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Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

latimes.com

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Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#51
post #23

My personal experience has been quite different. I got a bit burned out on my job and sent in my resume to 10 new places. All remote, some a bit of a stretch, others I was well qualified for. (Data science management and senior DS IC, respectively). I got zero hits. Not a single phone screen. Honestly I was pretty lazy about it, and didn't write cover letters or anything. That might be a contributing factor. That, or…

If someone’s going to hire you remote shouldn’t you demonstrate your ability to communicate well in text and elaborate on what makes you a good choice in a well written, directed cover letter?

What makes you assume that they didn't, out of interest?

Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#52
post #9

Besides personal networks, are there any particular services where anyone is finding good leads? I found my current job through Stack Overflow, which was great (I'd prefer to avoid LinkedIn and the spammy ones). However, there aren't as many hits on Stack Overflow as there used to be.

LinkedIn

Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#53
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Find a good recruiter and put a solid profile on LinkedIn. The difference is night and day.

Seconding linkedin, got my current job passively through recruiters reaching out to me and taking interviews with ones that sounded interesting.

Same, for both my current and previous. The two before that were via a recruiter relationship. Before that was through a friend who works there, and before that was a de facto apprenticeship, also via a friend already there. I have never gotten a job in this industry by submitting a resume cold. From this I conclude that the point is not to need to.

You need the LinkedIn profile to look good both to humans and to robots, and a worthwhile recruiter will give you substantial help tuning both that and your resume because these will both help them place you, which is how they get paid. Make sure a new recruiter clearly understands this and is happy that you clearly understand it, too. Those who fail this test are not the ones you want to work with.

It will be harder to work with top-tier recruiters if you're working your way up and not yet established. That's not fair, but it's the way of the world, and as always you mistake the ought for the is at your peril. If you're smart and capable, just not yet tested and proven, the ideal is to find a recruiter who will invest in helping you develop. This is tricky and I lucked into it. The best advice I can offer there is, bigger firms with deeper pockets are more likely able to support that.

The unequivocally good news is that there is a lot of interest, money, and good roles sloshing around the market right now. While that's less good for a newer junior than for a proven senior, it is still good for us all.

Don't wait. The article compares the tech industry labor market to the housing market, which I think is accurate. It also compares now with the boom before the 2000-2001 crash, and I think that is accurate too. We can reasonably predict another crash. We cannot reasonably predict when. So get while the getting is good.

Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#54
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Look on glassdoor, indeed, whatever site you want to use to find out salary expectations in your role/area 2. When asked, give this number as your desired target, but a lot of times they ask about old pay. if the old pay differs greatly, avoid the topic by pointing out how 'the old job requirements are different, benefits are different, etc. But if they press on this number, tell them, don't lie or completely avoi…

Don’t use Glassdoor for tech. They are almost always incorrect since they are salary focused. Use levels.fyi which understands total compensation

Correct. And assume levels is old data at this point. And don’t be shocked, people really make that much.

Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#55
post #2

> But now, these technical interviews are often being waived Huh? First I’ve heard of that

I got a new job about ~5 months ago and this was not my experience at all. It was leetcoding questions for days. If you didn't ace it, you'd get ghosted quickly. One place, I did 3 rounds of interviews, an all day take home assignment. I still got ghosted! So I call BS on this quote as well.

My experience is that this is wildly inconsistent between companies. I've worked for crappy companies for low pay that had ridiculous long multi-week interview processes, and good companies for much better pay where the interview was a single 30 minute phone call where they offered me the job.

Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#56
post #23

My personal experience has been quite different. I got a bit burned out on my job and sent in my resume to 10 new places. All remote, some a bit of a stretch, others I was well qualified for. (Data science management and senior DS IC, respectively). I got zero hits. Not a single phone screen. Honestly I was pretty lazy about it, and didn't write cover letters or anything. That might be a contributing factor. That, or…

If someone’s going to hire you remote shouldn’t you demonstrate your ability to communicate well in text and elaborate on what makes you a good choice in a well written, directed cover letter?

In my entire decade+ career in bigtech, I've never used or looked at a single cover letter.

Cover letters are a waste, and rightfully ignored.

Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#58
There's definitely some ripple effects happening, even in Canada there's a shortage of software engineers in my province*. I just accepted an offer that the HR minion described as "competitive" that is a 20% bump in salary. Many large companies here have tons of openings. I feel like the market here has detached itself from reality.

* https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/the-good-the-bad...

Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#59
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Look on glassdoor, indeed, whatever site you want to use to find out salary expectations in your role/area 2. When asked, give this number as your desired target, but a lot of times they ask about old pay. if the old pay differs greatly, avoid the topic by pointing out how 'the old job requirements are different, benefits are different, etc. But if they press on this number, tell them, don't lie or completely avoi…

Don’t use Glassdoor for tech. They are almost always incorrect since they are salary focused. Use levels.fyi which understands total compensation

[deleted]

Re: Employers bow to tech workers in hottest job market since the dot-com era

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those of you who have done this, how do you maximise your compensation? Tips appreciated.

1. Look on glassdoor, indeed, whatever site you want to use to find out salary expectations in your role/area 2. When asked, give this number as your desired target, but a lot of times they ask about old pay. if the old pay differs greatly, avoid the topic by pointing out how 'the old job requirements are different, benefits are different, etc. But if they press on this number, tell them, don't lie or completely avoi…

Nice list. Check if asking about salary history is banned. It is in 21 states. https://www.hrdive.com/news/salary-history-ban-states-list/5...
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