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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?

#501

Post by suck-it-dang »

WalterBright wrote: post #472
cercatrova wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The irony of correcting others when you yourself have several writing mistakes.

I shall have myself flagellated.

You are a great example of a brilliant person who just made plenty of these types of mistakes. "Their", "you're", and maybe even "misteak" wasn't intentional either?

My point is that if the creator of an esteemed programming language is susceptible to common grammatical mistakes, then maybe the rest of HN should go easy on a young guy that is barely surviving and made some of the same errors in his plea for help?

I am careful with my writing, and due to my background I likely know more about English syntax than any other person here (uh oh, delusions of grandeur), yet I still make these mistakes too.

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

#502

Post by jart »

kfogel wrote: post #431
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…

I just want to say that this was a kind, detailed, and thoughtful response -- beneficial to the OP, no doubt, but also probably to others. It was nice to be reminded that sometimes the Internet doesn't suck. Thanks for taking the time to write that reply.

It's a good comment with the right instinct but for the wrong reasons. The biggest red flag is struggling with personal finance. You can't get jobs like the ones he wants if you live beyond your means and constantly land in hot water with money because people who are like that are at risk of turning to evil to make ends meet.

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

#503

Post by helpfulanon »

snakedoctor wrote: post #110
void_mint wrote: post #18

Have you tried asking any of the jobs that rejected you're getting rejected? Honestly, just a guess, you're probably giving off bad interpersonal vibes/people don't really like talking to you. Half of interviewing is just being very personable/being able to talk comfortably with other people. Generally in this space (this space meaning those interested in tech/startups/etc) sometimes people struggle in this area but…

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-…

Your ego is a huge problem.

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

#505

Post by RalfWausE »

I am in germany, so, things in the job market are a bit different here... but let me try an advice:

Why not try something completely different for a while? In the early 2000s i was in your shoes, nobody wanted to hire me despite some (from my perspective) good skills. I was totally frustrated and didn´t thought i would ever get any half decent job... so, out of a sheer "f*ck to the world" rage i joined the german army.

After spending about two years in camouflage suits following orders of total barbarians and putting my body through more pain i would ever have dreamed of i got back to the civilian market and landed within three weeks after my release from the military a good job as an system administrator with a good company.

What i want to say with this little story: Don´t focus to much on what you want now, you will get frustrated and potential employers will see this frustration... do something completely different for a while, get your head clear and start all over again.

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

#506

Post by goatinaboat »

reader_mode wrote: post #435
void_mint wrote: post #18

Have you tried asking any of the jobs that rejected you're getting rejected? Honestly, just a guess, you're probably giving off bad interpersonal vibes/people don't really like talking to you. Half of interviewing is just being very personable/being able to talk comfortably with other people. Generally in this space (this space meaning those interested in tech/startups/etc) sometimes people struggle in this area but…

>Lots of lower-tiered jobs literally just need people to show up and do what they're asked. A part of getting a "first" or "entry level" job is accepting you're there mostly to learn, not to teach/move outside of your lane. I recently saw a junior CV that said "I can lead and I can follow" in personal skills... meanwhile his CV was full of spelling mistakes and his biggest project was setting up a website for some re…

effort and attention to detail, on the extreemes

Well, indeed.

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

#507

Post by suck-it-dang »

JamesDeepDown wrote: post #483
dotBen wrote: post #83

First off, your HN submission history is really weird, dude. ( https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=snakedoctor ) If you get a job in customer support at Amazon there is literally no way to get a 'promotion' to a dev role. It's different parts of the org, and you're tarnished with being a CS person. Why? Because it's signaling - people who can do eng roles at Amazon don't take CS roles so they don't bother minin…

"I'll give you mock 30 minute interview (I've hired countless engineers, designers, PMs and other roles in the last 20+ years)" This is an incredibly generous offer and I hope it gets done, because it would BY FAR the most valuable thing that the OP needs.

So that this clown can call OP "really weird" in person, or what?

The world would be a better place if all of these smug Silicon Valley dimwits were shackled up and forced to clear underbrush in the forests, as opposed to whatever reality-distortion bullshit they're working on at a FAANG.

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

#508

Post by Shugarl »

jart wrote: post #502
kfogel wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want to say that this was a kind, detailed, and thoughtful response -- beneficial to the OP, no doubt, but also probably to others. It was nice to be reminded that sometimes the Internet doesn't suck. Thanks for taking the time to write that reply.

It's a good comment with the right instinct but for the wrong reasons. The biggest red flag is struggling with personal finance. You can't get jobs like the ones he wants if you live beyond your means and constantly land in hot water with money because people who are like that are at risk of turning to evil to make ends meet.

He just spent a year without any steady source of income, should't his saving run out at one point ?

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

#510

Post by suck-it-dang »

jcranmer wrote: post #427
WalterBright wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gentle tip: writing "shouldn't of" instead "shouldn't have" is one of those critical writing misteaks one should never make when communicating with educated people. Some others worth special effort to do correctly: 1. their there they're 2. its it's 3. your you're A couple other writing tips: 1. don't terminate sentences with .. or ... 2. "bosses" is plural, I think you meant "boss's" for the possessive I know it sou…

> writing "shouldn't of" instead "shouldn't have" For me personally, this is the #1 bugbear of writing mistakes. I'm willing to tolerate most of the other failures (especially when they're exceptionally rare), especially because several of them can crop up when you decide to change the sentence between initial mental conception and committing to paper or keyboard. > I know it sounds elitist, and it is, but with these…

> It's for similar reasons that you are advised to dress up for interviews.

So, classist nonsense? Got it.

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