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Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

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Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#361

Post by PragmaticPulp »

madeofpalk wrote: post #306
feanaro wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

I've taken multiple six month stints off, and in the UK no one has ever asked about it.

The issue is earlier in the resume screening process, before they’re talking to you at all.

If a company receives 200 applications and 50 of them have flawless resumes, even something as small as a couple unexplained gaps could be enough to move you below the cutoff for getting a call back.

I think the thing that confuses people about gaps is that it doesn’t make it impossible to get any job. It just raises questions for interviewers who have a lot of resumes to sort through.

If you’ve only ever applied to jobs in less competitive markets or times, it may not have mattered at all yet. There are actually a lot of small hiring quirks that an entire generation of engineers hasn’t encountered yet because we’ve been in a decade long bull run.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#362

Post by gumby »

feanaro wrote: post #200
colanderman wrote: post #9

1. Take time off, like a month or more. [1] Use it to do anything other than coding. Hone a hobby, travel, volunteer, etc. No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. 2. You are worth more than you currently think you are. Internalize this, know this, that is key. "I am a sole developer for Mobile and Web platforms at this startup in a very small team" --> is a desirable skill in and of itself. 3. Stop…

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

Interesting: over the last 30 years I’ve been lucky enough that my resume is more gap than “work”. I wonder if that would be a problem if I tried to apply for a job at a a big company.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#363

Post by [deleted] »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #352
feanaro wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

It depends entirely on the company and how many other candidates they have. If I receive 200 resumes and 30% of them are picture perfect - Sorry, I can’t interview or even screen everyone. The resume with unexplained gaps isn’t getting sorted into the top of the pile simply because I have to be aggressive with filtering. On the other hand, if I’m hiring for a difficult position at a less popular company and I’m only…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#364

Post by pnutjam »

susodapop wrote: post #296
AlecSchueler wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious what you would consider an illegitimate career break?

Jail time.

why this gap in your resume?

Yale

That's very impressive, you're hired.

Thanks! I really need this yob!

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#365

Post by arkitaip »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #352
feanaro wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

It depends entirely on the company and how many other candidates they have. If I receive 200 resumes and 30% of them are picture perfect - Sorry, I can’t interview or even screen everyone. The resume with unexplained gaps isn’t getting sorted into the top of the pile simply because I have to be aggressive with filtering. On the other hand, if I’m hiring for a difficult position at a less popular company and I’m only…

The entire screening process is broken when recruiters try to find any and all reasons - or negative signals as you call them - to skip over candidates. Who knows how many amazing talents are skipped over due to trivial issues in their application process.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#366

Post by skeeter2020 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #352
feanaro wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No-one will care about a month or two gap on your resume. On a related note, this "gap in resume" thing needs to stop being a thing at all. I don't know when it became a thing, but it feels distinctively like forcing a wage slave class to keep their head down and continue wageslaving. Why would an employer care whether I took time off to pursue other things otherwise?

It depends entirely on the company and how many other candidates they have. If I receive 200 resumes and 30% of them are picture perfect - Sorry, I can’t interview or even screen everyone. The resume with unexplained gaps isn’t getting sorted into the top of the pile simply because I have to be aggressive with filtering. On the other hand, if I’m hiring for a difficult position at a less popular company and I’m only…

> If I receive 200 resumes and 30% of them are picture perfect

First, what software company hiring developers is in this position?

Second, isn't the definition of "picture perfect resume" the exact thing the GP is arguing to change?

Third, a month is not a unexplained gap; resumes (even LinkedIn) typically aren't fined-grained below the month level with dates, so there's nothing to hide or explain.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#367

Post by giantg2 »

qkls wrote: post #325
swiftcoder wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hang on, you are going to penalise someone for taking time off to get clean... presumably on the basis that it's better they come to work hiding the fact that they are high, than that they get help?

How would I even know they are clean? And if they are clean and they presumably have a greater chance of a relapse than other random candidates.

Drug tests are pretty common. If they pass that, there's no reason to prevent hiring. It could even be illegal since it's a health condition.

This comment makes me sad. It seems illegal biases in hiring and management practices are rampant. Worker protections seem to be a joke when they're blatantly ignored.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#368

Post by hutzlibu »

endymi0n wrote: post #333
madeofpalk wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taken multiple six month stints off, and in the UK no one has ever asked about it.

And if you feel self-concious about it, just write „freelance projects“ and in the ultra slim case someone still inquires about that telling them point blank you‘d love to divulge it because it was a very interesting project, but you‘re bound by an NDA.

Thats a dangerous way though and leading to the road of fraud.

Would be a red flag for me, if someone boasted about secret NDA work, which did not exist at all. And this can show up very quickly with some questions.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#369

Post by agentultra »

Get a therapist. See your doctor about it. A lot of adults with ADHD have a tendency to start a lot of projects and struggle with finishing them. If you talk to your doctor there are ways to treat a lot of different diagnosis. It could change your life. Don’t struggle alone!

Burnout: take time off, get a therapist.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt-out, directionless but want to turn it around

#370

Post by crispyambulance »

arkitaip wrote: post #365
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends entirely on the company and how many other candidates they have. If I receive 200 resumes and 30% of them are picture perfect - Sorry, I can’t interview or even screen everyone. The resume with unexplained gaps isn’t getting sorted into the top of the pile simply because I have to be aggressive with filtering. On the other hand, if I’m hiring for a difficult position at a less popular company and I’m only…

The entire screening process is broken when recruiters try to find any and all reasons - or negative signals as you call them - to skip over candidates. Who knows how many amazing talents are skipped over due to trivial issues in their application process.

> Who knows how many amazing talents are skipped over due to trivial issues in their application process.

No one has an actual number, but I expect it's A LOT.

The best thing folks can do is to NOT rely on just dropping their resumes into some anonymous web-based corporate application system. Instead, it's much better to network and to use your contacts (previous co-workers, folks you know, family, friends-- anyone really) to get get leads and bypass HR drones entirely or as much as possible.

The other thing that, IMHO, works really well is to specialize. Positioning oneself for "hot" in-demand jobs, ironically, just ends up putting people into an ocean of competition where each job has hundreds of equally qualified people going after it. That's awesome for employers who can then be absurdly picky, but it's terrible for candidates.

The way many technical candidates shoot themselves in the foot before even getting started is they fail to network and fail to specialize (or target their search properly). They're often honest to a fault and go up against competition that is unscrupulous. There's a reason why so many candidates completely flunk fizzbuzz.

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