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

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

#401

Post by evan_ »

de6u99er wrote: post #396
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #211

As a hiring manager, the things that stand out to me in your post: - You said you quit a job at EA, quit a job at IBM, dropped out of college your freshman year. You may have valid reasons for leaving each of these, but you have to see this from the manager's perspective: You had 3 different great opportunities that all came to a dead end at the beginning of your career. You need an alternate narrative. - You talk ab…

Where does his article say, that he spoofed emails to manipulate executives into meetings? Only thing I see about email is the one to a VP which resulted in fixing an issue. I bet he didn't receive the credit for it.

> Spoofed number to bypass contact whitelist etc.

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

#402

Post by lkm93 »

stevenhuang wrote: post #206
dcolkitt wrote: post #109

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 writing is disjointed and does not easily flow. It's too curt and while that's alright for a casual i.e., HN audience, if that's how one communicates in other contexts there will be miscommunication.

And you just used "i.e." incorrectly. Congratulations.

Hey snakedoctor! You're probably not a sociopathic, autistic, illiterate narcissist like everyone here is telling you. For one, your writing is just fine, and beyond that any of your bad decisions can simply be explained by youth and (understandable) desperation.

I would suggest staying away from HN for life advice. People here might have some money but, aside from that, they are mostly low-intelligence failures.

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

#403

Post by spamizbad »

ALittleLight wrote: post #296
veerabadhra wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of safe advice isn't very helpful for someone who is hustling IMO. Maybe it is useful for someone who's going to become a principal engineer at a large corporate. The parent commenter would be well suited to work at a startup. Unfortunately, startups have also been infected by the corporate virus. In a country that's stagnating, such risk averse behavior makes sense, because there is no reward for taking on…

A teenage boy asked the master "How do I compose a symphony?" The master said "You're too young, you need to start with more modest projects." "But master" said the boy "you first composed a symphony when you were half my age!" "Yes, but I didn't ask anyone how." --- What I mean by this is that "hustling" is something of a unique, rare, or hacking like thing. You can't ask people how to do it, because if they could t…

I don't think I can recall any cases in my professional history as a software developer of anyone landing a dev job due to "hustle". Unless we are using some shallow definition of it that's "Taught self how to code, passed the same technical interview as everyone else"

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

#404

Post by lkm93 »

maroonblazer wrote: post #178
snakedoctor wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

When responding to a comment that asserts your writing is not strong you'd want to read, re-read, and re-re-read your reply to ensure it is well written. You seem to have not done that, which lends credence to the parent's comment. My take is you seem to have an inflated sense of your abilities. I've interviewed people who share this trait and it's a turn off unless they have a portfolio of work to back it up. Perhap…

Snakedoctor's writing is fine and you sound like a pompous idiot.

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

#405

Post by 01000101 »

Sounds like you’re firing on all fronts.

What’s your goal/objective? Pick an industry find their association and make inroads.

If you didn’t land a FAANG out of college you’re going to have the hustle at SMEs and build a resume that shows consistency in the following: - you showed up - you got things done (be wary of hanging your hat on that one thing you did back in xxxx).

But if it’s just healthcare, HomeDepot/CostCo may be a good bet. Even if you hustle at a place like that and make manager you can make enough to take care of a family.

Also I’d lose the victim and woes-is-you cuz big corporate isn’t noticing you -‘tude.

At the end of the day your job will be to make someone else’s life easier, if you figure out who and can speak to how in an interview, chances are you’ll get the job.

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

#406

Post by VaedaStrike »

klyrs wrote: post #42

Brutally candid advice? You sound like a creep. Am I reading it right here, you spoofed your number to talk to executives? In the best case, they'll assume you're a pen-tester; but more likely, you're blacklisted from those companies now. I wish there was, like, short and simple advice that I could give you to not be a creep. I just tried to google that, and I'm not finding a good clear resource. Like most social ski…

The relationship with a potential employer and a romantic interest have the same dynamics between creepy vs confident/hustling. We all have seen examples of both, but if any have tried to project confidence or to hustle to any significant and meaningful degree you run a non-trivial risk of appearing to cross lines / be creepy.

Often it isn’t one or the other. Steve Jobs was both a heartless ass at times while also being a brilliant hustler.

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

#407

Post by Wowfunhappy »

xpe wrote: post #172
hinkley wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you call him a creep, I would call him a go getter. I've not had terribly good luck with people who use the term 'go getter.' Quite a few of them have been creeps. Smooth and slick, definitely, but at the end of the day, manipulative people who I avoid making eye contact with at public events, hoping that they don't remember me. Creeps.

I wonder if you use the word creep really broadly; e.g. to include people that make you uncomfortable. Many/most of those people, it seems to me, mean well but have difficulty connecting with you in the way you are used to. Many of those people have a bunch of insecurities, burdens, or even mental health concerns. I don't think it is useful to call those people creeps. Some people are certainly toxic in the context o…

> Many/most of those people, it seems to me, mean well but have difficulty connecting with you in the way you are used to. Many of those people have a bunch of insecurities, burdens, or even mental health concerns.

And I wouldn’t hire them. That’s the point OP was trying to make.

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

#408

Post by eslaught »

fnbr wrote: post #395
ma2rten wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't necessarily agree regarding FAANG. Once someone gets an interview it doesn't matter much what their previous work experience is.

I agree. If OP can consistently get interviews at FAANGs, then that’s all that’s needed for the job.

To make this even more explicit: if OP can get interviews, then the resume (and the "on paper" job record) is clearly not an issue. The issue is interview technique, possibly the verbal description of the job history, but possibly something else (technical or social).

I second other comments elsewhere in the threads here to get a candid friend to help with interview practice.

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

#409

Post by 01000101 »

Sounds like you’re firing on all fronts.

What’s your goal/objective? Pick an industry find their association and make inroads.

If you didn’t land a FAANG out of college you’re going to have the hustle at SMEs and build a resume that shows consistency in the following: - you showed up - you got things done (be wary of hanging your hat on that one thing you did back in xxxx).

But if it’s just healthcare, HomeDepot/CostCo may be a good bet. Even if you hustle at a place like that and make manager you can make enough to take care of a family.

Also I’d lose the victim and woes-is-you cuz big corporate isn’t noticing you -‘tude.

At the end of the day your job will be to make someone else’s life easier, if you figure out who, and can speak to how in an interview, chances are you’ll get the job.

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

#410

Post by chillfox »

bawolff wrote: post #228
chillfox wrote: post #144

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…

As someone who sometimes struggles with social stuff, join a club has never been useful advice for me. Its never worked out well, i'm not sure where y'all live where there are actually interesting clubs, and they're pretty awkward environments generally imo. I've had better luck with do something with a more structured environment. E.g. take an in person class (something not work related. Learn sign language or somet…

Fair enough, not everyone learns in the same way.

You are right that clubs will feel awkward, for the first 2-3 months anyway. But they will also challenge you to improve your social skills.

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