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

Post by dabockster » Tue, Sep 05, 2017, 5:28 PM UTC

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,…

Post by sidlls » Tue, Sep 05, 2017, 5:46 PM UTC

dabockster wrote: post #122

sidlls wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still get recruiters randomly messaging me. However they're all looking for someone to move laterally, not up. This wasn't the case when I was more junior. Much like salary I find myself wondering if there isn't a limit to finding new opportunities without networking.

> I still get recruiters randomly messaging me. Define "recruiter".

Post by dabockster » Tue, Sep 05, 2017, 5:53 PM UTC

insomniacity wrote: post #80

acangiano wrote: post #10

Four suggestions: 1. Don't obsess over the specifics on an ad. See if the role is in line with what you have to offer, but don't worry if you don't have the exact number of years of experience they request or one of the many skills they added to what it's essentially their wishlist. 2. Provided you have a solid foundation with some standard skills like JavaScript, Python or Ruby, etc, specialize in a relatively new s…

Re #4: I was rejected for a job. The interview process included take-home work AND pair-programming. One of the specific pieces of feedback I got was that my development style wasn't modern enough - with a recommendation that if 'your current employer isn't exposing you to best practices and new approaches you should attend some relevant meetups in [city]'. My personal negative take on that was that meetups tend to c…

Post by scarface74 » Tue, Sep 05, 2017, 6:51 PM UTC

franciscop wrote: post #124

scarface74 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PS, your comment sounded quite negative/exploiting, probably that's why the downvotes. How is that "exploitive"? When I'm contracting I always get paid 10 -30% more than I could get as an FTE all in - even if I include the cost of benefits, paid time off, the gap between employment, etc. When they want me to work more than 40 hours a week, they pay me for more than 40 hours a week. Companies don't hire contractors ov…

> "When I'm contracting I always get paid 10 -30% more" From my experience (and quite a few people in a similar situation), as a foreign contractor I am making ~50% less money than FTE are making doing the exactly same job just because of the country I was born in. I am not charging this learning time because I don't want/need to, but I would certainly not work with a company who would require me to do part of the jo…

Post by scarface74 » Tue, Sep 05, 2017, 7:06 PM UTC

lsc wrote: post #119

scarface74 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Contracto…

That would put your $90/hr contractor at $162K full time salary; and for base, sure. Base-wise, I'd expect a $90/hr contractor to come out closer to $150K if they converted to full time. But bonus and stock often make up another 30% or more in silicon valley, and you don't get that as a contractor. This was actually the weird part for me, because I did some contracting around here in the aughts, and the pay was sligh…