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Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

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Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#1

Post by hnthrowaway9001 »

I was laid off from a defunct startup a month ago and have been unsuccessfully looking for work ever since. I live in a large tech center in the US and have applied to many places in town (small to large, not just startups); I’ve gotten around five in person interviews but none have turned into offers. The interviews I’ve been to mostly amount to whiteboard/brainteaser sessions that I am profusely bad at, or CS test questions (I never finished college). Some were completely “culture fit” type interviews where I thought I did very well. The feedback I’ve gotten is that I’m proficient technically but wouldn’t “fit their culture” or that they’re “moving forward with other candidates”. I like to think I’m a personable individual who just wants to get things done and make a living. I have experience in the industry, and I keep my skills up to date. I’ve worked on different platforms as the need arose. I’ve even led small teams. None of this has gotten me anywhere because I am not a 10x top 1% engineer who loves whiteboard coding sessions and brainteasers and wants to change the world by working 80 hours a week, rather a (slightly above) average one who can get things done in an editor and just wants to earn a living doing what I’m good at.

Everyone likes to say that you aren’t your job. But I am an engineer. Now I can’t find anyone who will give me a chance, even with my history of success. I have often seen the claim that “there aren’t enough software engineers!”, but now that I’m in a position to verify that claim I can tell you it’s false.

I don’t know why I’m posting this here. My former coworkers in the industry are trying to help and have been getting me introductions, but I’m running out of people I know and their connections, and feel the hammer falling on my head.

Does anyone here have any experience like this? Any advice? Anything at all to tell me not to give up?

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#2

Post by bshef »

Follow up with your interviewers and ask for some detailed feedback. Keep the conversation cordial and professional. If they're willing, and provide some feedback, you might see some areas where you can tweak your process or shore up some skillsets.

Good luck, and don't give up!

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#3

Post by hnthrowaway9001 »

bshef wrote: post #2

Follow up with your interviewers and ask for some detailed feedback. Keep the conversation cordial and professional. If they're willing, and provide some feedback, you might see some areas where you can tweak your process or shore up some skillsets. Good luck, and don't give up!

I have tried this a few times, and I've never gotten anything more than the general "culture" or "we went with other great candidates" response. It is incredibly frustrating and unhelpful to ask for any feedback only to be met with "Unfortunately we’re not able to provide specific feedback." How can I improve or refine my skills without any information? I keep things cordial and professional but often the conversation will just end, full stop.

Thanks for the reply and well wishes, though. Trying to keep fighting.

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#4

Post by dudul »

First, five is not that many.

Second, if the only interviews you get are "whiteboard coding", and the only rejection is "not a cultural fit" you may not be interviewing in the right place. Not all places want you to be a 10x engineer who's gonna work 80 hours a week.

I'm surprised you encountered this behavior in larger companies. You said you got introductions from your friends, I assumed you interviewed there. I would try to get more constructive feedback through your friends to really know what's going on.

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#5

Post by hnthrowaway9001 »

dudul wrote: post #4

First, five is not that many. Second, if the only interviews you get are "whiteboard coding", and the only rejection is "not a cultural fit" you may not be interviewing in the right place. Not all places want you to be a 10x engineer who's gonna work 80 hours a week. I'm surprised you encountered this behavior in larger companies. You said you got introductions from your friends, I assumed you interviewed there. I wo…

I agree, five isn't that many. I meant it more like "I've only gotten five, even with all this work."

I don't know where else to apply and interview. I've worked all my connections (I don't have many), and spent a lot of time looking around job postings, mailing lists, and local communities to find places that seem right. I have a breadth of tech I can work with and I know that I am looking for small to medium size teams, so I apply to whatever I find that looks like a good match. Do you know any other way to find the right places to pursue?

I've tried to get feedback but have been unable to get anything useful. I have also tried to ask the people I know at those companies for any inside info, but nothing has come from that either.

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#6

Post by soham »

hnthrowaway9001 wrote: post #5
dudul wrote: post #4

First, five is not that many. Second, if the only interviews you get are "whiteboard coding", and the only rejection is "not a cultural fit" you may not be interviewing in the right place. Not all places want you to be a 10x engineer who's gonna work 80 hours a week. I'm surprised you encountered this behavior in larger companies. You said you got introductions from your friends, I assumed you interviewed there. I wo…

I agree, five isn't that many. I meant it more like "I've only gotten five, even with all this work." I don't know where else to apply and interview. I've worked all my connections (I don't have many), and spent a lot of time looking around job postings, mailing lists, and local communities to find places that seem right. I have a breadth of tech I can work with and I know that I am looking for small to medium size t…

Have you tried some of the recent recruiting firms?

  1. triplebyte.com
  2. interviewing.io (disclaimer: investor)
  3. hired.com
  4. agoodengineer.com (disclaimer: advisor)
  5. angel.co (not a recruiting firm, but close enough)

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#7

Post by hnthrowaway9001 »

soham wrote: post #6
hnthrowaway9001 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, five isn't that many. I meant it more like "I've only gotten five, even with all this work." I don't know where else to apply and interview. I've worked all my connections (I don't have many), and spent a lot of time looking around job postings, mailing lists, and local communities to find places that seem right. I have a breadth of tech I can work with and I know that I am looking for small to medium size t…

Have you tried some of the recent recruiting firms? 1. triplebyte.com 2. interviewing.io (disclaimer: investor) 3. hired.com 4. agoodengineer.com (disclaimer: advisor) 5. angel.co (not a recruiting firm, but close enough)

I tried Hired and Indeed Prime and got accepted, but got only one response. It is still active, but they are very slow to get back to me. I wasn't aware of the others, so I will look into them. It seems that many of these only work in SF and a few other areas though, which is unfortunate as I don't want to move if I can avoid it.

Thanks for the tips though.

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#8

Post by rahelzer »

Well, you have to fix the problems you have.

1. You must become a jedi-knight of white-board programming. For this, go to HackerRank and work absolutely as many problems as you can. But don't program them in an editor, get a whiteboard and use that. Then type in the program when you are ready to get it graded.

2. You need to fill in some knowledge you would have gotten in college. For this, read the first few chapters of "Introduction to Algorithms" by Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, and Stein.

There's no royal road. Treat this as your full-time job until you get a job, i.e. work on it 8-10 hours a day 5 hours on the weekend.

This is what I did last time I was laid off.....I got nothing for 6 months, then after 6 weeks of the above regime I was able to slam dunk every interview I went to and got an awesome offer. Best of luck.

Re: Ask HN: Is My Career Over?

#9

Post by siquick »

Work on some side projects and use these as your 'proof of knowledge'?

TBH, are you sure you want to work somewhere that uses those awful white-board sessions to pick out future employees?

Plus you listed a variety of reasons why you think you failed - you should immediately work on these.

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