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Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

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Re: Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

#61

Post by em-bee »

Aeolun wrote: post #14

Use recruiters. They can probably get you in the door somewhere as a contractor, and from there on the trajectory is up (assuming you are any good). Honestly, the worst part of my 6 months of job seeking after I resigned from my last job was that the interview loop is just soul crushing.

where does one find recruiters?

recently someone gave a talk about this topic, and he explained how he was not afraid of using recruiters or agencies, regardless of the cut they take. but he could not answer the question on how to actually find good recruiters.

Re: Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

#62

Post by em-bee »

fxtentacle wrote: post #36

Instead of leetcode, I would try doing actual small jobs on upwork.com First, it will earn you some additional money. But much more importantly, after a while you can confidently state that you have experience solving issues that companies are willing to pay for. And that's what hiring managers like to see/hear. Just keep in mind that the non-US competition on most of those remote job sites is pretty fierce. Expect t…

i am doing neither, because i find the effort i need to put in to find work is already taking all the time i have available, and the effort of applying for small jobs on upwork is not in line with the payout. if i have to spend 20 hours to get a 20 hour job for 50$ per hour, then my effective pay is 25$ per hour. i can't live on that.

Re: Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

#63

Post by danparsonson »

creminology wrote: post #41
danparsonson wrote: post #8

I sympathise - I moved to Taiwan to be with my girlfriend and I'm having almost zero luck job hunting here so far; it's definitely not helped by the fact that my Mandarin is terrible, but at least I have plenty of free time to practise! I wish you the best of luck; I went through this once before in my home country and it felt rough until I finally landed a good gig after months of nothing - hang in there and do what…

I’d recommend looking for remote work and not jobs at local companies. Taiwan even has a special visa for those earning a minimal salary from a remote tech job with tax benefits. I don’t know what tech jobs pay in Taiwan but do know that salaries for graduates are very low, which is why so many young people moved to China to work in the 2010s.

Thanks for the tip; I've been trying that too but no luck so far - do you have any recommendations about where I could find that kind of work? Recruitment agents in my home country (UK) seem not to be interested.

Re: Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

#64

Post by sys_64738 »

hotpotamus wrote: post #35
RomanPushkin wrote: post #15

In 2014, I relocated to the Bay Area with my spouse and one-year-old child, armed only with $9k USD and 2 bags of belongings for the whole family. I had secured a job, but unexpectedly, the company ran out of funds within six months. The first week after my termination, I was just lost in space and time, freaking out. Over the next two weeks, I applied to every possible software engineering job, sending at least a th…

Funny, when I’ve been laid off, I’ve been relieved that there’s no kid depending on me for food and health insurance and no spouse to divorce me. I think I’d have a breakdown if that were the case, but I guess we’re all different.

There are lots of government programs for kids if you don't work. Medicaid and SNAP for example.

Re: Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

#65

Post by hotpotamus »

binary132 wrote: post #59
hotpotamus wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, when I’ve been laid off, I’ve been relieved that there’s no kid depending on me for food and health insurance and no spouse to divorce me. I think I’d have a breakdown if that were the case, but I guess we’re all different.

Pressure and responsibility tend to motivate people.

The number of fatherless children suggests that that is not exactly a hard and fast rule.

Given enough pressure, anything will burst; I had a colleague kill himself after being unable to find good work, leaving a wife and daughter. Some of us just aren’t cut out for all that.

Re: Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

#66

Post by jacknews »

BaculumMeumEst wrote: post #33

Not to be dismissive of people in this position, but speaking as someone with a regular ass boring job outside of the bay area, saying you're "terrified" sounds like you're far more worried than you need to be. The standards at jobs around the country are so low, and people in general are so bad at their jobs. You might not LIKE the other work that's out there, but you could always find a software dev gig, or IT anal…

Please describe how to 'always find a software dev gig'. I'm sending multiple applications a day, to dev and dev-related jobs, and I get mostly no response at all.

The freelance sites (I don't have a track record on any of them) are possibly even worse, it's clear most proposals aren't even looked at.

Re: Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

#67

Post by mtlevine0 »

mkii wrote: post #28
dinobones wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2014 was basically peak ZIRP and startup era. I don’t think this could be replicated today. I know way too many people from Google/Meta layoffs who are still looking despite willing to take pay cuts, just to keep the lights on.

Everyone, literally every person I know laid off at Google and Meta were subsequently rehired by the same company. It's strange.

Hired back as contractors? Hired back at < 80% of their previous total comp?

Re: Ask HN: Terrified I wont find another job

#69

Post by hotpotamus »

sys_64738 wrote: post #64
hotpotamus wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, when I’ve been laid off, I’ve been relieved that there’s no kid depending on me for food and health insurance and no spouse to divorce me. I think I’d have a breakdown if that were the case, but I guess we’re all different.

There are lots of government programs for kids if you don't work. Medicaid and SNAP for example.

I live with marginal disability in a state with 5 million uninsured people; I'm not taking any chances that depend on social safety nets.
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