You and Junior dev should reconsider quitting -applying to a million jobs isn't the answer.
Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
81–90 of 95 posts
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#82work for interesting people, not companies. do lots of interviews until you get an offer and like your boss/manager/etc. working for interesting people is a joy.
how does one find these interesting ppl to work for. linkedin?
i’d start with hn who’s hiring, then direct apply to companies on github’s hiring without whiteboards.
no one interesting is on linkedin.
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
This feels a little tone deaf and a bit useless. OP does not have a job and, especially in a the crumby market that we’re in for tech work, they just need anything they can get. You’re speaking from a place way higher on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs than where OP is currently. It’s hard to imagine yourself in a position where you can casually choose who you want to work for if you are not even getting interviews or of…
You have a point, the OP did say that they were having mental health difficulties. So the interview process can definitely make this worse given where this person is at. But think Addaon also has a point. Yeah, the interview process can often be horrible. It can be demoralizing, especially after what the OP has gone through with their health (I have major health problems too, so can sympathize). For me at least, my s…
Was the OP edited? I don't see anything about having gone mental in it.
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#84Probably get downvoted for this but seek a job outside a computer. Plenty of engineering gigs onsite, petroleum, civil, mechanical, etc. tbh you sound depressed and sitting in front of a computer will only compound the issue. IMO- Comp sci jobs are crutches at best. Best of luck.
Mechanical engineers stay in front of their screens for the most part too. Same for electronics/electrical engineers apart from some niche fields.
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have a point, the OP did say that they were having mental health difficulties. So the interview process can definitely make this worse given where this person is at. But think Addaon also has a point. Yeah, the interview process can often be horrible. It can be demoralizing, especially after what the OP has gone through with their health (I have major health problems too, so can sympathize). For me at least, my s…
Was the OP edited? I don't see anything about having gone mental in it.
ah, think you're right, the OP didn't mention mental health directly.
although, the OP does mention, after a very tough struggle for many years, and not wanting to compete in the job market because it is "demoralizing and messing with my head."
But you're right, OP didn't mention it directly:)
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have a point, the OP did say that they were having mental health difficulties. So the interview process can definitely make this worse given where this person is at. But think Addaon also has a point. Yeah, the interview process can often be horrible. It can be demoralizing, especially after what the OP has gone through with their health (I have major health problems too, so can sympathize). For me at least, my s…
Well said. Approaching the challenge of looking for a job is similar to the psychology required by salespeople, who face many more “No” responses than “Yes”es. On podcasts I’ve heard salespeople talking about the need to invert your thnking if looking at success. To treat every “no” as a win. Count the nos, focus on that. The inner game of sales requires different strategies than other parts of your working life. It…
Agreed. Rejection and struggle is fundamental to attaining anything worthwhile, and gaining the right mindset is a key to this.
Hoping for the best for this person too.
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#87Apply at companies that are really big, really old, and are pretty bland. Like insurance, banks, retail. Basically apply to everything in the Fortune 500
All of my friends who work remote for these companies do like 45min of work per day; this is the answer
The rest of the time they're sitting in camera-on meetings. No, thanks.
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my opinion, you have a very simplistic view of the world and our industry. I formed this from reading quotes like the following: > If you haven't been naturally excited to work on your own projects during this downtime, this field might not be for you. reply Being successful in this field doesn't require programming in your spare time - especially so not while going through a difficult period in life. To think tha…
> Being successful in this field doesn't require programming in your spare time I already addressed this point. > No one made a statement even remotely like this. This is a strawman you chose to "reply to" No. My argument was that it’s important for a new engineers to have drive and curiosity to get started. The other poster replied that this wasn’t true because “teams”. So I was checking for understanding about why…
> You don’t think someone should have strong natural interest at the beginning of their career?
Again I never said nor implied that. In fact I specifically commented about how incorrect this statement was. I see your line of approach consistently appears to be rather than reply to what is posted, pick a easy statement that nobody stated and argue against that instead. I think it's not a productive use of my time continuing further discussions with you as you are unable to engage with what's actually being said.
Take care.
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
I always felt discouraged from even applying to those. They usually say they're only hiring one candidate and I know a ton of other hackernewsers are applying to the same posting who have a good chance of being much more tryhard at fleshing out their github portfolio et cetera.
I don't mean to push back too hard, but this is pretty defeatist. You really have no way of knowing what exactly the person on the other end is looking for. There's a very real possibility that you are an ideal fit for some teams out there, but you'll never find out if you don't even apply. Regardless of your qualifications, it's a numbers game. As an aside, my more general advice is to find the one thing that makes…
I must have applied to hundreds or even a thousand jobs in the months after graduating college. Besides the standard good GPA etc. I had a significantly above average amount of experience and knowledge at the time, glowing recommendations from my internship, my own website/github stuff/etc., all stuff that's baseline on this website but was far and above the norm for my average classmate.
Honest question, am I vastly underestimating the average student and vastly overestimating myself at the time, or was this above the norm for a new grad? https://external-preview.redd.it/Sfx4gvcEZXKXr8cxBseyyW2ycGP...
It was radio silence for almost a year until I eventually lucked out and got contacted by a recruiter for Tata Consultancy Services. From what I hear they only really cared about GPA and it may have only been part of a hiring glut that had something to do with increasing on-shore employment numbers for some political reason.
Once I was actually in I was able to luckily get a great career going and join another company some years down the road. My experience says that applying to jobs as a general activity is a total waste of time, you can essentially only get a job through luck and increasing the surface area of that luck with networking. Even now I dread the thought of having to job search again. It's like none of the postings are real, for reasons such as the posting is only there to satisfy a legal or HR requirement but they already had a specific person in mind. I've never had anything good come of sending in a resume. I have no reproducible steps to give advice to anyone coming into the field how to get a job though except to apply to something like Tata.
Re: Ask HN: Junior dev and I don't want to compete in this job market. Any advice?
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
> IMO- Comp sci jobs are crutches at best. Can you explain more what is meant here?
Staring at a computer screen for a career will result in a net negative life imo. I meant that as the money will keep you happy enough but you’ll most probably lead a very hampered quality of life.
> Staring at a computer screen for a career will result in a net negative life imo.