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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?

#691

Post by fredgrott »

1. Stop job hopping!

Instead job level-up.

The difference is that you build something to launch yourself up higher. You had the gem of that at Amazon in your outreach efforts but left rather than pursue it.

Take it on the chin and re-contact Amazon and point out your previous extra efforts and point out that you would like to find out what path there might be for those that do such efforts. Possibly the same Vp you emailed the suggestion to perhaps.

you have the gem already to solve this in what you did at Amazon in reaching out to the VP with a useful suggestion.

You now have to own it in that you have to focus on those extra efforts with better out-reach communication. Ask that VP for assistance in that aspect.

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

#692

Post by fallingknife »

BeetleB wrote: post #268
fallingknife wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to college and did a bootcamp. College - 212K tuition (current) - 4 yrs - no job guarantee Bootcamp - 18K tuition - 3 months - money back if no job within a year Can you spot the scam?

While I sympathize with your point, I also see someone who made a really poor choice in picking a college. I'll wager that in every state there is a decent university that will get you a 4 year degree for under $60K. It's as if I compared your average college with a crappy bootcamp. Let's not cherry-pick. The number I want to see is the percentage of college grads with a BS in CS who get a (decent) job within a year,…

I would also say that going to college was a bad choice, but the one I picked was one of the good ones where the name means something. Still a rip off, but a lot of people paid the same for absolutely nothing.

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

#693

Post by fallingknife »

bawolff wrote: post #267
fallingknife wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to college and did a bootcamp. College - 212K tuition (current) - 4 yrs - no job guarantee Bootcamp - 18K tuition - 3 months - money back if no job within a year Can you spot the scam?

To be fair, money back promises are often used as part of a scam. Personally i think neither are a scam (although 212k is ridiculous, glad i dont live in usa) just make sure you understand what they are selling and that it matches what you want.

I actually know someone who got the money back in this case, so not a scam.

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

#694

Post by midasz »

kamaal wrote: post #532
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…

>>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. Things like this are very important. Job hopping is a giant red flag for lots of…

> Job hopping is a giant red flag for lots of companies

I noticed that after a year or 2 I get bored because things become a bit too routine. After the third job I decided to just become a midlancer (in a few years want to go full freelance) so I can hop whenever I hit that wall.

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

#695

Post by atuladhar »

jk7tarYZAQNpTQa wrote: post #660
exdsq wrote: post #653

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your writing is not strong, i can tell you did not attend college. Maybe you're right but this is how I read it. Alice's writing is not strong -> Alice did not attend college. therefore Bob's writing is strong -> Bob did attend college.

You just fell into a logical fallacy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denying_the_antecedent On the other hand, what the other user deducted was: * If you attend college -> You probably end up writing properly * OP doesn't write properly -> He probably didn't attend college Which is a proper logical deduction rule called modus tollens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modus_tollens

I apologize in advance for nitpicking, but since this sub-thread is about usage: it should be "deduced" not "deducted."

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

#696

Post by alistairSH »

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!

What jobs inquire about your financial history?

In the US, it would be both legal and common for federal government jobs (that require any sort of security clearance). Banking & finance (investment/securities & retail banking).And some jobs on the periphery of banking/finance, where handling PII related to finances is common.

I'm sure there are other places that run credit checks, just because they can (it is the US after all, we're king of treating employees like we're in a dystopian movie). But, there shouldn't really be a need.

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

#697

Post by tomduncalf »

dotBen wrote: post #515
JamesDeepDown wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

I spent almost 2hrs with snakedoctor this evening. He's a smart young man who just needs some pointers and advice as he doesn't really have anyone around him who has experience of landing and keeping a job in tech.

What an awesome way to help out. Respect!

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

#698

Post by jyriand »

Google, Facebook, Dell, NSA, CIA, DoE (E=Energy), Airbnb, Palantir -- There are literally thousands of people applying for jobs to these companies and a really small percentage will be accepted. So it's not that you are unhireable, but you are applying to places where rejection is almost guaranteed. It's like betting on a number at a roulette table and wondering why you are losing money. The odds are against you.

Some ideas: 1) pick a smaller and boring software services company?

2) Travel abroad and find work there, where the health insurance is not such a big of an issue.

3) Try to make it as a freelancer(you can start at upwork and work your way up from there, start a consulting company etc)

4) Apply for a remote only positions

P.S If you can afford it(probably not), get an appointment to a psychiatrist or a therapist, they can usually spot the problems you might be missing yourself.

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

#699

Post by deanak »

_6pvr wrote: post #343
deanak wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would not listen to any advice on HN. I have a pretty solid hiring strategy, but it got downvoted to hell because HN skews to people without much real world experience. They can only think of tech products to sell to other tech companies. (I'm a CTO, and I've raised seed money for two different products. Our market is small -- under 200MM ARR -- but our nearest competitor starts at $30k per year and their product i…

> I would not listen to any advice on HN. I have a pretty solid hiring strategy, but it got downvoted to hell because HN skews to people without much real world experience. They can only think of tech products to sell to other tech companies. This part doesn't really seem worthwhile to post. > Focus on smaller companies that need help solving actual business problems with automation. Offer to do a project for $20 an…

> This part doesn't really seem worthwhile to post.

I restrict my social media time to a couple of hours a week. If you want to be successful, hustle on LinkedIn. HackerNews is a procrastination hole for people who want to talk about developing software instead of actually doing it.

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

#700

Post by _2d30 »

snakedoctor wrote: post #210
pcthrowaway wrote: post #134

If you're not currently working, I'd recommend a staffing agency, Uber Eats, Taskrabbit, Instacart, etc. There are ways to start making money right now that might keep you from being homeless. And being homeless is going to set you back. Don't put any of the above on your resume. What are you looking for? You haven't really elaborated on what your skills are except for alluding to a possible penchant for security res…

I saw some people in Austin who did gig work like uber etc. I've thought about it. I'm a very anxious driver though. I've though about working in a Amazon warehouse. There's one near me. But they don't get health benefits for 3+ months. Have to do intense manual labor etc. EA QA was the most toxic place I ever worked at. Belittling people, thinking that all testers are incompetent etc. I have back pain, and dental is…

> But they don't get health benefits for 3+ months.

This isn’t true? https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/operations/healthcare-from-...

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