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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

#391

Post by kelnos »

0xmarcin wrote: post #354

We may revert the hard truths to get soft precautions: - Always have savings that will cover at least 6 months of expenses, now probably a year (if indeed it takes so much time to find a new job). - Socialize outside work, ideally have a network of people that work at other companies that you are in touch with. Sports, charities, churches etc. If this is hard, ask yourself if you are overworking yourselves/spend too…

> I propose to have 2 profiles, [...] the second for your private views

Or just don't post about your views on anything (controversial or otherwise) on social media. Just opt out. There's no inherent reason why you need to post about anything on social media. If you must, perhaps because you use it to keep in touch with family and friends, just post about things that are going on in your life. There's no reason you need to use social media to air your grievances about society.

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

#392

Post by kelnos »

dadoge wrote: post #207

Contrary opinion: If feels very very very wrong to compare a search during April 2020 and now. Why? The year after April 2020 was a booming job market for SWEs. Hiring managers were competing for talent, 2021 was a boom year of low interest rates, euphoria in private and public markets. This blog post _should not_ be considered a response to the WSJ article. And sorry, grinding away at leetcode should only take about…

> The year after April 2020 was a booming job market for SWEs.

Did we know that at the time, though? From what I remember, it was all doom and gloom: public markets were trending downward, people were talking about recession and corporate belt-tightening, and the assumption was that we'd see a lot of layoffs, and the labor market would get tight.

True, that's not what happened (at least in the case of knowledge workers) -- in most cases it was the opposite -- but I don't think we had that foresight back in April 2020.

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

#393

Post by mortenjorck »

I just had the fourth layoff of my career earlier this month.

It doesn’t get easier per se, but you do start to develop a process, and having a process makes the whole ordeal a lot less daunting.

Perhaps the most daunting part for me right now is that I’ve spent the better part of a decade getting hired by people I worked with before, and this is the first time no one in my immediate network has a req open. Still, the value of a network is paramount: To paraphrase another comment here, do good work and be good to work with, and you will have people out there looking for a reason to get you in the door.

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

#394

Post by zer00eyz »

kelnos wrote: post #369
zer00eyz wrote: post #315

I survived the dot com crash (yes I'm old). I have hired (interviewing team member, or hiring manager) hundreds of engineers. If you are hearing "let me know if I can help" (number 5) you might be doing something wrong. You should be hearing some version of " I will talk to my boss" or "I will call for you" or "XXX person I know is looking". I have a list of about 30 people who if they call me I'm going to go out of…

> Im going to do this because they are good, because they don't suck, because they will get the job done. They will make me look good as the person who brought them in/onboard. This maybe makes sense from a hiring manager's perspective, but I think a lot of the people who say "let me know if I can help" are non-management peers. At most companies, the best they can do is enter their recently-laid-off colleagues infor…

I wrote the comment your replying to...

> This maybe makes sense from a hiring manager's perspective, but I think a lot of the people who say "let me know if I can help" are non-management peers.

A good number of my management gigs were PEERS hiring me in as a fellow engineer, and me getting promoted to be their boss. Much of the hiring I have done is peers of the good engineers on my team. If your peers think your great, that your going to make them look good by doing well then your name will come up.

Every manager is different, "hire this person" with some sort of resume is going to get my attention! Your peer can do that for you!

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

#396

Post by remote_phone »

tnel77 wrote: post #368
JackFr wrote: post #251

I was laid off in April 2020 as well, and while some of my experience matches the author's some of it was very different. Being laid off was not a relief -- it was terrifying. All indications were that a severe recession was coming. Frankly, it was quite surprising to me that companies were hiring at all given the uncertainty. It was not obvious at the time that broad sectors of the economy could seamlessly move to 1…

I have a bit to go before I’m a software engineer over fifty, but I have a lot of anxiety about it primarily from an ageism standpoint. I don’t really want to go into management because I love coding and solving problems, but I fear that one day I’ll will struggle to find work due to my age. What has your experience been with this issue?

Over 50 in 2022 is very different than over 50 in 2000.

I’m GenX and grew up with the internet but I know life before the internet. I know technology more than most and keep up with it. I play video games (finished elden ring earlier this year) and watch TikTok 2 hours a day. I’m not young but the gap between me and someone younger isn’t a vast canyon like it used to be.

My last job hunt a year ago I got over 5 job offers. I wouldn’t be too worried.

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

#397

Post by bobkazamakis »

dadoge wrote: post #238
dadoge wrote: post #207

Contrary opinion: If feels very very very wrong to compare a search during April 2020 and now. Why? The year after April 2020 was a booming job market for SWEs. Hiring managers were competing for talent, 2021 was a boom year of low interest rates, euphoria in private and public markets. This blog post _should not_ be considered a response to the WSJ article. And sorry, grinding away at leetcode should only take about…

Ok looked the guy up: https://www.stevenbuccini.com/about/ - Studied at Berkeley - worked at Apple and Uber And I’m supposed to feel bad for you not wanting to spend a few weeks grinding at leetcode? This reeks of someone who is very well off, and not an “Everyman” engineer.

I actually agree with the parent here;

grinding leetcode is some dumbshit waste of time that I'm not going to bother with -- I've got code to put in production and this simply is never a good use of my time. When you have an obnoxious hiring process that will take multiple hours for your special company, why would I even waste my time? I can click a few more buttons and have offers elsewhere anyways...

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

#400

Post by vintermann »

> “When faced with two choices, flip a coin. When it’s in the air, you’ll know which side you’re hoping for.” —Former gangster Arnold “The Brain” Rothstien

In the TV series Boardwalk Empire, he said that. I can't find any evidence he ever said it in real life.

However, the poet Piet Hein did:

Stejler man foran et vanskelig valg

og vil ha det afgjord prompte,

er det et såre fornuftigt princip

at platte og krone om det.

Ikke at valget skal ske pr. hazard,

i mens man selv sidder og måber

men: lige når mønten er kastet til vejrs

så ved man precis, hvad man håber.

(His own translation:

Whenever you’re called on to make up your mind,

and you’re hampered by not having any,

the best way to solve the dilemma, you’ll find,

is simply by spinning a penny.

No – not so that chance shall decide the affair

while you’re passively standing there moping;

but the moment the penny is up in the air,

you suddenly know what you’re hoping.)

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