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

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

#81

Post by danesparza »

monodeldiablo wrote: post #36
apolymath wrote: post #16

I get hired all day, people bang down my door after im hired, and all I do is explain the tools I used each year. I never graduated high school, never went to college, never really built anything that I can show off. I just talk about the tools I use. thats it. www.markentingh.com

Not sure why people downvoted this. It's depressing, but it's reality. I A/B tested applications a few years back, when I was doing the whole interviewing circus, and the ones that were just a list of tools and adjectives were by far the most successful. Recruiters don't do nuance.

+1 for 'Recruiters don't do nuance'.

I completely agree.

Job seekers should also understand that once you're past the front door, you should definitely be skilled in nuance as part of the interview process.

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

#83

Post by alexpetralia »

sigi45 wrote: post #44

_Entrepreneur_ funny. How about a little work experience in your field? You basicly now a little bit Javascript, html/css, did some mobile apps and now a little bit of database stuff? That's just not impressive at all. You should start getting real. You are not special, you haven't done anything special for your age. Start somewhere, get job experience.

What a patronizing and unhelpful comment. Should everyone in a period of failure be met with such disapproval? I suspect your judgment reflects more about you than the OP.

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

#84

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

peterhartree wrote: post #32

> I can't take this situation anymore and this is a cry from the heart. > I am so frustrated right now, I don't understand why everything takes so long, this process is unbearable. Meta advice: if I were you, I'd take a break for a few days and focus on getting your feelings about this back to a calmer, constructive, cheerful place. If you're not sure how to do this, I'd say: start with vigorous exercise every day [1…

Totally agree.

I'm regarded as a pretty good developer, but I've also had stretches where I was desperate to change jobs, and the offers weren't coming in fast enough. I got very stressed-out and emotionally over-wrought. That's not a good starting point for impressing prospective employers.

If you can, I'd suggest the following project:

1. Commit yourself to not look for a job for 6 months.

2. Pick just one or two of the constructive criticisms people post here, and use that time to see if you can improve in those areas.

3. At the end of those 6 months, give yourself 1 month to apply for jobs, and see how well it goes.

4. If you don't get an acceptable offer, GOTO step 1 above.

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

#85

Post by sokoloff »

lexo wrote: post #26

I take it you're applying to NYC startups without a US working visa. Even though you are willing to work remote it is an extra hassle to hire you instead of a local. Most startups won't go through the trouble if they can get comparable locals. So either indicate why you are unique and so much better than Americans or start looking for jobs in Europe. Also, it helps to know people.

This. If you are eligible to work in the US, come right out and say that.

Agree with the other comments that you should market yourself as a software engineer, focus on the tools, languages, and frameworks that you're familiar with there, pretty up your website some (the random yellow stripes look like edit bars to me; monospaced fonts look terrible, IMO, etc). Make it more generic, less jarring, get the interview, get hired as a software engineer on a frontend team and then let your design skills develop and be recognized.

No one is hiring a ~25 year old remote product designer from another country based on that website. Start with incremental steps. Get the SWE role first. Go from there.

(Also, count up how many applications you've actually done and then compare that with 1,000,000. I suspect you're going to be off by at least 3 [and probably close to 4] orders of magnitude. People who hire SWEs tend to like people who care about precision.)

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

#86

Post by krmmalik »

billyt555 wrote: post #75
krmmalik wrote: post #21

You're like the dream person i'd love to have on my team. What im about to say is going to sound really odd and a little hocus pocus -- but i assure you -- it's meant as a re-assurance and not to demoralise you in any way. I went through something very similar to you about 4yrs ago. In the end i realised jobs are not for me. I was born to be an entrepreneur. A master of my own domain. I think the universe is trying t…

http://www.krmmalik.com - without the www you get a 404

Thanks for letting me know. Although it seems to be working fine without www for me and for quite a few others?

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

#87

Post by d--b »

I think you should chill a little. How are supposed to read your post? "I'm so good and nobody hires me, wtf?" I'm sorry to say so, but this makes you come across as the quintessential millennial entitled brat.

If I was recruiting right now, I would think: this guy will want to control everything he touches, and will be extremely negative whenever something doesn't suit him. And then he'll leave, shouting how crap everything is, you get the picture.

How about marketing yourself like so:

"I'm a young and passionate web designer, have been training myself on apps / webapps for the past 3 years. I'd like to think I'm ready to put my skills to use, so I'm looking for a group of great people who are putting together a product that I may be able to help design".

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

#88

Post by hluska »

vmasto wrote: post #76
joshstrange wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read this comment and was ready to jump to the OPs defense and chide you for being overly-negative but then I looked at the website... None of the products look like something I'd expect from a "Product Designer" and even less so from someone who is "passionate about all things visual". I am not a designer but I've worked with a number of highly talented designers and none of these designs really impress me, in fac…

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 professi…

In general, I'd agree with you, but here's the sad truth...

Olivier is having difficulty finding a job, despite applying for 'millions' of positions. That screams that there is something wrong. At this point, we could pat him on the head and tell him that everything will be fine, or we can put our critical hats on and try to find things that be blocking his dreams.

I'll agree that some of the feedback has been harsh, but the poor man ended his plea with the word 'help'. Sometimes the most helpful advice is the hardest to hear.

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