Ask HN: I’ve been applying to a million jobs

Consider coming to Berlin, tons of work opportunities here!

Tossing CVs down an HR portal (to nowhere) isn't a way to find jobs. You find jobs by knowing people. I'm sure there are some developer/designer meetups in Paris. Find one (or many) and start going. That doesn't mean sit in the back silently. You need to network. This doesn't have to be cheesy. Make small talk. Get to know them and their interests. Maybe you'll have the same favorite CSS framework. Talk about that then. When people feel that you are easy to talk to and that you know what you're talking about, it becomes easier for them to feel good about introducing you as a candidate to their boss.

Why I am so confident in this answer? 1) I've gotten every one of my jobs through networking (either from meetups or from former coworkers and friends); 2) I run a meetup, and I've seen it happen; and 3) I've been in the position to recommend people to an employer, and I don't recommend people who might make me look bad.

I believe you guys are being overly harsh and strict, you probably don't realize it but to me you sound like you're criticizing for the next Jony Ive position.

I find OP's work impressive and his design skills are great, he handles minimalism with grace, and that's not something a programmer could achieve without previous design principles.

His website's concept is exactly what it should be (being a T shaped professional), his grasp on typography is very good (a far better skill to have than the ability of making a million animations to impress), his Skyler app is extremely well designed and overly his work is above average in every way.

I'm not sure why OP is having trouble finding work, but it certainly is not his skills. Perhaps it's the way he presents himself, or sounding needy, or he aims for positions that require much greater experience.

He is absolutely fit for a junior to mid level front end developer or UI engineer job in my books.

Edit: His name is Olivier, just goes to show how much attention you paid when reviewing his work. (edit 2: parent edited their post where they originally referred to OP as "she" and "Olivia")

I write resumes and coach job seekers who have difficulty in finding work or navigating career issues (my HN profile has links). My background includes nearly 20 years in recruiting for east coast startups.

You have a few things going 'against' you in most cases. I haven't seen a resume yet, but based on your site and post:

1 - You're relatively junior (at 23).

2 - You now live in France and want either remote work or to come back to the US. (remote junior work isn't easy to get).

3 - You're applying to a million jobs, which likely means you are sending out rather anonymous letters instead of something even remotely targeted.

I encourage my clients to apply to less companies, but to make those applications more targeted. Write a cover letter (or just the body of an email) that demonstrates that you've actually read the job spec and maybe even a page of their website.

Saying things like "I learn fast" and "I'm a good communicator" don't get a recruiter's attention.

The good news is that you have some projects that will look good on a resume.

Your messaging should focus on your accomplishments and projects, and not on how hard you'll work or how much you love to code. When you stop talking like a junior dev dying for work, you'll start being treated that way.

My guess is that the problem is the resume or the messaging.

Same. Only I recently noticed that I've had to list fewer tools per year over time. I've started to look for this trend in others.