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What I say to people who are looking for a job

gregkamradt.com

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Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#11

Post by rc-1140 »

PopeDotNinja wrote: post #3

Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid. My takeaway is 2 things: - if you wanna do something for living, sound like you know it well, and hopefully actually well - if you are not financially independent, keeping shaking the money tree until you have another money tree to shake And calling myself out, here's a couple notes to self: - don't judge a book by it's c…

> Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid.

I disagree, honestly. After reading it, I saw another stellar example of empty yet well-meaning advice. It's just enough to stand on its own, has good intentions, but doesn't actually focus on a tangible problem or set of problems that people have. Rather, it addresses a few high-level topics in extreme brevity and is just an outlet for the author to demonstrate some kind of power they feel that they hold[0]. The article looks more like a wrapper for a previous HN comment, which is in a thread about an article detailing a very specific and actually useful piece of advice, and a Data Science book.

[0] https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6...

Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#13

Post by ForHackernews »

This guy seems hilariously full of himself: http://www.ischiaproject.com/purpose/ (linked from the OP)

> The purpose of the Ischia Project to to provide a visual, personal, and informational perspective of the Island of Ischia in its present state. This project does not serve to be a travel guide for the island, however, it does promote itself as a chance to visit the island through the lens and words of a fellow traveler. Through photos and interviews the reader can start to understand what it means to physically observe Ischia today. It is important to note that the stance in which this project is present is that of an outsider looking in rather than a native to the island.

Shorter: "I was a tourist in Ischia and this is my travel instagram/blog."

Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#14

Post by ghaff »

stcredzero wrote: post #5

One piece of advice I like to give nowadays, is that if you don't know how to get to a goal, then do this: 1) Divide up that goal into pieces. 2) Take those initial pieces and divide that up. 3) Take one of the bits from 2, and create a lame, incomplete version of it 4) Keep polishing that bit until it's great The key steps are 3 and 4! It's hard to build even a small production ready component of something, even a v…

A version of that is one of the more useful tidbits of advice I got from GTD. I'm not a big fan in general but there are a few tidbits and that's one of them.

Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#15

Post by 30 »

rc-1140 wrote: post #11
PopeDotNinja wrote: post #3

Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid. My takeaway is 2 things: - if you wanna do something for living, sound like you know it well, and hopefully actually well - if you are not financially independent, keeping shaking the money tree until you have another money tree to shake And calling myself out, here's a couple notes to self: - don't judge a book by it's c…

> Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid. I disagree, honestly. After reading it, I saw another stellar example of empty yet well-meaning advice. It's just enough to stand on its own, has good intentions, but doesn't actually focus on a tangible problem or set of problems that people have. Rather, it addresses a few high-level topics in extreme brevity and is j…

> ...a thread about an article detailing a very specific and actually useful piece of advice.

Anyone have a link?

Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#16

Post by dnautics »

rc-1140 wrote: post #11
PopeDotNinja wrote: post #3

Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid. My takeaway is 2 things: - if you wanna do something for living, sound like you know it well, and hopefully actually well - if you are not financially independent, keeping shaking the money tree until you have another money tree to shake And calling myself out, here's a couple notes to self: - don't judge a book by it's c…

> Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid. I disagree, honestly. After reading it, I saw another stellar example of empty yet well-meaning advice. It's just enough to stand on its own, has good intentions, but doesn't actually focus on a tangible problem or set of problems that people have. Rather, it addresses a few high-level topics in extreme brevity and is j…

a lot of the advice struck me as something that not everyone looking for a job can afford. 10 weeks of trying a new thing for a week? I found the best advice in the article to be the one about taking time off to travel - that it will be hard getting back (know someone who is in that state now)

Honestly: If you're looking for a job - find a friend who is hiring. Be sure that friend is not just a friend, but a friend who is going to go to bat for you.

Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#17

Post by semitext »

ergothus wrote: post #9

> Google, “[this activity I like] for dummies” and learn for a week. I used to think this, but after guiding some folks into coding I find this flippant and discouraging. First, tech is lucky in that you can learn essentially for free, with the not-to-be-forgotten requirements of a computer and an internet connection. Other professions - say, carpentry - have costlier barriers to entry, even for that week. Second, wh…

I also take issue with the idea that you should try something for a week, and if you don't like it, it's not for you. There are certain ctivities where your first week will be a poor representation of how much you enjoy an activity. I found the first couple of weeks of learning how to play a guitar miserable. That does not mean it was wrong for me to persevere, it meant that certain activities only become enjoyable once you reach a particular skill threshold. I can think of a lot of activities that work like that.

Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#18

Post by esotericn »

The problem with this sort of advice is that how useful it is completely depends on where you are in life. Basically, it's targeted advice, but there's no disclaimer stating that.

Arbitrary examples:

- Someone fresh out of a Chemistry undergrad

- A 40 year old laid off from their Walmart job with no savings

- A 30 year old who's just had a successful startup exit

- A young (say ~20) adult in a dead-end town

... etc

The advice given to all of them will be completely different. For most people, this stuff is completely useless, but for a specific group, it might be very useful.

It's also very much dependent on goals. Do you want to work 9-5 for a lifetime? Hard at first, easy later? Do you want to take high-risk shots to attain financial independence? etc.

Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#19

Post by jehlakj »

dnautics wrote: post #16
rc-1140 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid. I disagree, honestly. After reading it, I saw another stellar example of empty yet well-meaning advice. It's just enough to stand on its own, has good intentions, but doesn't actually focus on a tangible problem or set of problems that people have. Rather, it addresses a few high-level topics in extreme brevity and is j…

a lot of the advice struck me as something that not everyone looking for a job can afford . 10 weeks of trying a new thing for a week? I found the best advice in the article to be the one about taking time off to travel - that it will be hard getting back (know someone who is in that state now) Honestly: If you're looking for a job - find a friend who is hiring. Be sure that friend is not just a friend, but a friend…

It’s a tricky situation. I was in a position to look for hires, but I was surprised to realize how many of my friends weren’t necessarily qualified for that position. It wasn’t a high position or anything either.

If you can vouch for a friend to that degree, they probably don’t need your help.

Re: What I say to people who are looking for a job

#20

Post by EADGBE »

> Google, “[this activity I like] for dummies” and learn for a week.

Call me shallow, but everything I like to do is something I've researched exhaustively. This is also related to the reason why it'd be very difficult for me to come up with "30 specific activities [I'm] interested in".

Somewhat OT: We are in a dawn of the second career (or third, fourth, fifth). As we live longer and longer and are required to support ourselves with our own pensions, we'll see more and more people giving up what they know in order to pursue enlightenment in some other unrelated field. Lack of employer sponsored pensions, continuing education, and vesting schedules is a key identifier [and has been for a while] to this.

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