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Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

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Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#41

Post by acomjean »

cbanek wrote: post #11

Frankly, I think the most important thing is to have a good resume. Apply for jobs where you don't have all the skills, chances are they'd be happy if you knew half of the things they listed, but would be willing to learn the other half. (Don't even get me started on job descriptions asking for skills that don't get used later, this happens too frequently.) Also, apply for jobs with different frameworks where you hav…

I second this.

I had good luck with suggested resume format of company project I worked on description, and what I did for them on said project. I put together a "portfolio" of screenshots of things I worked on with a description of what I did as some projects were behind a login and the public didn't have access (I created this graph of power usage using highcharts......)

highlight the problem solving skills.

I have to sort through a lot of resumes at my current job and sometimes I honestly can't tell what they worked on. If I sense enthusiasm, and some experience with what we're looking for, they go on.

Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#42

Post by jonahx »

quuquuquu wrote: post #33
tristram_shandy wrote: post #7

Don't write anything on your resume that would indicate "number of years experience" -- list your jobs, explain key achievements, don't distill anything down to a number. Your resume should NOT explain who you are, or go into real specifics -- it's an advertisement for you, as simple as that. If they want details, they'll have to schedule an interview. Once you have the interview, you can talk about your experiences,…

>"Also, don't say you're 'pivoting' yout career. Just don't." I tend to find such polemics unhelpful. Usually when someone tells me "just don't", I end up really wanting to know the mechanism behind what is causing such a stern warning. For example, if I asked someone, "should I jump out of an airplane with no parachute",... and someone says... "just don't, because unless you have lots of luck and can defy lots of la…

The reason, at least to me, was implicit: Because the word itself is a signal of bullshit and is likely to raise flags for many people doing the hiring.

There isn't anything more concrete than that. YMMV. In this particular case, it rings true to me.

Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#43

Post by infinii »

quuquuquu wrote: post #33
tristram_shandy wrote: post #7

Don't write anything on your resume that would indicate "number of years experience" -- list your jobs, explain key achievements, don't distill anything down to a number. Your resume should NOT explain who you are, or go into real specifics -- it's an advertisement for you, as simple as that. If they want details, they'll have to schedule an interview. Once you have the interview, you can talk about your experiences,…

>"Also, don't say you're 'pivoting' yout career. Just don't." I tend to find such polemics unhelpful. Usually when someone tells me "just don't", I end up really wanting to know the mechanism behind what is causing such a stern warning. For example, if I asked someone, "should I jump out of an airplane with no parachute",... and someone says... "just don't, because unless you have lots of luck and can defy lots of la…

Startups "pivot" because they failed in some way.

Pivoting your career can be construed as having failed somewhere and needing to find something else.

In the context of a career, phrase it as evolving your skills to match market demand. The very people who "pivot" resonate with will immediately associate it with failure.

Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#44

Post by chatnati »

WalterSear wrote: post #26
nate_martin wrote: post #13

It's a little annoying when companies put framework names in their job titles. Asking for a "react engineer" or a "boost programmer" will likely turn away a lot of people who would actually be a good fit for the role. My suggestion is to just be open with the company and tell them what you do know and how quickly you can get up to speed. Something like: "I haven't used React on a paid project before, but I have a lot…

Chances are that the gatekeeper won't know enough to be interested.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained...

Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#46

Post by wyldfire »

christophilus wrote: post #29

The number of years thing is bogus. Just ignore it and apply. I remember seeing posts asking for more Rails experience than DHH himself has. Something like 8 years of Rails experience when Rails was only 6 years old. Those requirements are almost always written by some of the least competent people in the company.

This is great advice. I've worked on lots of different software teams, in various contexts (realtime, embedded, win32, web stuff, dev tools).

If I see an interesting position, I just apply. I know I'll get better consideration if something on my resume resonates with the hiring manager/interviewers. But if you are any good you should be able to adapt what you know to a new programming environment with new constraints.

Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#47

Post by scarmig »

scarface74 wrote: post #23
Vendan wrote: post #2

I treat the "we want people who know stack X" kind of thing as a "Here's what stack we are using" and nothing more. I don't lie and say that I know the stack, but I don't want to work for a company that doesn't understand that a good programmer can switch to a new stack in a very short time frame. On the other hand, you need the ability to pick up a new stack easily.

I hire contractors. I don't have time for people to ramp up on the job. I need them to come in knowing the stack we are working in. If I were hiring full time devs, I would take a chance but I would expect them to meet deadlines as if they were fluent in the stack - meaning if they have to work weekends or more than 40 hours a week to be just as efficient as someone who knows the stack, they should do it. I put mysel…

That's entirely your prerogative. If 100% productivity is expected first week, though, I'm going to make lots of assumptions about what management is like at your company, and not apply. But if you're not having trouble finding the engineers you want/need, all the more power to you.

Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#48

Post by lucaspiller »

moron4hire wrote: post #8

As with the vast majority of jobs: network. Get to know people, you will get to know where they work, and they will get to know you and how you work. Eventually, if you just go through life as a helpful person, one (or several) of those people will make the connection for you, "hey, we need someone who does X. You do X, right?" You'll say, "yeah, totally, but when I saw that job listing, it said they wanted Y years o…

This comment seems to be downvoted which is disappointing, as this is one of the best pieces of advice here. Apart from when I was a fresh graduate, all of my jobs and contracts over the past 10 years have been from networking.

I'm definitely not a people person, and you don't need to be, you just need to keep up to date with what people in your network are doing. If there is anyone now in a management role, try to meet up with them for a coffee once a year just to chat. Maybe they are looking for someone with your skills (that's happened twice for me). I've also been in the situation where they aren't actively looking for someone, but knowing that I'm available and that I do good work they've made a position just for me.

I've only worked at smaller companies, so I'm not really sure how this would work at the scale of something like Facebook, but other than them having to navigate HR I don't see why it couldn't work.

Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#49

Post by jacalata »

hasenj wrote: post #38
moron4hire wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're focused on the wrong thing. The resume comes way too late in the job acquisition process to really matter. The vast majority of jobs are filled through networking, not applying cold with a great resume. You need to work on meeting people in your field, at the companies where you want to work. It's not what you know, it's who you know. Go out to meetups. Be a friendly, helpful person. Make friends, lots of them…

I always hear this, but I've never been hired through networking, nor have I ever seen someone hired through networking. I suspect that to be more the case in very large companies. Luckily I have never worked in one.

My boyfriend got his current job when my friend mentioned that her friend had the same degree as him and had mentioned the company was hiring, would he like to be put in touch? The company is about 15 people altogether.

Re: Ask HN: How do you pivot your career when jobs want years of exp in a stack

#50

Post by lsc »

scarface74 wrote: post #23
Vendan wrote: post #2

I treat the "we want people who know stack X" kind of thing as a "Here's what stack we are using" and nothing more. I don't lie and say that I know the stack, but I don't want to work for a company that doesn't understand that a good programmer can switch to a new stack in a very short time frame. On the other hand, you need the ability to pick up a new stack easily.

I hire contractors. I don't have time for people to ramp up on the job. I need them to come in knowing the stack we are working in. If I were hiring full time devs, I would take a chance but I would expect them to meet deadlines as if they were fluent in the stack - meaning if they have to work weekends or more than 40 hours a week to be just as efficient as someone who knows the stack, they should do it. I put mysel…

> I hire contractors. I don't have time for people to ramp up on the job. I need them to come in knowing the stack we are working in.

Employers can bluster all they want; in the end, either they need to be happy hiring someone willing to work for the wages offered, increasing the wages offered and spending a lot more time looking (better wages gets you access to a larger pool, but it in no way chases away the incompetent, you still need to filter) or doing without the employee. As an interviewing worker, this means that you don't need to outrun the bear; you just need to be better than nothing, and better than anyone else willing to work for the same position. I've been working since '95 or'96, and personally don't feel I've actually been qualified to do any job I've had... but I'm better than nothing, and beating the competition is usually not very challenging.

As far as I can tell, the facts on the ground for contract work (which is to say, lower total comp than working as a FTE at one of the local big companies, lower job security, less respect, and generally slightly worse working conditions) means that when you are hiring contractors for a big company, you are hiring from a pool of people who are unable to get the same job at the same sort of company as a FTE.

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