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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?

#451

Post by watwut »

Godel_unicode wrote: post #202
bawolff wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you call him a creep, I would call him a go getter. Perhaps the difference is how succesful you are at it. > so what, he called an executive and got around their spam filter? Pissing off people you need something from is probably a poor tactic. Especially when you're not offering something particularly rare. Doubly so because the executive is not the hiring manager, so its unlikely they could help you, only hurt yo…

> Doubly so because the executive is not the hiring manager This is really the crux of it, for me. People hear stories about executives finding that diamond in the rough and slashing through the beauracracy to get them hired. That kind of thing almost never happens, especially from the perspective of the person looking for a job. I think this perspective might be hard to get until you've worked at a large organizatio…

It does happen - with friends son so that you give favor to friends and hope he will reciprocate.

From sons perspective, executive found diamond, little bit pushed him on starter point.

From other employees perspective, it is nepotism. Friends son got a job that more experienced and qualified people could or should do.

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

#452

Post by [deleted] »

watwut wrote: post #441
balls187 wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...You sound like a creep. Am I reading it right here, you spoofed your number to talk to executives? If the Op had a bit more credentials, and/or created something special, they might label it as "chutzpah" instead. I recall a story (perhaps apocryphal) that involved Steve Jobs that was similar.

It is not chutzpah. It sounds like that when people tell stories from own point of view they can frame as they wish. They sound cool when you listen to it as uninvolved poison. They are not cool at all when you are there in real life or in receiving end of it. It is the fantasy vs reality difference. As much as you imagine yourself creative when doing these, other people see blinking red flags and boundary pusher tha…

[deleted]

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

#453

Post by cercatrova »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #407
xpe wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Exactly. It might not be their fault but that is not an excuse for me to hire them, it is not my prerogative to give the benefit of the doubt especially when so many other job applicants exist.

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

#455

Post by MrStonedOne »

Remember this question, to ask during the "do you have any questions for us" part of your interviews:

"is there anything about my background or experiences that give you pause?"

Furthermore, do not get defensive, If you think they are wrong with how they reply, this means you didn't sell yourself well in that area. This should be taken as feedback in that vain, to improve further interviews.

Given your low level of paid experiences in software dev, i'd assume you have some level of personal projects. My suggestion? Drink the koolaid, Start converting them to serverless microservice SAAS cubes and containers. Document this journey on a blog, use this to build out articles about what you learned while doing it on a portfolio, use that to answer their questions in more interesting ways.

If you work at Amazon, apply for the Amazon Technical Academy.

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

#456

Post by [deleted] »

sangnoir wrote: post #419
ipiz0618 wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's impossible to tell if OP's on the spectrum. I used to think I could do that until I got close with a Clinical Psychologist. Sometimes it can't be confirmed even after a few in-person sessions with professionals, so it's certainly dangerous to "guess" it from a few internet comments.

I think parent was saying that author is violating social norms - either because they are oblivious to them (like it is to some people on the spectrum) or they are aware of the norms, but do not care for them (which would be sociopathic)

[deleted]

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

#457

Post by lhorie »

ep103 wrote: post #429
7sidedmarble wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only does that make no sense in the context of hiring programmers, it doesn't make sense for hiring anyone. Nailing interviews is about impressing someone first and foremost. It's kind of hard to impress when you don't have prior experience to look to.

While I agree with you, my experience in hiring in this industry for the last few years has been to agree with the parent comment. Once you land an interview, I don't think any of my interviewers even looked at my resume, or cared what it might have said. Most companies, at that point, were 100% and solely interested in my ability to answer leetcode questions. The better companies asked more meaningful technical ques…

I definitely read resumes (and ask about it). While it's not the sole criteria for hiring/not hiring, I think it says a lot about the candidate.

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

#458

Post by [deleted] »

kortilla wrote: post #442
sangnoir wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think parent was saying that author is violating social norms - either because they are oblivious to them (like it is to some people on the spectrum) or they are aware of the norms, but do not care for them (which would be sociopathic)

> but do not care for them (which would be sociopathic) No, disliking social norms is not sociopathic. The critical piece of being sociopathic is a lack of conscience.

[deleted]

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

#459

Post by Kluny »

dcolkitt wrote: post #109
honkycat wrote: post #88

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.

I wouldn't hire William Gibson tbh.

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

#460

Post by goatinaboat »

xpe wrote: post #160
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…

Spoofing your number does seem shady. However, saying someone is a creep is not very helpful. There is a big difference between how one is perceived and what a person -is-. The most helpful advice I've seen here is: get direct feedback from a candid friend. This HN feedback offers a range of opinions, but -please- don't dwell on it. Find a way to have people you know help you ... practice interviews, talking out loud…

There is a big difference between how one is perceived and what a person -is-.

This person consistently gets rejected after the initial meeting, enough for a pattern to become obvious.

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