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What I learned today: Never apply for a job

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11–20 of 77 posts

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#11
While we're on the topic, I'm just going to say that those "anonymous" job postings here on YC drive me nuts

"YCW11 company hiring front end dev! New office space! We There are a only couple YC companies I wouldn't want to work for, period. Mainly from the recent crop, but those bad seeds kinda ruin the whole "work for a random anonymous YC company!" recruitment tool.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#12

If you're an experienced software developer with skills in some of the following technologies: PHP/C++/Python/Rails/Django/ASP.NET/SQL/JavaScript/etc and you live in a dynamic market like SF/CHI/PHY/NYC/RDU/etc, then it's enough to simply create a profile on one of the career sites. The recruiters will be after you shortly. Getting a job via a job board and recruiter won't be all warm and fuzzy like meeting an employ…

I'd think that it would be the used car nobody who knew it wanted... When jobs show up in those sites, the company already failed at filling the position through trusted references. (or so is my impression) Doesn't have to be bad ofcourse, but propably warrants more due dilligence on the job seekers part than a good reference.

There are so many reasons why a company might not be good at recruiting employees. They run from not having enough time, to opening an office in a new city, or simply being willing to outsource networking so they can do stuff they like.

If you're looking for a job as a place to make friends and work with interesting people, fine, that's good stuff. But, many places of work are simply businesses, trying to make money for their owners. Recruiters want to find competent and experienced workers who can come in and get stuff done. It's not all lowballing and keyword bingo.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#14

I kind realized that a while ago, but it is difficult for nerd like me to leave computer and go meet people... what's to talk about? "I just found this snippet it's kinda fun!" ? :(

Go out and talk with other nerds. The easiest way to network in our industry is to open Meetup.com and look for JavaScript, C++, whatever events to discuss technology with like-minded nerds. And where there are nerds, there are nerds that work for other companies that might be interested in hiring more nerds.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#15
I agree with the idea in general. However, there are many cases where companies would (and should) hire people from outside their direct network. One is if the company is growing too fast (People in the direct network may be very busy & happy with their current jobs, making it harder to find enough of them). The other is if the company is looking to get diverse experiences and opinions. Imagine a social networking company formed by some employees of Facebook -- they would be better off by hiring someone from MySpace or Friendster who saw how difficult it was to compete with Facebook, and who tried to find niches to be able to co-exist with Facebook.

Similarly, for an employee, there are benefits of going out of their own network to get a job -- You get to work in a completely different setting (which may be a better learning experience for you), and you get to build a completely new network.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#16

I kind realized that a while ago, but it is difficult for nerd like me to leave computer and go meet people... what's to talk about? "I just found this snippet it's kinda fun!" ? :(

Then it might be time to explore some other hobbies. There are non-computer related things do that don't require you to be in shape and that includes actually getting in shape! Fly an RC helicopter, start hiking, volunteer at the soup kitchen. No one is going to care about some snippet of code but that's your fault for being so 1-dimensional

If all you have for work and pleasure involves sitting at a computer then you are cutting out a large part of being alive. Plus you are risking your health. You typecast yourself as a nerd but that does not mean you must handcuff yourself to a computer desk.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#17

While we're on the topic, I'm just going to say that those "anonymous" job postings here on YC drive me nuts "YCW11 company hiring front end dev! New office space! We There are a only couple YC companies I wouldn't want to work for, period. Mainly from the recent crop, but those bad seeds kinda ruin the whole "work for a random anonymous YC company!" recruitment tool.

Thank you for standing up and saying that!

The only occasion I've ever found justified for hiding the company name is when you're hiring in a town where the unemployment rate is > 25% and you can't manage the unemployment mob that inevitably forms outside the store.

There is only one reason those anonymous job postings exist - lazy hiring managers. I really wish pg would put his foot down and tell people to start standing up for their brand rather than hiding from it.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#18
post #16

I kind realized that a while ago, but it is difficult for nerd like me to leave computer and go meet people... what's to talk about? "I just found this snippet it's kinda fun!" ? :(

Then it might be time to explore some other hobbies. There are non-computer related things do that don't require you to be in shape and that includes actually getting in shape! Fly an RC helicopter, start hiking, volunteer at the soup kitchen. No one is going to care about some snippet of code but that's your fault for being so 1-dimensional If all you have for work and pleasure involves sitting at a computer then yo…

I'll start doing all those hobbies once I make a few million from my startup. If I was working at a job though, hobbies are a must.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#19
post #10
post #8

I'd like to make this resolution as well. No more sending a resume to people who don't know me, no more technical screening because they have no idea how I code, no more "getting to know you" lunches because, well, they don't know me. It takes quite a bit of effort, so I might not manage to pull this off. Applying for jobs and posting positions on job boards are different sides of the same lazy coin. It takes a lot o…

I wish you luck, but also I hope that good employers don't closure on the people which they know already, simply because it would mean I cannot come to your place and find a good job straight away, like I always did when I moved across my country first and then into a foreign country.

I don't think they would. Recruiting from networks is a good thing to strive for, but it would become a bad practice without room for exceptions. Even 37Signals, a big proponent of knowing the people you hire before you hire them, does put out the occasional job posting/recruitment ad on its blog.

Re: What I learned today: Never apply for a job

#20
post #18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then it might be time to explore some other hobbies. There are non-computer related things do that don't require you to be in shape and that includes actually getting in shape! Fly an RC helicopter, start hiking, volunteer at the soup kitchen. No one is going to care about some snippet of code but that's your fault for being so 1-dimensional If all you have for work and pleasure involves sitting at a computer then yo…

I'll start doing all those hobbies once I make a few million from my startup. If I was working at a job though, hobbies are a must.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
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