Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 332 posts

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#211

Post by abledon »

moosedev wrote: post #112

I took ~1.5 years off after 12+ years of FAANG. 1 month ago, I decided I was ready to work again and started talking to recruiters for real. It's been very slow. Most positions I've applied to, I've heard nothing back, even when referred by a current employee. I've had some flat rejections without even a recruiter chat. One recruiter called me to say they were on a temporary hiring freeze, and then she got laid off.…

you have 12 years of FAANG experience and are worried about getting hired. RIP everyone else LOL

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#212

Post by SCUSKU »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #202
SCUSKU wrote: post #197

Thanks for asking so that we can all vent! I have 2 YOE as a SWE, got laid off in August from a startup that was Series A and generating no revenue. I was able to get interviews in September/October, and got far at 2 companies but got rejected by one and ghosted by another. I have found it's much harder to get an interview this month as layoffs increase. I'm pretty much hoping that once the holidays are over, things…

As someone who's been ghosted as well I think you should name the company or (in my experience it was) the person who ghosted you. This is totally unacceptable and I think we should make them pay when the labour market gets tight again. And if you don't believe in karma, I saw a linkedin post by the guy who ghosted me about how he got screwed over by the company and let go. It's not super healthy, but it still feels…

The company is called Recurve. I really enjoyed the interview and the process there (no leetcode), but I was just disappointed that after all of that, they ended up ghosting. I'm not holding it against them too much, but still, doesn't feel good.

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#213

Post by SCUSKU »

ghaff wrote: post #208
SCUSKU wrote: post #197

Thanks for asking so that we can all vent! I have 2 YOE as a SWE, got laid off in August from a startup that was Series A and generating no revenue. I was able to get interviews in September/October, and got far at 2 companies but got rejected by one and ghosted by another. I have found it's much harder to get an interview this month as layoffs increase. I'm pretty much hoping that once the holidays are over, things…

As others have said, unemployment in the US is still pretty low. But that may not mean for the near future that plum tech jobs are growing on trees. Lots of openings at many companies/govt orgs (including military) for roles with tech skills but probably not at comp many have come to expect. See also 2000/2001+ era.

Do you think $120k is a reasonable expectation for a SWE with 2 YOE in this market? That's what I am shooting for, and still think is reasonable to expect, but on the otherhand if layoffs continue, I guess I may be forced to reconsider...

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#214

Post by [deleted] »

ryandrake wrote: post #177
medellin wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly i think most devs can do this. The difference is in the US our tolerance for seeing our savings go down is super low. I can live for 3 years with my current savings(just cash with invested but non retirement funds it would be about 8) but i still don’t feel like i can take any time off.

Also, the power of compounding interest over time. Take time off and eat away at your savings for a year when you are 25, and that probably adds 5 years to your retirement age. Better make that year really worth it!

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#215

Post by LouisSayers »

ryandrake wrote: post #177
medellin wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly i think most devs can do this. The difference is in the US our tolerance for seeing our savings go down is super low. I can live for 3 years with my current savings(just cash with invested but non retirement funds it would be about 8) but i still don’t feel like i can take any time off.

Also, the power of compounding interest over time. Take time off and eat away at your savings for a year when you are 25, and that probably adds 5 years to your retirement age. Better make that year really worth it!

Yeah, but how much would you be willing to give up when you're old and decrepit to have one year off in the prime of your life?

And that's assuming you even live long enough to get to retirement...

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#216

Post by the_only_law »

zerr wrote: post #159

Are only the people with FANG-like compensations (200K base/300K+ stock) being laid off or are the "regularly" compensated (60K-150K) devs affected as well?

I was a “regular” dev that was laid off. Company saw massive headcount growth prior to and during Covid only for the effort to fizzle out and they probably laid it 30-50% of the small company.

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#217

Post by LouisSayers »

rootusrootus wrote: post #109
300bps wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah there is a lot of space between "has savings for 8-12 months" I think there is a mentality difference here. I have savings that would easily last me 10 years of not working. But... that's kind of my plan. I will be retiring some day. I don't want to use up even a dime of that money by not working in my prime earning years.

A good friend of mine spent his life being pretty frugal. Saved up a nice chunk of change, too -- his wife is also a software developer, they both made good money. Got cancer early last year and was dead 10 months later. 55 years old. Ugh. Not saying you should run out and spend your nest egg. On the other hand, I'd be reluctant to suffer too much during my prime working years scrimping and saving for a retirement th…

There's definitely something in not putting off the things you really want.

My sister's landlord always told her how he planned to live in the house she's in once he was a bit older.

He ended up dying in a motorbike accident a few months ago, right after a house inspection...

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#218

Post by moosedev »

plants wrote: post #191
moosedev wrote: post #112

I took ~1.5 years off after 12+ years of FAANG. 1 month ago, I decided I was ready to work again and started talking to recruiters for real. It's been very slow. Most positions I've applied to, I've heard nothing back, even when referred by a current employee. I've had some flat rejections without even a recruiter chat. One recruiter called me to say they were on a temporary hiring freeze, and then she got laid off.…

I have also been out of work for ~8mo for various reasons, and while I’m sorry for your situation, it’s heartening to hear I’m not the only one. I’ve only actually gotten one tech screen in which I was asked a LC “hard” question, which I didn’t pass (I’m pretty good with “easy” and “medium”, but come on, hard?). So far, I have one other interview from an internal referral, but haven’t heard anything back from the ~10…

It does, doesn't it!

I felt a bit bad about posting here, because the thread is ostensibly about layoffs, while I quit voluntarily, so any feelings I'm feeling about the situation now are my own fault :)

But it's somehow comforting to see I'm not the only one marveling at the sudden slowdown. It eases the inevitable fear that it's just something unattractive about me or something I'm personally doing wrong.

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#219

Post by moosedev »

abledon wrote: post #211
moosedev wrote: post #112

I took ~1.5 years off after 12+ years of FAANG. 1 month ago, I decided I was ready to work again and started talking to recruiters for real. It's been very slow. Most positions I've applied to, I've heard nothing back, even when referred by a current employee. I've had some flat rejections without even a recruiter chat. One recruiter called me to say they were on a temporary hiring freeze, and then she got laid off.…

you have 12 years of FAANG experience and are worried about getting hired. RIP everyone else LOL

Well, I might be over-worrying. But yes, for the last few years I certainly felt like a "premium candidate" as your sibling commenter described it. The last time I changed jobs in the mid 2010s, I applied to 2 FAANGs (only) and had offers from both. Contact with the actual hiring market this month has disabused me of that perception, at least for now!

Re: Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off)

#220

Post by neon_electro »

SCUSKU wrote: post #213
ghaff wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As others have said, unemployment in the US is still pretty low. But that may not mean for the near future that plum tech jobs are growing on trees. Lots of openings at many companies/govt orgs (including military) for roles with tech skills but probably not at comp many have come to expect. See also 2000/2001+ era.

Do you think $120k is a reasonable expectation for a SWE with 2 YOE in this market? That's what I am shooting for, and still think is reasonable to expect, but on the otherhand if layoffs continue, I guess I may be forced to reconsider...

It really depends on the employer, I’m a “mid level” engineer with ~10 YOE and I’m struggling to find offers in the $155k (mid-level) to $175k (senior) range.

Keep fighting the good fight and don’t let yourself be under-valued.

Post reply on HN