Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

641–650 of 875 posts

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

#641

Post by gremlinsinc »

I don't always have my shit together, but that's more the nature of my business as well as my mental state at the time (ADHD).

That said: I was obese and very sedentary at 30, lots of back pain, etc. Standing jobs, not something I could really do. So, I learned to code. But then, how do you get a job when you're not a college grad?

Well, you write blog posts, you create a github portfolio, etc... and then do shitty jobs on upwork or something till you get higher paying gigs... etc.

I still have imposter syndrome but have some good clients that treat me well (I mostly freelance, and selling myself is usually where my famine months come from).

So, I can't really say how to get a decent job w/ the benefits as I freelance, but I know freelancers who make > 100/hour which is generally enough to self-pay for benefits.

I think your best bet w/ less experience is maybe going to WeWorkRemotely and looking at the customer service jobs? Some of those pay > $20 and have decent benefits, or maybe some other job you think you'd qualify on there for. Angel list is another good place for startups w/ VC funding (read: can afford benefits).

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

#643

Post by jesterson »

yarcob wrote: post #581
jesterson wrote: post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no reason anyone would currently hire you, unless you are personable and fun to talk to. Perhaps my personal bias, but for a long time I was under impression that tech roles companies are hiring people based on their capacity to actually do the job. It's not social studies for G's sake. Over the course of my life I've come across extremely talented people, who yea, do lack social skills , not putting fake…

> companies are hiring people based on their capacity to actually do the job I think that's what honkycat was trying to say. OP doesn't sound like someone who actually has the skills for a dev job. So the only way they could get a dev job was if they somehow appeared really likeable so they would be hired despite lacking the required skills. (In my experience socially awkward people don't have trouble finding jobs if…

> OP doesn't sound like someone who actually has the skills for a dev job.

If you pardon me, I doubt either of us have the senses to judge someone's capacity for dev job. He may not be very lucid at explanations, but it doesn't allow us to measure his dev capacity. Hopefully you'd agree we need slightly more to evaluate that.

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

#645

Post by davedx »

inopinatus wrote: post #188
fooblitzky wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many companies large enough to have HR and/or legal departments have rules specifically against providing feedback to candidates on why they were rejected.

I've been a FAANG hiring manager and those rules were not rigidly enforced. There are other deterrents, however. As a younger manager I was keen to respond to such requests, but a significant proportion of unsuccessful candidates would then argue, sometimes quite vehemently, about the validity of the feedback. This curtailed my enthusiasm, and I've been rather selective since.

My experience too, it’s good to give a sentence or two out of courtesy but the arguing and sheer bullshit you get back sometimes, made me shake my head.

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

#646

Post by egorfine »

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…

I get some offbeat social cues from the text as well. From the wording. Maybe it's desperate, maybe is creep. We cannot judge from text alone, but we can feel something.

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

#648

Post by benhurmarcel »

exdsq wrote: post #638
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…

I really dislike the suggestion that someone who didn't attend college is therefore unable to write. - "i" should be "I" - "You are still young, plenty..." should be "You are still young, with plenty..." - "would currently hire you," shouldn't have a comma - "entry level", "dead end", and "world famous" should all be hyphenated - "AAA games at an..." should be "AAA games in an..." etc...

> I really dislike the suggestion that someone who didn't attend college is therefore unable to write.

That's not what he said. He suggested that someone who doesn't write well probably didn't attend college.

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

#649

Post by austincheney »

ehnto wrote: post #522
jart wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What jobs inquire about your financial history? That seems a little dystopian. Can't get a handle on your finances because you don't have a steady job, better not give them a steady job!

In my experience only a federal security clearance, which could result in the loss of a career opportunity.

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

#650

Post by thejohnconway »

Talanes wrote: post #397
srinivgp wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear people say this so much and it's so incredibly not true for me but I dunno if I'm different, they're all full of it, or both.

Right? My conversation problems all stem from my own dislike of talking about myself.

I think this is a misunderstanding of the advice. I don’t particularly like talking about my life because I live it, and it’s mostly pretty boring. But I do like discussing certain topics. The advice is to find what the other person like discussing, and discuss it in a way that makes them feel you are listening to their point of view.

Personally I don’t think I’ve ever really failed when I use this approach. You can go in with something as direct as, “so, what topic would you like to talk about?” And more often than not have a good conversation.

Post reply on HN