post by yodsanklai »

kungfupawnda wrote: post #35

Move to USA/Canada.

I don't know about Canada, but moving to the US for an EU citizen is very hard. H1B is a lottery and needs sponsorship. Transfer visas are easier to get if you work for a US company, but you can be sent home at any time if you lose your job.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#56

Post by starbugs »

flkenosad wrote: post #54
starbugs wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it is actually very pampered to belive one has a right to work with something that one is passionate about. Everybody has the right to seek work that they are passionate about and they should do so even if it's tough. What would the work look like if nobody would be passionate about it? Maybe you have spent too much time in bad positions?

It's not about the type of work you are doing. You can be passionate about work, in general. You know? Value punctuality, discipline, putting in a hard days work, and knowing that you're contributing to something greater is enough for most people.

> It's not about the type of work you are doing

Did I say that it is?

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#57

Post by flkenosad »

silverquiet wrote: post #53
flkenosad wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your an out of work anything, why not consider other careers? Work is work and if nobody's paying for it, is it really work?

Probably because of spending 4+ years of school training for it, tens of thousands or even more on said schooling, and a decade or more of your life after honing those skills on the job? It’s not an easy thing for all of us to just throw away.

Boo hoo. Sorry you got scammed. But the sooner you wake up and join the rest of reality the better.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#58

Post by pluc »

koliber wrote: post #15

The market did get tougher. It's not you. That means that you have to put considerably more effort, or a different kind of effort, to land a job. Think about landing the job as a numbers game. There are a bunch of steps, connected into a pipeline. Roughly, it's 1. find offers 2. apply 3. prescreen 4. interviews 5. offer At each step of the pipeline, you will have fewer and fewer offers that will remain. Your goal is…

This is what I do. Since your resume is your point of entry, if you're not hooking anything then it's easy to say the issue is that you didn't manage to grab the attention/interest of whoever filtered those resumes. I change my resume every week now, unless I got good results from a previous version. No luck so far.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#59

Post by pluc »

programjames wrote: post #24
pluc wrote: post #3

I have 25 YoE and talking to walls too. My only suggestion is to ask everyone to review your resume. If that doesn't work, start lying. The last time I was looking for work, I applied to over 600 positions. I've been off work 2 weeks and I'm nearing 200. Came across this the other day, good resources hidden in links: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IUUwdEw0RjTftvJv3LTA-7XI... (such as this: https://docs.google.co…

Don't lie, that just degrades signalling for everyone else.

When you're running out of savings, everyone else can get f*cked.

Re: Ask HN: Feeling quite disheartened about job search, any advice?

#60

Post by [deleted] »

silverquiet wrote: post #53
flkenosad wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your an out of work anything, why not consider other careers? Work is work and if nobody's paying for it, is it really work?

Probably because of spending 4+ years of school training for it, tens of thousands or even more on said schooling, and a decade or more of your life after honing those skills on the job? It’s not an easy thing for all of us to just throw away.

[deleted]
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