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Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

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Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#11

Post by kleer001 »

> gives me anxiety and makes me depressed

Nope. It may not entirely seem like it, but our emotional response to things are ours, they're not inherent in the objects of our focus. At least that's what my old and moldy stoic teachers tell me.

> I am exhausted

That's the key. That's real. There's no arguing with that. That you know it is the first step. I agree with another commentator, take some time off. But I'd add that the time off should be smaller and more frequent, something calming and sustainable.

> I've done around 40 interviews > Technical lead with over 10 years experience

Holy smoking duck nuts, that sounds exasperating! You have my sympathy.

Someone once asked a man how he was. He replied, “I’m going through hell!” Said his friend: “Well, keep on going. That is no place to stop!”

Best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#12

Post by snarkypixel »

beranabus wrote: post #8
snarkypixel wrote: post #6

I wanted to make an app to make job searching easier. It's a pain in the ass on both side and imo current tools on the market suck.

https://xkcd.com/927/

lol :) I have a new take on it that I haven't seen yet, but yeah it seems like such a crowded space not sure I want to get into this mess.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#13

Post by durnygbur »

Having similar professional experience I'm thoroughly interrogated by people much junior. They're looking for lies, for fraud, for incompetence, for inconsistencies. Once a week or so I just drop CV compiled for the specific opening. My motivation to answer to their sorting-tree-hashmap-angular-state-management teasing is below zero. I'd been hired and I know how it feels like to be hired, if they are into butt sniffing I disconnect. I'm haven't been working for over one year now and I don't care.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#15

Post by wincy »

lgleason wrote: post #10

Has the market become this tough/bad?

I don’t think so? I got a job as a team lead two months ago with seven years experience. Not sure what OP is doing wrong here. The market was HOT earlier this year, but I don’t think it’s “bad” at this point. We just hired another dev and are hiring another team lead probably next year to spin off a new team.

Maybe OP needs to consider doing mock interviews or something to figure out what it is that’s going wrong? I’m a good interviewee and got the first job I applied for.

Maybe you worked at the same place for a long time and developed bad habits? Maybe you’re bad at selling yourself?

I once interviewed someone who said he was a team lead at a company for six years. He straight up made up answers to some of the technical questions. It was horrifying. I’m not saying that’s OP but he definitely needs an objective voice to step in and figure out what the malfunction is in the interview process. Maybe ask a friend in tech to perform a mock interview? They can feel silly but also can really help.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#16

Post by Minor49er »

moeris wrote: post #9
Minor49er wrote: post #4

I wouldn't get discouraged since most people don't even make it to that stage, and being exhausted is certainly understandable after 40 interviews. But have you analyzed or asked for feedback on what it is that was missing from the interview step that the employer was looking for?

Most of the time that will likely be fruitless. Companies don't comment on why they made their employment decisions because it opens them up to be sued, with no benefit to them. (At my current company, they warn us not to tell interviewees how they performed.)

In my experience, I've been told things like "we were hoping for more experience with X which we don't think you have adequately demonstrated", although maybe half of the time I have specifically had to ask for that feedback when HR said that I didn't get the job

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#17

Post by wincy »

jedberg wrote: post #5

You gotta change something up. Get a certification or learn a new skill if you have the savings to do it. Get a job in another field that hires everyone -- I once took a job as an SAT teacher while I was between jobs because at least it gave me something to do. Volunteer. Especially if you can volunteer at a relevant industry conference, where you can at least mingle with people who might be able to give you a job le…

Last time I had trouble getting a job I just looked at what the most popular language was in my city. Then proceeded to read a book on C# and make a quick and dirty demo project. Had a job within two weeks after looking for months. It was kind of annoying switching to Windows dev but whatever do what you gotta do.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#18

Post by wincy »

Minor49er wrote: post #4

I wouldn't get discouraged since most people don't even make it to that stage, and being exhausted is certainly understandable after 40 interviews. But have you analyzed or asked for feedback on what it is that was missing from the interview step that the employer was looking for?

Man 40 interviews is a lot though. Maybe OP is just asking for a ton of money?

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#19

Post by dbert37 »

Interviewing is "selling" yourself. Do you have a portfolio of some kind that you are actually showing during the process? Are you asking for feedback from the organization interviewing you? Following up til you get a "no" is also important. If they say anything besides no, you need to keep following up.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome job search exhaustion?

#20

Post by lgleason »

wincy wrote: post #15
lgleason wrote: post #10

Has the market become this tough/bad?

I don’t think so? I got a job as a team lead two months ago with seven years experience. Not sure what OP is doing wrong here. The market was HOT earlier this year, but I don’t think it’s “bad” at this point. We just hired another dev and are hiring another team lead probably next year to spin off a new team. Maybe OP needs to consider doing mock interviews or something to figure out what it is that’s going wrong? I’…

That is what I was thinking as well.
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