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Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

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Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#71

Post by the_only_law »

fny wrote: post #51
jghn wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What we saw in 2001 was a network effect. The artificially pumped up companies died. Then the B2Bs that they were paying also struggled and died. And then other companies that relied on those B2Bs had trouble. You're right that it will start with the obvious candidates, but we'll see if it goes on long/bad enough to have a broader impact.

It will... think of how many startups use AWS, Google Cloud, Tableau, Slack, or Microsoft products. Our industry is incestuous.

I would hope that a number of those companies are well embedded and experienced to weather a tech crash/recession. I mean I know MS has had to have seen their share.

Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#72

Post by jghn »

bussierem wrote: post #60

Just to give you my own experience right now, I literally just accepted a new job yesterday after job hunting for 3-ish weeks. I had multiple job interviews, even more job interview requests. I don't say this to brag, so I apologize if it comes off that way. I just wanted to give you what could be a cancelling-out anecdata point to your own experience. I wouldn't let it get you down too much. Keep hunting and keep ap…

You're right. We've only hit "not as good as it has been of late" phase. Also a lot of newer people have probably never experienced a bad job market, so even this is concerning.

It can get a lot worse. We'll see what happens, but there's good reason for people to be concerned about this happening. I think it's fine for people to be asking for advice on how to approach here.

Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#73

Post by gnulinux »

spicymaki wrote: post #36
rzazueta wrote: post #25

This will be at least the fourth such downturn I have seen in my career: - the 2000 Dotcom Bust - the 2008 recession - the 2020 pandemic recession - Now The short answer is that no one really knows what will happen. A lot of companies are reading the tea leaves - and regardless of what anyone tells you, that's really all it is - and trying to figure out how to make the best moves given rising prices, rising interest…

I would lump 2020 through 2022 into one big catastrophe.

I thought things are looking pretty positive by the end of 2021. Some of this is of course made worse by the Ukrainian War.

Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#74

Post by kradeelav »

axg11 wrote: post #69

It's interesting to see the self-reinforcing aspect of this recession/downturn. Many companies have yet to see a material impact to their revenue or market conditions, but are tightening their belts in anticipation. I'm not saying that's a bad thing or the case here. The more a potential recession is discussed, the more fearful companies become, the more conservative they become in their actions and ultimately the re…

This is a little incorrect for some sectors, though for other sectors would absolutely be right.

I work in a product oriented company (won't get into details), and because of inflation and other areas of the downturn, raw materials (plastics, circuit boards, wood) got more expensive. We then needed to adjust the final sticker price higher which (understandably) means that some customers at say, Walmart, are less likely to buy the product. It's a very real tight squeeze on both ends for us and also for the customer. This has been going on for a few months now and was a major early indicator (imo) to me that things were going to get grim for a bit.

Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#75

Post by bussierem »

jghn wrote: post #72
bussierem wrote: post #60

Just to give you my own experience right now, I literally just accepted a new job yesterday after job hunting for 3-ish weeks. I had multiple job interviews, even more job interview requests. I don't say this to brag, so I apologize if it comes off that way. I just wanted to give you what could be a cancelling-out anecdata point to your own experience. I wouldn't let it get you down too much. Keep hunting and keep ap…

You're right. We've only hit "not as good as it has been of late" phase. Also a lot of newer people have probably never experienced a bad job market, so even this is concerning. It can get a lot worse. We'll see what happens, but there's good reason for people to be concerned about this happening. I think it's fine for people to be asking for advice on how to approach here.

Totally agree with you on that account, I don't fault OP for asking this at all! Just wanted to put my 2¢ in here too. I hope OP gets plenty of luck and assistance with their search!

It's gonna be rough for a bit, but it's like with the market. If you think it's bad right now, just zoom out a bit. Even with things slumping a bit, we're still in a pretty good job market in our industry.

Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#76

Post by ssully »

sdevonoes wrote: post #29
rzazueta wrote: post #25

This will be at least the fourth such downturn I have seen in my career: - the 2000 Dotcom Bust - the 2008 recession - the 2020 pandemic recession - Now The short answer is that no one really knows what will happen. A lot of companies are reading the tea leaves - and regardless of what anyone tells you, that's really all it is - and trying to figure out how to make the best moves given rising prices, rising interest…

> - the 2020 pandemic recession Did this affect the IT sector? Seriously asking because I didn't notice it.

Yeah it did, but I don't think it was that big. I had a final interview call the day my job at the time started WFH (March 2020). I remember we were kind of joking about how wild everything was, but how they seemed well situated for it (they were a mostly distributed team). Call ended with them saying that they were looking to move forward and would send over paper work, but they ended up ghosting me. My job at the time also had a small wave of layoffs, but by the end of the year started hiring again.

Had a friend have a pretty similar experience with a different company at the time, but ended up landing a job there by the end of the summer of that year.

Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#77

Post by mooreds »

itake wrote: post #61
mooreds wrote: post #35

> What companies or roles will be more resilient? Well, for startups, if they've just raised (in the last 6 months) and you know or can estimate their burn rate and they have 18-24 months in the bank (or are cash flow positive), that's a good choice. Also good if they have a clear business model, rather than still trying to figure it out. I think that any of the pandemic focused companies were darlings of the markets…

Can you elaborate what you mean by startups that have raised in the last 6 months being a good choice? My understanding is those companies could be high risk for being overvalued and will have difficulty raising funds in 18-24 months. The RSUs maybe taxed at the current value, but actually be worthless after a down round. My interpretation is companies that raised 18-24 months ago and are still hiring now would show…

My reasoning: if they raised in the last 6 months, they should be good to go for the next 18-24 months, which is hopefully enough to get through the storm.

I didn't consider RSUs or the possibility of a down round (but frankly, everyone who raised in the last 2 years has that, to your point). I'm cynical enough that I typically value options or RSUs of private companies close to $0 ("whee, a lottery ticket!"). Now, stock grants of public companies are a different situation.

> My interpretation is companies that raised 18-24 months ago and are still hiring now would show stronger signals

That's a good point. Sure, and stronger yet would be startups that are profitable or cash flow positive (or could be by flipping a few switches). The problem is that knowing from the outside if a company is profitable is as difficult as knowing if someone is going to hit the brakes on hiring in the next few months.

Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#78

Post by uptownfunk »

rzazueta wrote: post #25

This will be at least the fourth such downturn I have seen in my career: - the 2000 Dotcom Bust - the 2008 recession - the 2020 pandemic recession - Now The short answer is that no one really knows what will happen. A lot of companies are reading the tea leaves - and regardless of what anyone tells you, that's really all it is - and trying to figure out how to make the best moves given rising prices, rising interest…

Agree with others, wouldn't count 2020 as a big downturn, the government sent checks out to everyone so they could medicate with netflix, alcohol and vaping. We are on the brink of the next one - just wait until some geopolitical event occurs (ahem China) that throws yet another wrench into an already distressed supply chain and watch things fall apart.

Re: Tell HN: Job interview canceled due to looming recession

#80

Post by flutas »

tynpeddler wrote: post #21

I've had meta and microsoft cancel on me. I also went all the way through the interview loop at one company, received very positive feedback but was told that they had decided to close the position without filling it. There's definitely a pullback and it started about 2 months ago. Update: As of now, about half of the companies I've interviewed with at one level or another, have abruptly halted their process due to e…

I had a similar interview experience with Disney recently. Going so far as them telling me I would have an offer letter in hand within 2 weeks, followed by silence. When I reached back out to them they basically played dumb about it and said some phrase about how "their hiring needs are always changing."
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