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Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

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Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#91

Post by sthu11182 »

Regarding law school, I would point out that law grad salaries are bi-modal. If you get in big law, you would start at $210k, if not you will start at a lot less. Presumably, with your background, your easiest pathway to big law is patent litigation, but I would say there is still a lot bias favoring EE degrees over CS, but less so than in the past (as I recall from interviewing a long time ago that was true, but at my firm, I think its less of issue, but your experience may vary).

Law school is expensive and I don't think there is a cheap option in the bay area (even the state school is expensive but in other locations, it can be cheaper), but they do give out scholarships.

I wouldn't choose law school unless you think you could do well in the actual legal career environment. I don't know what you mean by "good contacts for law school," but if that means you know people in the field, I would suggest talking to them about it. Get as much information you can get.

Any worries that law is not going to be a viable career with AI seems farfetched by me, particularly in litigation.

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#92

Post by fzwang »

From your comments, it seems like there's a lot of internal and external issues you're dealing with. Internally, your sense of self worth is very much tied to your compensation/wealth. The recent rejections have triggered anxiety / negative self-reflection. The lack of a job/income is really straining your confidence.

Externally ...

1) It's actually a shit job market.

2) Your startup experiences don't really help signal your skillset as an employee. There's a sorta "founder tax" you're paying.

3) COVID, remote work, and new supplies of CS grads have changed the labour dynamics to depress wages. The top 20% may be doing ok, but the bottom 80% are getting diluted.

If I were you I'd consider a few things:

- Really think about what's a good/meaningful life to you. Volunteer/do something useful for other people (ex. a non-profit) to build up confidence again.

- Recognize your technical skillset may not be as "senior" as you think, since you had to expend valuable time learning other skills as an entrepreneur. It might mean more learning, building, leetcode grinding, interview prep, etc, before you can land the role. Concurrently, you can think about how to better communicate all the other useful things you've learned at a startup.

- If you enjoyed the startup experience, but concerned about the grind, then you don't have to build high growth businesses that require the 996 mentality. Boostrapping and organically growing a niche product may be more aligned with your skillset/goals.

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#93

Post by dangus »

silvercymbals wrote: post #89
dangus wrote: post #85

1. Four months looking for an job isn’t a long time in today’s job market. You aren’t in giving up or changing careers territory yet. 2. Focus on making your job acquisition process a full time job and treat it as a different skill set entirely. For example, applying for jobs doesn’t cut it in today’s market. You need to be reaching out to real live people with messages that offer value. Keep bothering them if they d…

Thanks for your thoughts - but I'm not going to pat myself on the back trying to make the US median income. To be clear, I'd accept anything over $70k at this point.

I guess what I mean to say is don’t get the idea that $100-120k for a non-senior developer job in a middle America city is a bad living. You’ll probably live better with that than you do now in the Bay Area.

I was at a concert last night and met someone working concessions who used to do training for a tech company. She has been out of career work for 2 years. Has a promising job opportunity but no offer yet. Real life isn’t necessarily going to cut you a break.

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#94

Post by abnercoimbre »

fzwang wrote: post #92

From your comments, it seems like there's a lot of internal and external issues you're dealing with. Internally, your sense of self worth is very much tied to your compensation/wealth. The recent rejections have triggered anxiety / negative self-reflection. The lack of a job/income is really straining your confidence. Externally ... 1) It's actually a shit job market. 2) Your startup experiences don't really help sig…

Agreeing with everything here, and I would add that OP likely has a decent network. Try to land some contract work, whether it's full-time or part-time, while you figure out the rest.

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#95

Post by silvercymbals »

fzwang wrote: post #92

From your comments, it seems like there's a lot of internal and external issues you're dealing with. Internally, your sense of self worth is very much tied to your compensation/wealth. The recent rejections have triggered anxiety / negative self-reflection. The lack of a job/income is really straining your confidence. Externally ... 1) It's actually a shit job market. 2) Your startup experiences don't really help sig…

This is a fantastic analysis.

I didn't want to go here, but I do have direct knowledge from two final rounds I was passed over for that h1b visa holders were selected instead of me and paid less. (I knew employees at these startups)

Part of why I'm just considering doing something else is the fact that so much of this work is going to be outsourced. Most of my friends who are actively running startups don't even bother hiring inside the US and just use latam contractors.

Unfortunately, I need money. I have effectively a net zero income for 2025, this after years of entrepreneurship just isn't good enough. I find it ironic how on HN anyone advocating to push themselves into a position where they have more options (more income) is met with accusations of being "entitled" or outlandish.

Let's say my skillset isn't as "senior" as I think, how on earth do I escape the tar-pit of being a semi-junior senior (to quote DHH)? This problem is what's been tearing me apart... I genuinely don't know what to do.

I also have some medical stuff I need taken care of and I can't afford to liquidate more of my retirement. So "bootstrapping" another company is just something I'm not interested in.

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#96

Post by silvercymbals »

abnercoimbre wrote: post #94
fzwang wrote: post #92

From your comments, it seems like there's a lot of internal and external issues you're dealing with. Internally, your sense of self worth is very much tied to your compensation/wealth. The recent rejections have triggered anxiety / negative self-reflection. The lack of a job/income is really straining your confidence. Externally ... 1) It's actually a shit job market. 2) Your startup experiences don't really help sig…

Agreeing with everything here, and I would add that OP likely has a decent network. Try to land some contract work, whether it's full-time or part-time, while you figure out the rest.

thanks - this is what I'm getting by on for now

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#97

Post by silvercymbals »

tennisflyi wrote: post #73

Take a gander here, https://www.reddit.com/r/Millennials/comments/1o7fcfc/nobody... I'm really torn, TBH. Plenty of people do, indeed, get on with F/MAANG/whatever out of college and make that 150. Plenty don't. It's jut bleh

It's really scary out there - I couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have any hard skills during this recession.

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#98

Post by silvercymbals »

somesigmaperson wrote: post #72

The one thing they taught me about jobs and the future in the C.A.C.C (California cadet corps) was that the more you help out/volunteer the more likely you are to get a job over someone else who didn't do anything this can also apply to stuff you did in high school depending if you did stuff in high school or not could also help :p

Worst case maybe I'll join the military

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#99

Post by silvercymbals »

dangus wrote: post #93
silvercymbals wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your thoughts - but I'm not going to pat myself on the back trying to make the US median income. To be clear, I'd accept anything over $70k at this point.

I guess what I mean to say is don’t get the idea that $100-120k for a non-senior developer job in a middle America city is a bad living. You’ll probably live better with that than you do now in the Bay Area. I was at a concert last night and met someone working concessions who used to do training for a tech company. She has been out of career work for 2 years. Has a promising job opportunity but no offer yet. Real li…

Reducing myself to the career mean of a midwest town sounds worse than checking myself into a mental institution.

Re: Ask HN: Can't get hired – what's next?

#100

Post by dangus »

silvercymbals wrote: post #99
dangus wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess what I mean to say is don’t get the idea that $100-120k for a non-senior developer job in a middle America city is a bad living. You’ll probably live better with that than you do now in the Bay Area. I was at a concert last night and met someone working concessions who used to do training for a tech company. She has been out of career work for 2 years. Has a promising job opportunity but no offer yet. Real li…

Reducing myself to the career mean of a midwest town sounds worse than checking myself into a mental institution.

You aren’t superior to everyone else. Maybe you aren’t passing the vibe check rather than the tech screen if this is your level of humility in interviews.

The Midwest includes some amazing and really nicely affordable cities like Chicago. You would even find mental institutions like the twin cities, Milwaukee, Madison, Columbus, Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh to be really nice places with lots to do.

And I’m not even telling you that you’re resigning to being a plebeian with median income, but you can’t help being snobby anyway.

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