Ask HN: How did you find your current job? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#121

Post by swah » Sat, Jun 11, 2022, 10:21 AM UTC

Kaze404 wrote: post #66

soneca wrote: post #63

Front-end developer here. I use exclusively AngelList and HN's "Who is hiring?" (my last 3 jobs came from those places), but that's because of my particular case. I am Brazilian, no intention to relocate, but I want to find a job at an American company because they pay way better (even more considering the exchange rate of the Brazilian Real vs US Dollar in the last couple of years). So I need to find US companies th…

Exact same situation here :)

I wonder how many brazilians are checking this exchange :)

I'm almost 40 and have a kind-of-comfortable-job in a brazilian hardware engineering company, but I'm not able to fully pay my bills (wife, kid..) right now and looking for something in USD for the same reason. And from what I read on twitter, even juniors are making 50% more than I am, even working for brazilian companies.

So I would have to make this jump so I can get ahead of inflation for a few years...

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#122

Post by soneca » Sat, Jun 11, 2022, 10:40 AM UTC

tanganian wrote: post #118

soneca wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

About salary. I earned $12k/year on my first dev job in a big startup in Brazil (it was a decent salary in 2017 for a junior dev in Brazil). Then I moved to the US and earned $67k/year working onsite on a small startup in LA as a junior with 1.5 year of experience. Then, still a junior position, but now with 2.5 yoe, I earned $115k/year working remote for a medium-sized company (but with a small engineering team). I…

Well done mate, you're an inspiration. In a few years you'll get that FAANG job if you want it, finger crossed. The problem for me in getting a local job, is I have to go back home (I'm from a poor African country, there are no jobs there and if there are the pay is "shit"). I live in France right now, they are not so so keen on the remote thing, plus the fact that they still really care about degrees, mine is in bus…

If you live in France a “local job” means get a job in France. I did not mean to get a job where you were born. Also, I do think an onsite first job is better than remote anyway.

I have a degree in Economics. I worked in the social sector for seven years, then in marketing for about six years. I learned to code when I was 37yo to change careers.

If you prefer backend, study backend. It matters a lot that you are studying what you like more. And, between back and front, there is no difference in what hires more. Maybe backend hires more, but both hire a lot.

It is very easy for an American company to hire an international contractor. Much less paperwork than hire a local fulltime employee. But most large companies don’t want to do it for potential labor law issues. If they hire someone as contractor that works fulltime and has the same work relationship as a regular employee, the companies risk an expensive lawsuit. The risk is much lower for intentional ones I believe. Anyway, this is decided before you apply. If they accept hiring globally remote means they accept international contractors.

On your side you just sign a contract and send very simple invoices that you can create your self on Word or Excel.

I’ll email you.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#123

Post by soneca » Sat, Jun 11, 2022, 10:45 AM UTC

swah wrote: post #121

Kaze404 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exact same situation here :)

I wonder how many brazilians are checking this exchange :) I'm almost 40 and have a kind-of-comfortable-job in a brazilian hardware engineering company, but I'm not able to fully pay my bills (wife, kid..) right now and looking for something in USD for the same reason. And from what I read on twitter, even juniors are making 50% more than I am, even working for brazilian companies. So I would have to make this jump s…

Start applying to jobs on American companies, that hire globally remote, that match your skills. Be upfront that you live in Brazil and don’t want to relocate, always mention that in the first email, it saves a lot of time for both parts. AngelList, HN’s Who is Hiring, and YC’s www.workatastartup.com are great places to look. See if you get an offer.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#124

Post by wojciii » Sat, Jun 11, 2022, 10:59 AM UTC

I'm a software developer (embedded). I connected to the local boss (LinkedIn to boss of the local office) of the company I wanted to work for and sent him my CV. I came in for a talk and said that I would like to evaluate their company with a short project. I did the project and they hired me full time. I know my stuff after 20 years, but I think this would also work for younger people. We are a scarse resource and more people should believe in this. So far I have not done any test or leet code and I don't plan to if I have a choice.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#125

Post by throwaway0asd » Sat, Jun 11, 2022, 6:34 PM UTC

I failed at interviews until I found an employer advocating strong leadership as a first principle.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#126

Post by bool3max » Sat, Jun 11, 2022, 10:20 PM UTC

justinlloyd wrote: post #95

Over the years: I built a video capture system for the Commodore Amiga as a neat side project for that lead to me working on Transputers that formed the heart of a non-linear editing system (no interview) The Transputers were really fast, so I wrote some neat 3D demos that ran on the Transputer boards in the Amiga & PC => contract work with SGI (no interview) Wrote a demo for the SGI video capture system to scan a ma…

Damn.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#127

Post by spacemanmatt » Sun, Jun 12, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC

undoware wrote: post #90

To be honest -- and this says plenty about the industry, but, yes, me as well -- I got a job at a large tech company by sleeping with the right engineer at Burning Man, got the referral, and then did well in the interviews and H1B lottery. #LeanIn. In truth, industry referrals are themselves a part of the compensation package, as they give (generally male) more-senior engineers social leverage over anyone who wants a…

> Imagine if surgeons were hired like this.

The gauntlet your American doctors have survived to become doctors is at least as awful as the referral system you partly documented.

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#128

Post by nokya » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 5:52 PM UTC

Network. My manager from a previous job 12 years ago. I had left the company in very good terms (but had to go see the world) and we became friends shortly after. Last year I told him I was looking for something new, he heard me and convinced his employer to propose me something.

He's not my manager today but he definitely outranks me in the company :)

Re: Ask HN: How did you find your current job?

#129

Post by irvingprime » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 7:06 PM UTC

I just started a great new job yesterday. In my case, a recruiter found my resume on one of the boards (Dice?) and reached out to me with an opportunity that had not been posted anywhere.

At the time I was actively looking. I applied for multiple jobs I found in several different places. Sometimes I got some interviews, sometimes I didn't. But no offers (well, one a few months ago that I turned down).