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

Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 79 posts

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#31

Post by Findecanor »

At least you already have a job. Recruiters have a despicable convention of rejecting applicants for just being unemployed, no matter what skill sets and experiences they have — and then they have the nerve to claim that there would be a shortage of developers.

Another pattern I've noticed is that they take a look at your background in your resume and get the idea that you'd rather do something else than what you applied for. You'd have to express your current path in your cover letter if it isn't clear from your resume.

I've successfully interviewed when I was younger and had long hair. Just keep it tidy (washed, brushed and in a ponytail). Your dress and manners are also important: don't reinforce any wrong preconceptions they may have,

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#32

Post by imron »

_vpbe wrote: post #18
fbrncci wrote: post #15

Python by itself isn't really that useful for entry level positions, unless you also work with some other tools and/or frameworks. I have known Python for 5 years, that didn't land me a job, then learned Django over the part of a summer, blogged about a single project, and within 2 months I had an entry job position.

I’ve made tons of things in Django. My first experience w Python was making something in django (for actual users). I don’t feel like clogging up the internet w some post about how I made something in django, but if that’s what it takes then maybe? It just seems as much like garbage-self promotion as posting a pic on Instagram or something. Anyway, with me I don’t think experience is the problem. As silly as it seems…

> I think I just come off as dumb due to my voice, face, etc.

What do you perceive to be the problem with your voice and face?

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#33

Post by JackMorgan »

_vpbe wrote: post #18
fbrncci wrote: post #15

Python by itself isn't really that useful for entry level positions, unless you also work with some other tools and/or frameworks. I have known Python for 5 years, that didn't land me a job, then learned Django over the part of a summer, blogged about a single project, and within 2 months I had an entry job position.

I’ve made tons of things in Django. My first experience w Python was making something in django (for actual users). I don’t feel like clogging up the internet w some post about how I made something in django, but if that’s what it takes then maybe? It just seems as much like garbage-self promotion as posting a pic on Instagram or something. Anyway, with me I don’t think experience is the problem. As silly as it seems…

I used to feel like "playing the game" or "playing politics" was for poor performers to cover up their weaknesses. Thankfully over time I swallowed my pride and decided if I was going to play, I was going to play to win at any cost. Check out the free book Playing to Win by David Sirlin [1].

Once I adopted this mindset, it was easier to do the "lame" things that were clearly just signalling mechanisms. Better clothes and grooming, a public blog, writing books, leadership in meetups, lots of open source work, conference speaking, reading all the right books, saying the right things, etc. Over time, instead of just doing these for "winning" I grew into someone an order of magnitude better than before I started. Sort of a catch 22.

At some point it's not just signalling anymore. I'm extremely glad I swallowed my pride when I did, and really wish I'd done it sooner.

[1] https://www.sirlin.net/ptw

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#35

Post by _vpbe »

imron wrote: post #32
_vpbe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve made tons of things in Django. My first experience w Python was making something in django (for actual users). I don’t feel like clogging up the internet w some post about how I made something in django, but if that’s what it takes then maybe? It just seems as much like garbage-self promotion as posting a pic on Instagram or something. Anyway, with me I don’t think experience is the problem. As silly as it seems…

> I think I just come off as dumb due to my voice, face, etc. What do you perceive to be the problem with your voice and face?

Since I’ve already doxxed myself I’ll just leave it vague

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#36

Post by landosaari »

I am in a similar situation:

How long have you been applying? Python is nebulous.

Does this mean data science: pandas, matplotlib, numpy, etc.

Or machine learning: tensorflow, scikit-learn, etc.

Others: openCV, sympy, etc.

Knowing this I think would help others provide better feedback.

When I receive a rejection email (which is nice), I ask what I should work on. Last 4 companies said they did an in hire instead, and they would like to retain my information. I would like to get to the interview process.

A lot of other positions I applied to close on the last Friday of the month and then reopen on the first Monday of the next month. So it appears (as an outside observer) as though there no human in that loop.

@jstx asked "What companies and positions are you applying to?" I need to reflect and reconsider where I have been submitting my CV.

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#37

Post by WesolyKubeczek »

_vpbe wrote: post #28
kidgorgeous wrote: post #21

How many times are you applying? I applied to 500 different companies on Indeed, dedicating ~4 hours a day to filling applications, customizing resumes to job descriptions, and conducting phone and video interviews. Was hired in about 3 weeks. Maybe use that as a metric.

I respect the grind and tbh I have basically given up actively applying, I just respond to recruiters now. At my peak ~ hour a day. The thing is, if every company has something obnoxious like 3 + interviews, and I average about 1.5 before flaming out, then I don’t really want to apply to 500 jobs and forget who I’m even interviewing with. Also, now that I have a FT non-wfh, I don’t really have the time to.

Have you considered 1) taking a vacation and doing the grind while on it, 2) buying yourself a pen and a notebook and writing down what you tend to forget?

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#38

Post by d9000 »

JackMorgan wrote: post #33
_vpbe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve made tons of things in Django. My first experience w Python was making something in django (for actual users). I don’t feel like clogging up the internet w some post about how I made something in django, but if that’s what it takes then maybe? It just seems as much like garbage-self promotion as posting a pic on Instagram or something. Anyway, with me I don’t think experience is the problem. As silly as it seems…

I used to feel like "playing the game" or "playing politics" was for poor performers to cover up their weaknesses. Thankfully over time I swallowed my pride and decided if I was going to play, I was going to play to win at any cost. Check out the free book Playing to Win by David Sirlin [1]. Once I adopted this mindset, it was easier to do the "lame" things that were clearly just signalling mechanisms. Better clothes…

Interesting book. Any other books do you recommend?

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#39

Post by Lapsa »

well... I also struggled finding a job. do keep applying, do keep looking - just give less fucks about it. e.g. my current employer still hasn't seen me on a webcam. and don't be shy to cut it short and ghost em (hell no I'm not gonna code in a browser, keep that bs personality test to yourself).

Re: Am I the only person who can’t get a job?

#40

Post by mustyoshi »

You should become familiar with Git and at least one of the hosted options github/gitlab. You should become familiar with docker and docker compose, potentially kubernetes as well.

Also wouldn't hurt to know at least something about a major cloud provider like AWS/GCP/Azure.

At a minimum I would want git and docker experience, but really (since my company is cloud based), I would pass on anybody without AWS experience unless their resume was THAT impressive.

Post reply on HN