If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever • Hacker News Board

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#271

Post by nixnax » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:20 AM UTC

ammanley wrote: post #170

treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

Been there buddy (including that exact, form-letter rejection email). I feel for you. I just finished a 9 month interview cycle of funemployment, with a break of two months in-between where I too, was questioning my reason for even being in this industry. My background is a coding bootcamp + relentless up-skilling and self-directed learning (with the help of some mentors), plus a healthy side of ADHD/spectrum issues,…

No post body was provided.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#272

Post by thaumasiotes » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:21 AM UTC

As_You_Wish wrote: post #77

lovich wrote: post #25

I don't disagree with this articles satire, as it lines up with my experience if you remove a bit of the hyperbole. I am however curious as to why companies continue to do this and seem to be increasing their interview requirements in the face of an inability to hire. The most reasonable sounding answer I can come up with is that executives are balking at engineering pay and rationalizing it to themselves by demandin…

It is super expensive to hire someone. The costs are enormous. Let's take a hire that will make $10,000 per month, nice round number. Someone in HR has to write the job description. This takes the HR person's time, the hiring manager, the hiring manager's boss just to get the information for a job description Job description cost with hiring manager: $500 Job description cost with hiring manager's boss: $500 HR perso…

> So a company hires 50 people and 20 quit because the were not vetted proper[]ly: that is $3,685,000 in wasted money. Now, realize that this $3,685,000 is in after tax dollars, so if the company's profit margin is 15%, it takes $24,566,667 in product and/or service sales to cover those wasted hiring expenses.

Why would a company's operating expenses be in after tax dollars? The whole point of a "before tax" / "after tax" distinction is that operating expenses are before tax.

And the profit margin is not a constant. If you have a certain amount of revenue, and then your expenses go up... that means your profit margin has shrunk.

None of the costs you list would come out of profit, because... they are operating expenses. By definition, profit is what's left after they're covered.

It's next to impossible to figure out what you're trying to say, but my suggestion to you is to model some cash flows. Don't even think about a "profit margin".

> Employee decides the job is not a good fit for him or her and quits 9 months later: $90,000 wasted.

Interesting philosophy. By extension, if the employee decides the job is not a good fit and quits after 240 months, you just wasted $2,400,000.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#273

Post by mostertoaster » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:21 AM UTC

raffraffraff wrote: post #244

yibg wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve found keeping expenses well below my means provide a great sense of freedom and autonomy. I don’t need to stay at a job I don’t enjoy and not having work means it’s not a big stressor. It also means I can be selective in the job I do end up taking instead of worry about not being able to pay the bills if I’m out of work too long.

This. But it really depends where you live and when (or if) you bought a house. I live in a city that has very expensive housing but bought in 2011 just before the prices corrected after the 2007/2008 crash. That single choice was the biggest we made. But aside from that, for ethical and lifestyle reasons, we are frugal. We use old phones and laptops, a 10 year old TV, don't fly, don't own a car and don't have kids.…

I mean it sounds comfortable, and minimally stressful, but if it’s not that you can’t have kids, you should start a family. You’re now in such a good position to do it!

Then your life can be chaotic, messy, stressful, and you lose much freedom for many years! But on the plus side you learn to sacrifice everything you’ve done and earned for the good of children who don’t even know how to appreciate it!

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#274

Post by metters » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:21 AM UTC

My best interview experiences were with companies that either documented their full interview process on their website or told me beforehand how many rounds there are going to be and what to expect during each round. This includes sending me a onepager about each interview partner, so I could get to know something about them before meeting them.

In the end there was one extra interview (after the three they told me about beforehand), but that was because my requested salary was higher than the company expected, so they wanted to make sure I was a good fit.

EDIT: Those companies also scheduled all interviews for the same day. This way I could receive the offer/rejection within less than one week.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#275

Post by PebblesHD » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:25 AM UTC

erwnerve wrote: post #254

PebblesHD wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Day-rate contracting can get you very close if the last minute renewals are something you can deal with. The telcos are currently going through a hiring period and I’ve seen 1250/day plus super offered a few times recently. For perm roles, it’s certainly much harder, and I’ve only seen one IC role offered in market at over $220k at the firms I’ve worked at, but the flip side is I’ve seen a few higher ones offered to…

> The old adage still applies, the jobs you want aren’t advertised and the candidates you’re looking for aren’t on job boards looking. For someone new-ish to Sydney without much of a network, where should I be looking, if not the usual job boards?

As sibling comment says, meetups and conferences are a great way to get your name out there. Working closely with vendors when the opportunity comes up in your organisation can also help build a relationship and reputation if managed properly. Anything to establish yourself as a person of some authority in the area such that when a need is identified, your name comes up as a ‘we should see if x is looking around’

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#276

Post by mproud » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:25 AM UTC

In comparison, I got pretty damn lucky.

I had only one interview.

I showed up unscheduled, and uninvited. And I immediately got an offer at the end of it (pending background check).

I’ve been there for over 16 years now.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#277

Post by bazmattaz » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:28 AM UTC

throwawaysleep wrote: post #110

treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

This is why I just interview endlessly. At least one a week. You need to develop a callus to interviewing. Find the time for it by rubber stamping a few code reviews. It gets boring after a while. Just a very repetitive process after 100 or so.

One interview a week? Are you serious? You must move job every few months then? Do you not get new job fatigue? The first few months at a company are horrible - getting the lay of the land, understanding who you have to impress and who you don’t…etc

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#278

Post by PebblesHD » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:28 AM UTC

erwnerve wrote: post #252

PebblesHD wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep Australian market. The numbers I’ve talked about above are what I’d classify as ‘normal’, there are of course always exceptions, and I’ve been fortunate enough to exist outside these ranges for most of my career, but ultimately I left the banks a few years ago for better prospects.

Just to be clear, are we talking about AUD$ or USD$? (Asking as an ex-FAANG who is preparing for job hunting in Sydney)

$AUD. These numbers are your run of the mill salaries seen around the industry, someone with specialised experience such as an ex-FAANG engineer might be more likely to end up at the higher end, but in general outside of a few local unicorns the salaries aren’t that impressive save for a few exceptions for top talent. It’s a real shame since everything else in Sydney is so expensive…

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#279

Post by mattlondon » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:28 AM UTC

treyfitty wrote: post #94

I’ve been interviewing for 8 months. Getting to many final rounds, 1 lowballed offer, 1 rescinded offer, and it’s playing a mental toll. Today, I got a rejection that went along the lines of “everyone loved you and there was absolutely 0 negative feedback, but we just found a better fit.” I almost broke down, but hid behind a facade of positivity because the long weekend was starting and my kids can’t afford a bummed…

Been there in the same situation for the "You were great! 100% perfect! But there was someone who was 110% - sorry & good luck!" more than once, both at the very start of my career as a new grad and as an experienced hire.

It sucks and it is a blow, and it is emotionally quite draining. Try to stick in there - for me things all worked out in the end, and I hope they will for you too.

I try to live my life by the maxim of "you never know what is going to happen" and it cuts both ways, but there are times when something amazing just comes out of nowhere.

Good luck.

Re: If You Want This Job, We Must Interview You Forever

#280

Post by bazmattaz » Sat, Sep 03, 2022, 7:34 AM UTC

rendall wrote: post #265

5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #246

- If a job has more than 2 rounds, no thanks. - If they send me a leetcode or test before speaking to me, no thanks. - If the job ad says anything about "culture", no thanks. - If my first interview is with an HR person, no thanks. - If the job ad or email mention anything about making a video of myself, I will delete that mofo with extreme prejudice. - If the job application requires me to sign up to your website, n…

> If my first interview is with an HR person, no thanks I always think of these as a sniff-test. They just want to see if you are a real person, who can speak and recite whatever is on your CV/resume. If in-person, that you shower and dress. That's it. If you can pass that stage, you're on to the more expensive interviews.

This is exactly what they are. The HR person just needs to rule out the weirdos and North Korean hackers!

You would be foolish to not have that (very easy) chat with the Hr person just to progress