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

stevenbuccini.com

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

#121

Post by tra3 »

scarface74 wrote: post #92
blagie wrote: post #74

My advice: Have one or more side projects going all the time. If you get laid off, immediately start doing a startup, open-source project, or volunteering full time. A year of unemployment? Lonely, depressing, and not good on a resume. A year of launching an unsuccessful venture? Running coding classes for the underserved? Focusing full-time on contributing to pytorch? That's a lot better, both at the time and in ret…

This is a statistically horrible idea. The chance that your startup is going to replace even the compensation of entry level grad in any large city in the US doing enterprise development is almost 0. The “story” that has worked for me is that “no I’m not going to reverse a binary tree on the whiteboard while juggling bowling balls riding a unicycle on a tightrope. What we can do is talk like adults and we can discuss…

The intent is to learn and produce and be an able to talk about rather than try to make money.

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

#122

Post by martythemaniak »

eulers_secret wrote: post #108
greesil wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, I need that time to grind leetcode.

This is exactly what happened to me when I quit. “Now I’ll have time for my projects!!” Instead it’s been “Grokking Algorithms”, “The Competitive Programmers Handbook”, Alex Xu’s “System Design”, and enough leetcode that I’m actually doing more than I did at work. What sucks is that there are still lots of medium problems I cannot do. Hards are right out. Dunno what I’ll do.

Not a widely shared opinion here, but this process will make you a better engineer. Keep at it.

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

#123

Post by ericmcer »

gregfjohnson wrote: post #90

Stepping back for a moment from the content, I think it is worth noting what an exceptionally well-written essay this is. Being able to write well is a super power for engineers. It is a reflection of the lucidity and clarity of one's mind, and the ability to understand the needs of the reader. Writing well is an exceptionally useful and powerful skill that can be improved with consistent practice. I would be tempted…

He is a good writer and clearly a thoughtful individual, which further reinforces truth #6 (honesty can hurt you). I subconsciously approached the article with a bit of negative bias around the fact he had been laid off. His writing has more clarity than many successful CEOs though so who knows.

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

#124

Post by jimmaswell »

blagie wrote: post #74

My advice: Have one or more side projects going all the time. If you get laid off, immediately start doing a startup, open-source project, or volunteering full time. A year of unemployment? Lonely, depressing, and not good on a resume. A year of launching an unsuccessful venture? Running coding classes for the underserved? Focusing full-time on contributing to pytorch? That's a lot better, both at the time and in ret…

This is a live-to-work attitude. Have some other hobbies and goals, and a year of unemployment will be neither lonely nor depressing. Personally I've gone farther in the work-to-live direction, with an easygoing, "boring" (still fulfilling enough to see some javascript doodad come to life, but not world changing) WFH job I perform well in that supports my homesteading and other hobbies.

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

#125

Post by [deleted] »

xyzelement wrote: post #75

This is good, and/but is one dimension. A few from me: - Have perspective. Several years down the line when you're in a new company/career/life, you will recognize this layoff was a necessary thing to happen for you to "get there." - It's going to take a while. Every job I ever got, took waaaay longer than it should have. Things happen. Roles get filled internally, headcount goes away, etc. Job finding is inherently…

[deleted]

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

#126

Post by mathattack »

Another hard truth… You learn who will help you in a crisis, and it will surprise you. People you thought had your back become scarce, while some weak connections really go to bat for you because of some small courtesy you did years prior.

Going through the experience once makes you more empathetic to folks in a similar boat.

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

#127

Post by cableshaft »

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…

Meetup.com seems to be sort of back where I'm at (Chicago area). Some of the groups are now toast (including the one I used to admin), but several are back to regular events again, and there have been some new groups since.

I've tried to be a little careful still (still haven't gotten Covid as far as I know, I don't know if I'll be asymptomatic or end up in the hospital or something in between), and yet I've gone to several picnics, hikes, board game nights, outdoor hangouts, karaoke, movie nights, trivia, dinners, etc. via Meetup.com this past year.

Also supplemented that with Facebook events and the local forest preserve and local library's posted events.

I still have a core friend group (who I met thanks to Meetup.com many years ago), but several of my other friends have drifted off since the pandemic started (married and started having children), so I started doing meetup more again to compensate.

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

#129

Post by dinosaurdynasty »

anon50118810 wrote: post #35
nijave wrote: post #10

>Do not disclose the current status of your interviewing process Not sure exactly what this means but it's pretty common for recruiters to check your timeline and try to work around it. For instance, they'll try to expedite you if you already have offers on the table or relax the timeline so it fits with interviews.

I strongly recommend only sharing minimal information about your job search with employers. Don't share when you started looking, because if it's been a while then you'll look bad. Don't share that you think you're far along in the process at some other place, because if that falls through then you'll be embarrassed if it comes up again or it might look like you were lying to put pressure on them. The fact that an em…

There's a big difference between telling (third-party) recruiters and employers these things.

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

#130

Post by eat »

ejb999 wrote: post #88
k__ wrote: post #45

"If you’re like me, work is the primary shaper of your life" It's sad to see people again and again sell their life.

>>It's sad to see people again and again sell their life. Why? I don't find that sad at all - some people really enjoy their work, and it becomes a big part of their identity. What better way to spend you life than doing something you truly enjoy and provides you an income to be comfortable and take care of your family/friends? I know a lot of doctors, they have spent their entire lives taking care of people, saving…

I'd still interact with computers in some way shape or form if I were a millionaire, but I also hope that such an amount of money and free time would expand my scope of personal fulfillment to some other unknown areas of life and consciousness beyond IT work.

Ironically, I think your MD example provides the exact sort of comparison that should trigger some critical introspection for most tech workers. Most of us are not exactly saving lives with the time we spend in front of the keyboard.

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