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Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

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Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#121

Post by oldsklgdfth »

araes wrote: post #10

- Public libraries can help with the job search if they offer free internet access - If you don't mind camping, its an extremely cheap way to live, and a gym / YMCA will help before interviews. - If you have any friends / family, ask them if you can crash. Have a friend who lived this way for ages. - If it comes to it, there are often abandoned structures that are reasonable for keeping rain off. Lived in an abandone…

Sidenote: how does a place like AL have so much government money poored into it?

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#122

Post by mgkimsal »

pucke wrote: post #115
morganwilde wrote: post #66

I know the feeling, in fact a little over two years ago I posted something similar on HN and got 0 responses. It’s always empowering to finally acknowledge that there is no safety net. Forget computers and engineering interviews, start looking for any and all work that pays. If all else fails, go to McDonald’s and work there until you save up a little. Once you have an income restart your job search. If you go homele…

"McDonald's" will not hire just anybody. I lived in Seattle for almost 8 months before finding a low-level wage job. The McDonald's argument is what entitled people say to poverty stricken people who are suffering. Also "find an apartment you can afford" is hilarious and patronizing. I make enough money in the industry I have worked in for over a decade to not really be able to afford a 140 square ft efficiency.

Talked to a local business owner here. He started a small restaurant because, after having moved here and looked for a job for a year, he couldn't get hired. Big box stores, grocery stores, other restaurants. He's ... probably early 50s, and was looking to just be a good employee someplace, clock in, clock out... and could not get hired. He's always been a hustler, and that probably comes through in the interviews, and they pass on hiring him. So... the "go get a job flipping burgers"... isn't always as easy as it's made out to be in many regions. For the record, he's now flipping burgers in his own burger place (made his own job, basically).

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#123

Post by liquidise »

homelessdev wrote: post #104

Apparently my post has been flagged for some reason. I attempted to post the following last night but kept getting a message that I was posting too fast: Questions / answers thus far: there's been a lot of good advice in this thread thus far and a few understandable questions. I'm going to answer them all here as I can no longer edit the main thread. first off, great suggestions - some of these were already on my min…

I'm a cto in denver by union station and would be happy to treat you to a lunch and chat with you and give you pointers about how to present your current eng. experience. The denver job market is a fickle one, with some astoundingly poor hiring practices. I can try and help you with navigating those and i also know a few companies around who are actively seeking skilled engineers.

Feel free to reach out and we can do lunch sometime. you can get to me via: ben at meetmindful.com

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#124

Post by grosjona »

bradgnar wrote: post #30
jnbiche wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We're looking for a brilliant senior full stack developer. How about just a "solid, hard-working senior developer"? When you say "brilliant", most good, competent developers think of a truly 1 in 1000 brilliant developer we know, and think of how short we fall from that. In truth, unless you're doing some kind of advanced machine learning or cutting edge software work, you likely don't need a brilliant developer. A…

this is a good response, if he were a brilliant engineer he probably wouldn't be on here with this post. Or he's a troll and then is possibly brilliant somehow??

That's not necessarily true. There are plenty of brilliant engineers who don't have special pedigree or flashy work history so they appear average and it's only when you start working with them that you realize that they're actually brilliant.

These people have a hard time because they might have started programming from a young age and have been learning and refining their skill nonstop for over a decade but they never got a lucky break in their careers.

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#125

Post by mdpopescu »

icebraining wrote: post #107
dgellow wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where are you based?

Portugal.

Can you relocate for six months to a year to Ireland? The market there is absolutely nuts. I've been hired (a couple of years ago) as a Python contractor for 450 euros a day (~300 after taxes), after expressly telling them I don't know Python. ("Are you willing to learn?" "Sure." "Great, you have plenty of experience, you'll figure it out in no time. Sign here.") Sure, for someone from the US that's low, but I'm from Eastern Europe.

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#126

Post by DavidThi808 »

DavidThi808 wrote: post #4

Please apply at www.WindwardStudios.com. We're looking for a brilliant senior full stack developer.

I'll try to respond to all points in this reply.

1. I asked the OP to apply - I assume he is really good.

2. I use the brilliant as a shorthand to say we need people that are very talented.

3. We need very talented people because the code we have, while it looks simple, is very challenging. I was on the Win95 core team at Microsoft - our code is more challenging.

4. We don't do brain teasers in our interviews, they are not an indicator of how effective you'll be (read Word Rules). We mostly have you walk us through your code. And we'll ask you to walk us through how you would approach certain problems.

5. Any workplace is not for everyone. We try to be upfront with applicants as to what they'll be doing here and what the culture is like here. This includes a final "interview" where I go through what they'll be facing here and answer any question of theirs I legally/ethically can. So they come in knowing what to expect.

And hey, if we're not the right place for you that just means you're looking for something different. Never let a job interview define you. And never let a series of no's get you down.

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#127

Post by dominotw »

hluska wrote: post #112
csomar wrote: post #88

I also agree this story doesn't make sense or it is missing some stuff. Otherwise I'll be harsh: What the hell happened during 15 years? I'm based in a third-world and have been working for 7 years only and have approximately a lifetime of savings. Despite traveling to a dozen countries and buying lots of gadgets. Something doesn't add up. Or, you have a bigger problem than finding a job (gambling addiction? an expen…

It takes an unbelievable asshole to reply like this. I am disgusted by this and you should he ashamed of yourself. Sometimes shit happens. When shit happens, the last thing anyone needs is some individual bragging about how they've saved a lifetime of living expenses in seven years of working...

Agree that it was harsh response. One definitely don't get evicted for 3 day late rent, I think OP's question is his eventual homelessness. But its hard to tell from OP's question why he is getting evicted for 3 day late rent.

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#128

Post by mdpopescu »

pucke wrote: post #115
morganwilde wrote: post #66

I know the feeling, in fact a little over two years ago I posted something similar on HN and got 0 responses. It’s always empowering to finally acknowledge that there is no safety net. Forget computers and engineering interviews, start looking for any and all work that pays. If all else fails, go to McDonald’s and work there until you save up a little. Once you have an income restart your job search. If you go homele…

"McDonald's" will not hire just anybody. I lived in Seattle for almost 8 months before finding a low-level wage job. The McDonald's argument is what entitled people say to poverty stricken people who are suffering. Also "find an apartment you can afford" is hilarious and patronizing. I make enough money in the industry I have worked in for over a decade to not really be able to afford a 140 square ft efficiency.

Anecdote, possibly no longer relevant because of political changes (especially 9/11):

I've been in the US for six months, back in 2000. A few days before my visa expired, I was in a fast food and started talking to the guy selling me food. (Not a McD.) Turned out he was the owner :) One thing led to another, I told him I was bummed because my visa was expiring and I had to leave; he said "you speak English very well, I will hire you - none of my guys here have a visa". I didn't want to take him on, the company I was working for at the time had promised me they would try to bring me back (they didn't) and I didn't want to overstay since that would have been an automatic rejection.

The worst thing was... the company I was working for (as a programmer) was paying me around $15 / hour. He offered me $17 :)

Anyway, back to your point. That event had also led me to believe that finding a job in fast food is incredibly easy... I'm surprised to find out it's not.

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#129

Post by mikelevins »

I've been in the kind of spot you're in. I survived it. There's nothing so special about me. You can do it, too.

Every day make a careful, accurate inventory of the things that are under your control and the things that are not. Don't worry about the things that are not under your control; they're none of your business. They're like the weather: they come and go as they will.

Focus on the things that are under your control, on finding out what is the best thing you can do about them. Do it as well as possible.

You can survive the loss of a job. You can survive losing a place to live. You can survive diagnosis of a debilitating, incurable illness. You can survive the loss of the future you thought was ahead of you. I survived all of these, and went on to do things that I judge to be good and worthwhile.

Like I said, there's nothing so special about me. What I can do, you can do.

Some of the other comments have good ideas and good advice. Take those and use them.

Some comments are unhelpful. Forget those.

Remember: I lost my job, my family, my home, my career, and my health. I'm still here. I still do things that I think are good and worthwhile. Some of the best things that have ever happened to me happened after my great catastrophe.

I did it, so you can do it.

I wish you the best of luck.

Re: Ask HN: How to survive as a homeless engineer?

#130

Post by hluska »

dominotw wrote: post #127
hluska wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It takes an unbelievable asshole to reply like this. I am disgusted by this and you should he ashamed of yourself. Sometimes shit happens. When shit happens, the last thing anyone needs is some individual bragging about how they've saved a lifetime of living expenses in seven years of working...

Agree that it was harsh response. One definitely don't get evicted for 3 day late rent, I think OP's question is his eventual homelessness. But its hard to tell from OP's question why he is getting evicted for 3 day late rent.

Under Colorado law people do get evicted for being three days late on their rent.

Under Colorado law, if landlords have not received rent, they can file a three day notice. During those three days, a tenant can either fix the breach or leave the property. If the tenant has neither fixed the breach nor vacated the property after three days, the landlords can terminate the lease and start the formal eviction with the court.

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