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My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

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Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#71

Post by adamredwoods »

t_1589165433 wrote: post #19

How on earth do people have these experiences? I have to submit multiple hundreds of applications to get one interview. Throwaway because it could turn into multiple thousands if that fact is linked to my identity.

I forget what my actual stats are, but it was difficult for me, too, but I did get a successful and good job.

I think it was 55 resumes- 11 contact made/ tech exams - 21 rejections - 6 interviews - 1 offer. (about 40 days)

I am bad at technical interviews, but I got better the more I did them.

Keep at it! You can do this! :)

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#72

Post by jldugger »

> For some of these companies, I applied with a non-traditional, branded resume. ... Since I only used these types of resumes with 6 applications, I’d say glowing compliments on 3 out of 6 is pretty solid performance.

If we view the purpose of a resume as getting an interview, then that's how we should evaluate changing them. By my reading Matt scored an interview 4 out of 6 times, a 66 percent success rate. Assuming the rest are the control, that leaves 10 applications and 3 interviews -- 30 percent!

That's pretty great really, but we have to wonder, did Matt randomly choose which companies got the experimental treatment, or were certain companies 'too risky' to try something new with? Or did he try to match up his application style to the companies somehow?

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#73

Post by sergiotapia »

t_1589165433 wrote: post #19

How on earth do people have these experiences? I have to submit multiple hundreds of applications to get one interview. Throwaway because it could turn into multiple thousands if that fact is linked to my identity.

in charge of hiring engineers, send me your resume at stapia@joinpapa.com and I can provide pointers to help you polish your CV.

please use PINEAPPLE in subject line so I can find you easily.

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#74

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

theonething wrote: post #68
eel wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I may offer a suggestion, what works for me is that at the start of a job search, I first make a very large resume, with several excess bullet points and detailed lists of technologies. I am the only one that sees this version of my resume. Then, for every job I apply for, I cut out all of the uninteresting bullet points and reduce irrelevant terms for that job description until my resume is about a page long. For…

> I only submit cover letters if they are required I use to think that a well crafted custom cover letter totally gives me a leg up on the competition. But recently, I've been gettin lazy and not sending cover letters and I still get responses. Go figure.

I used to have a 1.5 page resume covering boilerplate, keywords, and highlights with a longer cover letter giving more detailed background. In a post interview critique I was told that the resume was too sparse. I pointed out the cover letter has what he wanted to see but of course that never made it to his inbox. New tech job search can't reliably manage two digital documents so I just merged them into one as a safety precaution.

The notion of a cover letter is pretty outdated for most jobs. The people still teaching their use are firmly rooted in the age of sending unsolicited job applications via mail that will be screened by a human.

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#75

Post by bitL »

ddlutz wrote: post #58
whycombagator wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty much. In mid-career you will probably need system design as well for the >L4 roles

I had a system design interview for my L4 interview @ Google, it seems pretty typical to.

Some time ago a senior recruiter at Google suggested to me that they would have waived some interviews if I had a famous open-source project on my resume.

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#76

Post by ridaj »

georgeburdell wrote: post #29

I look at that resume and I wonder if it didn't hurt more than it helped; it's form over function, and a bit corny. The fact that he got multiple offers in two months shows how strong the software job market is. I'm several years younger, but a staff-level hardware engineer at a second tier company (top tier being FAANG). I've had an incredibly difficult time jumping companies --- 2 years and counting. Despite being…

> It's quite frustrating and I wish I knew what the successful candidates had that I didn't.

If you can ask your friends in top tier companies to give you a practice interview and give you feedback, I highly recommend it.

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#77

Post by qchris »

troughway wrote: post #20

Should "mid-career" software developers still be focused on low-balling themselves with having to do "career growth" things like this fellow, or should they plan their exit strategy to get out of that career trajectory entirely? Assuming mid-career is actually mid-career and not the ageist SV type of mid-career.

Just to be clear, there's not a subtext to this question (and I'm less that two years out of school so I'm pretty sure it doesn't apply to me anyway), but would you mind laying out your approximate ranges for mid-career in both of those categories? Are you assuming a retirement age of mid-60s? Mid-70s? Between 5-10 years in a field? 10-20? Does it correlate with a particular approach or competence in their field? How does that contrast with your characterization of the "SV type of mid-career"?

I've seen comments like yours a few times, and don't think I really have a useful reference frame to fully understand what people mean by it. I'd appreciate any insight you (or anyone else that cares to chime in) might have on it.

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#78

Post by nscalf »

cletus wrote: post #66

So I'd say anyone looking for engineering work should aim to have at least one (and just one is fine) of the following: 1. A good (and well-known) school. MIT, Stanford, CMU, UW, Waterloo, you get the picture. 2. A good (and well-known) employer. FAANGs in particular. Ideally as an FTE but internships are good signals here too. 3. To be known for something you've done. Well-used open source project, well-known blog,…

I want to add another option:

4) Have a wide range of items on your resume.

I have found that having experience as an engineer in Fortune 500 companies, startups, working at the only dev, level 3 support, building dev ops, joining a big team, owning back end services, reworking a database, etc. has given me credibility for most positions. Everyone knows you won’t immediately fit in perfectly to any role, but if you have demonstrated an aptitude to learn and adapt, you’re likely good enough for their role.

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#79

Post by wolco »

bitL wrote: post #75
ddlutz wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a system design interview for my L4 interview @ Google, it seems pretty typical to.

Some time ago a senior recruiter at Google suggested to me that they would have waived some interviews if I had a famous open-source project on my resume.

Famous open source project > 10000+ likes.

Re: My Mid-Career Job-Hunt: A Data Point for Job-Seeking Devs

#80

Post by Igelau »

Thorentis wrote: post #25

Is it true you still need an "open source coding resume" by mid-career stage? I can understand using that to give you an advantage for entry-level roles, but by "mid-career" shouldn't your experience and achievements in past roles speak for itself? Or do companies still want to see engineers spending their spare time doing unpaid coding? By mid-career, many people have families to support, that they also would like t…

> do companies still want to see engineers spending their spare time doing unpaid coding?

This is a festering rot in the core of the dev hiring process. Too many applications have a required field for your side projects before you've even gotten past the first page. The fact that this is being pushed by someone and enabled by some portion of devs is dangerous.

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