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

271–280 of 332 posts

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

#271

Post by kirso »

kristopolous wrote: post #37

Let me show you the backdoor: Find a company whose open source projects you are interested in. Dive in and and start fixing things. Then if you really like it after a couple weeks start nudging around for a job. If you do good work they'll just give it to you, no bullshit funnel required. I like this method because you aren't just doing l33t coding exercises to work on some sight unseen codebase that makes you suicid…

I always wondered, if you hate leet code - wouldn't you just reject the next step of the interview if the company suggested it?

I totally love this suggestion btw, but I think it serves when you are doing this continuously rather than when you are pressed for the job asap.

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

#272

Post by bartimus »

molsongolden wrote: post #237
bartimus wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also confused. It's my understanding that staff engineers are responsible for taking the software into a certain technical direction. "Upper management" related to engineering. Wouldn't that automatically involve managing those engineers who are involved with the project(s)?

It’s frequently a high level IC role that is more technical leadership than people management.

I have a fairly high level IC / lead engineer role with two other team members (1 junior and 1 medior). I need to keep an eye on their work. Provide direction on how things can be implemented. I'm not their official manager. We have chapter managers for that. But chapter managers are more HR type roles. They aren't managing the day to day work. I guess my role is more close to someone managing the daily work of the team?

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

#273

Post by bartimus »

_qzu4 wrote: post #263
bartimus wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can third this. Usually companies are busy making plans for the new year. Then somewhere near February is where they start looking for the people who can make it happen.

So January will be quiet as well?

Big companies usually operate on a yearly / quarterly cycle when budgeting things (bookkeeping cycle). If they need someone in January you're probably hired in December. January is the new start of the year. If they decide to take on new people it takes a few weeks before all the meetings are done and those positions become available on the market. Then summer is usually a bit more quiet as well.

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

#274

Post by revskill »

Existenceblinks wrote: post #247
manimino wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just recently took a year off to study, do side projects, and take care of family. It was a much-needed break following the many stressors of the covid era. Some things matter more than money. Having worked for 10ish years beforehand, it was financially easy. When I was ready to work again, I responded some recruiter emails and was hired again fairly quickly, at a position better than the one I left. Living in a lo…

Are jobs via recruiter good quality? I never have desire of getting jobs through recruiters.

Most of them is not good, but some are good.

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

#275

Post by LouisSayers »

ryandrake wrote: post #235
LouisSayers wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

I think there is an assumption hidden in your words, that years earlier in life are in some way more valuable/fun/important than years later in life. I get it, HN's demographics skew really young, and I bet a lot of people here believe that. Even as I approach elderliness, I still feel that every year of my life has become much more joyful, exciting and enriching than the previous year. I would absolutely not trade a…

I wouldn't say being younger is necessarily more valuable, it's more that there are many reasons not to sacrifice yourself totally in your prime (in terms of health / fitness, sexual appeal etc) just to be wealthy and "more comfortable" in retirement.

We of course can't trade our older years with our younger years.

For me personally, I'd much rather have spent the time with family, travelled to the places I wanted, slept around and worked on things I found fun than to slave away, just to save for a greater comfort in a future that is uncertain.

Of course I still hope to be comfortable in retirement, but without a doubt I would regret having chosen a certain path that would lead to comfort than a slightly less predictable path where comfort is not guaranteed.

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

#276

Post by dfrey1 »

moneywoes wrote: post #114
kristopolous wrote: post #37

Let me show you the backdoor: Find a company whose open source projects you are interested in. Dive in and and start fixing things. Then if you really like it after a couple weeks start nudging around for a job. If you do good work they'll just give it to you, no bullshit funnel required. I like this method because you aren't just doing l33t coding exercises to work on some sight unseen codebase that makes you suicid…

Willing to try this. Know any open source projects that people are hiring for?

I would also look for projects that are being majorly run by a number of large organizations, and see how you could be of help. Look at the CNCF project list and take your pick!

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

#277

Post by caskstrength »

Existenceblinks wrote: post #243
poulsbohemian wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you’ve got sick parents, a sick kid, your own health problems, day care costs, student debt, a non-working spouse…

Or software engineer in a 3rd world country.

> Or software engineer in a 3rd world country.

Actually, software engineers in 2nd and 3rd world countries can afford to save a lot.

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

#278

Post by matsemann »

ricardobayes wrote: post #88
krn wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are there other ways to accomplish being so comfortable with, "eh, gonna be unemployed another 4-6 months and see what happens"? It's not that hard to accomplish for those who can be(come) location independent. For instance[1]: > You would need around 2,582.16$ in Budapest to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 8,700.00$ in San Francisco, CA (assuming you rent in both cities). [1] https://www.…

Budapest is a very weird place unless you live in an expat bubble in the 5th district downtown or in a villa in the 2nd. The city is basically a parody of itself, for example they didn't have money to keep up the mental hospital so they just released everyone on the street. Even a good few years after the fact, the city is still full of visibly mentally ill people, who act completely random. You never know when you'l…

> the city is still full of visibly mentally ill people, who act completely random.

Actually, that makes Budapest a fair comparison to how SV and surroundings also deal with their homeless..

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

#279

Post by necovek »

jedberg wrote: post #182
KennyBlanken wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but referring to companies by their stock tickers in casual conversation does not impress anyone.

Pretty sure it wasn't to impress anyone, but to save keystrokes. In both cases the stock ticker is shorter than the company name, and everyone instantly knows what you're talking about.

MS and Netflix is only 1 character longer than MSFT and NFLX while being more understandable on HN, and compared to the rest of the comment and its length, those savings are irrelevant.

Not making a judgement call on the use of the stock markers, just doubting it's done for the efficiency.

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

#280

Post by speedgoose »

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

Salary expectations may not be in the same category though.
Post reply on HN