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Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

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Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#111

Post by scarface74 »

librish wrote: post #33
sillysaurusx wrote: post #19

> Don’t discount the physical aspect of loneliness either. If you’re like me, work is the primary shaper of your life. Work gives your life rhythm. It is the gravitational center around which the other activities in your life revolve. Then, one day, poof—it’s gone. Exhibit A of why not to take your day job too seriously. Be professional — but that’s as far as it goes. > Come up with a more, uh, positive reason for wh…

> Exhibit A of why not to take your day job too seriously. Be professional — but that’s as far as it goes. People spend 8 hours + lunch and commuting every weekday on their job. It's almost 50% of the time you spend conscious during a week. Most people want more out of that than just a chore that needs to be done.

Work is exclusively a method for me to exchange labor for money to support my addiction to food and shelter.

Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#112

Post by sillysaurusx »

ulfw wrote: post #73
highwaylights wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP didn't take a pay cut. OP's pay was zero. OP took a job that would provide an income that happened to be 37% less than the one OP had before.

By that argument he could have taken a job at McDonald's flipping burgers and would be better off than 'zero'. He did take a pay cut. 37% can be felt by anyone earning an income. It's often the decider if you have money left over after living expenses or not. Let's say you earn 200K. 100k goes away for taxes et al (I am simplifying here), leaving you 100K for expenses. If your living expenses are 60K for rent, food,…

It was $400k to $250k. Significant, but given the recession, it’s a nice position to be in.

There’s a fella on TikTok named Frank Niu. He made $500k at Netflix, and his job was basically to run around fixing things when they broke. It was a nice reminder that the good times can be very good, and the bad times are worth scaling back one’s expectations appropriately. I doubt he’d still be in the $500k bracket if he were still working, but you never know.

Also, don’t scale your living expenses! It’s tempting, but my current employer almost didn’t make me an offer because they assumed I was living at a $400k lifestyle. In reality we were just paying off our house and driving the same old car.

Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#113

Post by gpgn »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #19

> Don’t discount the physical aspect of loneliness either. If you’re like me, work is the primary shaper of your life. Work gives your life rhythm. It is the gravitational center around which the other activities in your life revolve. Then, one day, poof—it’s gone. Exhibit A of why not to take your day job too seriously. Be professional — but that’s as far as it goes. > Come up with a more, uh, positive reason for wh…

> This is an area where I have to give tptacek lots of credit.

Any specific thread that might be particularly enlightening/interesting?

Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#114

Post by spikej »

nobodyandproud wrote: post #13

I’d take #7 with a grain of salt: You’re far more desirable once you secure a job, than when you’re unemployed. If the company is mid-size or better AND it’s not a sweat shop, take it while you assess your next move. Don’t make the mistake of staying put, however, unless the team or company aligns with your interests. Context: I took a break, got married, and started looking for SWE work just when the “great recessio…

What were those niche skills, if you don't mind?

Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#115

Post by projectazorian »

rajin444 wrote: post #86
tester756 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you use algos if you aren't aware which places in your code you could significantly improve if you had that algo intuition?

You’re hired for your problem solving ability which includes being able to learn and apply specific algorithms if needed. Asking questions that chat GPT can easily answer gives 0 insight into problem solving ability.

For 99% of the roles out there, needing to drop into algorithms all the time is an anti pattern that demonstrates lack of knowledge of your tech stack. I’ve had to clean up a lot of code written by people who wanted to show off their algo knowledge to solve a problem that should have been addressed with a few lines of SQL.

Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#116

Post by jorblumesea »

This is why people do LC problems daily and interview regularly. You will find that you need to constantly play the game if you want to stay in the game. It's a sliding scale of preparedness. Those out of step with the interview meta and out of practice will find it more painful.

The biggest mistake is losing your job, then having to prep to get a new one.

Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#117

Post by petesergeant »

pronlover723 wrote: post #11

#1 it's lonely? April 2020, 1 month into the pandemic. I found the pandemic lonely. I saw less than 1 person a month for the first 14 months of the pandemic. And i find WFH incredibly lonely. I haven't recovered. I'm utterly alone most weeks. I see no one. Even if I go to work, no one is there. I moved cities a year ago and have only 1 friend and 2 acquaintances in the new city. 2 of those 3 are married and I see the…

Could you work “from home” from somewhere with a thriving community of remote workers, like Mexico City? Or lookup Wifi Tribe or similar?

Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#118

Post by [deleted] »

coffeebeqn wrote: post #18
doix wrote: post #3

I'm guessing #7 contributed to the fact that it took the author 1 year to find another job. If you're desperate, you can most likely find an _okay_ job in 3 months. If you don't have the luxury to wait for a "good" job, finding a job tends to happen faster.

The bar can get very low! Look into local low prestige consulting companies if you’re really desperate for something. I worked at one after moving to the US and the hiring bar was extremely low and I was working there a few days later

[deleted]

Re: Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

#119

Post by autotune »

BuckyBeaver wrote: post #110
autotune wrote: post #83

I have gotten laid off, fired, or otherwise managed out so many times in the last year or so I am writing off the whole year on my resume and calling it a “personal development” year and not listing any short term positions on there. 2021-2022 was just a complete disaster for job stability relative to most of my previous career where I was doing 2-3 years minimum in a role. My personal recommendation in addition to T…

COBRA is outrageously expensive. If you have no (or little) income, the ACA is a no-brainer I think.

My parents paid for it for me and refused to consider anything cheaper, so I was lucky, but yeah, it is something like $700 a month.
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