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Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

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231–240 of 875 posts

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#231
I’ll email you in a moment, but I’ll share this here for everyone to see:

- develop marketable skills

- go where the money is

- work your ass off

- sell the absolute best version of yourself

- when you have a job, focus on how to get a better job

- don’t prioritize pleasing people, rather make people realize their success depends on yours

- “Don’t lose that cool of yours. That’s your meal ticket.” - Dominic Toretto, The Fast & The Furious

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#232

Your writing is not strong, i can tell you did not attend college. Written communication is important in tech. Your applying to those companies with 0 experience or college degree is unrealistic. The entry level is extremely competitive and you have nothing to make you interesting to hire. They get thousands of applications for those jobs. You are still young, plenty of time to learn, but I recommend taking a step ba…

Not to be argumentative. But yes, I did attend college. Send me a email, and I'll send you an email from my college email address (Hasn't been deactivited yet). I can send you my college transcript if that helps.. Well, I did get hired by IBM as a programmer so... I've contributed to a GNU open source project.. So I feel that I am qualifed for a entry level developer/SecEng/Security Analyst role. I went above my boss…

Having some code on Github is helpful when looking for a job.

I see the problem. Most entry level programming jobs today either require a college degree, or they're for very low level web programming. Now, if you're competent at making basic web sites and the front end or back end of a business application, that's a saleable skill. Although one that several million other people already have. Also realize that about half the job is figuring out what the customer (your boss, probably) really wants.

If you hung around a research environment, and you know a little programming, did some soldering, and know which end of a capacitor is positive, but didn't go to college, that's not really a saleable skill set any more. In 1980 it sometimes was.

Useful reading: https://daedtech.com/programming-job-without-degree/

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who was also home schooled and had problems with social interactions in my early twenties the best advice I can give is join several clubs that does things in person. You MUST learn how to make friends, how to not upset people, how to be comfortable in social situations and empathy. To do this I would recommend that you force yourself into social situations regularly. Afterwards spend some time thinking ab…

I've tried out meetup.com and went to one meetup. It was ok. I felt a little uncomfortable though. They solicited for my name, and email to be added to the Slack. There was a lot of recreational clubs etc at my college. I tried rock climbing, and liked it. There wasn't a lot of social interaction with rock climbing though. I went to a party in Austin. Chatted with strangers etc. Wasn't really sure what else to talk a…

So what you need to do in that situation is smile and happily give your name + email, then set aside an hour a week to chat with people in that slack channel.

Parties are not really good places to learn social skills, people are generally partially drunk and behave differently than they would anywhere else.

Look at this list of hobbies [1], pick two that you think looks interesting and has a club in your local area. Then join those clubs and show up at every opportunity. If you are asked to join a special event or help out with something or join a forum/chat room then smile and say "yes, I would love to".

Try to stick with the same club for at least a year.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hobbies

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#234

Your writing is not strong, i can tell you did not attend college. Written communication is important in tech. Your applying to those companies with 0 experience or college degree is unrealistic. The entry level is extremely competitive and you have nothing to make you interesting to hire. They get thousands of applications for those jobs. You are still young, plenty of time to learn, but I recommend taking a step ba…

> Your writing is not strong, I don't know. I think he has pretty decent writing. Kinda reminds me of William Gibson. It may be stylistically unusual, but it's definitely better than the median SWE. At least in terms of clearly conveying his thoughts.

The entire post flows awkwardly and feels more like an angry ramble than a coherent thought process was applied.

This coupled with being a dropout. quitting job after job, and basically phising executives for attention makes this candidate a high risk hire and is not worth the time.

Poster: You will need to extend your hard skills and demonstrate why a group should take the risk of your background on. It may be brutally honest, but the world is tough.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#235
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried asking companies for feedback. Some respond, and some don't. I think that most don't due to legal reasons. I did move to Austin when I received a lump sum of money, and hanged with some people IRL. Some would ratify that I'm awkward lol. But there was a lot of good vibes while I was in Austin. Now that I'm back where I grew up I find that I'm more depressed, and surly. State goverment here is more Laissez-…

I'm not challenging you on whether or not you're smart. I'm commenting on the fact that you're unable to find employment, which means either you're carrying yourself incorrectly or you're unable to perform the tasks required of an entry-level applicant. You're bringing up this resume, these achievements, which can verify that you're intelligent and capable of critical thinking, so the greatest culprit would be that y…

Its important to remember being smart and being good at your job, are very different things.

Many jobs do not require much intelligence. Even those that do, usually its just one component of the skills required.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#237
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your writing is not strong, I don't know. I think he has pretty decent writing. Kinda reminds me of William Gibson. It may be stylistically unusual, but it's definitely better than the median SWE. At least in terms of clearly conveying his thoughts.

The entire post flows awkwardly and feels more like an angry ramble than a coherent thought process was applied. This coupled with being a dropout. quitting job after job, and basically phising executives for attention makes this candidate a high risk hire and is not worth the time. Poster: You will need to extend your hard skills and demonstrate why a group should take the risk of your background on. It may be bruta…

In fairness, by the time someone makes a forum post like this, they are probably at the frustrated angry rant stage.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#238
post #38

Two patterns - you don't stick with projects for long (perhaps really like freedom) and want a safety net (medical insurance). (Plus you could be a better communicator, the post you wrote turned out into not so coherent rambling halfway in, tbh.) Unless you are willing to relocate to a saner country than the US, you need to give up one. Most commenters here advise to give up some of your freedom and stick it out some…

Yeah, I'm not sure how well it'd work out but Upwork is likely worth a try. I'm not sure if fixed rate or hourly would work out better.

It's important there, as anywhere, to approach interactions with humility.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who was also home schooled and had problems with social interactions in my early twenties the best advice I can give is join several clubs that does things in person. You MUST learn how to make friends, how to not upset people, how to be comfortable in social situations and empathy. To do this I would recommend that you force yourself into social situations regularly. Afterwards spend some time thinking ab…

I've tried out meetup.com and went to one meetup. It was ok. I felt a little uncomfortable though. They solicited for my name, and email to be added to the Slack. There was a lot of recreational clubs etc at my college. I tried rock climbing, and liked it. There wasn't a lot of social interaction with rock climbing though. I went to a party in Austin. Chatted with strangers etc. Wasn't really sure what else to talk a…

Oh geez. Please don't let strangers on the internet diagnose you.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#240
post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire post flows awkwardly and feels more like an angry ramble than a coherent thought process was applied. This coupled with being a dropout. quitting job after job, and basically phising executives for attention makes this candidate a high risk hire and is not worth the time. Poster: You will need to extend your hard skills and demonstrate why a group should take the risk of your background on. It may be bruta…

In fairness, by the time someone makes a forum post like this, they are probably at the frustrated angry rant stage.

Alas, this is not an acceptable cover or excuse for this behavior.
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