Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

news.ycombinator.com

471–479 of 479 posts

Re: Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

#471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Don't get me started on having to fill out sections in a form that are just resume sections" I haven't been laid off but I've been dipping my toe in the past few months because I'm a bit bored in my current role. The process is much more fiddly than it needs to be. When I run into those 'fill this out again for our system' forms, often times it's after a long day and I will just save it to come back to it later...a…

I've had hot referrals that I haven't followed up on because I couldn't be bothered to put all the sections of my resume into their applicant tracking system...

Yeah, it's crazy that we have the tech but every input is so broken. It's like companies just do the bare minimum to set up applicant inbounds and applicants also want to do the bare minimum outbound.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

#472
post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Don't get me started on having to fill out sections in a form that are just resume sections" I haven't been laid off but I've been dipping my toe in the past few months because I'm a bit bored in my current role. The process is much more fiddly than it needs to be. When I run into those 'fill this out again for our system' forms, often times it's after a long day and I will just save it to come back to it later...a…

The problem with "the process" has been exacerbated recently (I'd draw the line at COVID) by the breakdown of public trust in corporations and the media. If you can't trust that somebody who has 10+ years of experience as an engineer at a FAANG company is competent, then that says something bad about social proof and confidence.

Yep. Completely agree. Submitting resumes to black boxes with minimal responses makes the applicant not trust the system of applying to anything, and companies don't trust waves of applicants who "don't put in enough effort" to apply, and the entire system stays broken.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

#473

I was laid off in november, in vc. Looking for PM/Ops roles. Applied to a ton of stuff where I was a great fit, no answer or immediate rejection lol. I'm 8 years out of school and am not applying for roles that are unrealistic. I think the entire hiring/search process is so broken. Different applications, formats. Don't get me started on having to fill out sections in a form that are just resume sections (work experi…

>"Don't get me started on having to fill out sections in a form that are just resume sections" I haven't been laid off but I've been dipping my toe in the past few months because I'm a bit bored in my current role. The process is much more fiddly than it needs to be. When I run into those 'fill this out again for our system' forms, often times it's after a long day and I will just save it to come back to it later...a…

I bet quantifying the amount of good candidates that walk away because of broken processes would be eye opening enough lol. But agree - the amount of times I keep tabs open for roles I'm genuinely interested in or excited about, and then just bail a few days later when I have to fill things out or cut down a cover letter to a specific character count. Brutal.

Two sided marketplace recruiting company is unfortunately entering such a crowded market. The other thing is so many different roles and industries have nuanced ways of hiring. Finance vs tech/startups is wildly different.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

#474
I'm from Italy, and here usually things happen few months after US. And, btw, it is much harder to fire due to bureaucratic stuff.

Honestly, I don't see anything changed that much here. I got hired during this downtrend from an US-based company and, although some slightly more pessimistic speeches from CEO, everything seems just fine. Hires have been slowed down, but not really freezed.

As other mentioned, it seems harder for people who just graduated to enter their first job. But actually, the companies that were used to hire young people (e.g. my first company, 'cause they like cheap workforce, or many consultancies since they just always need fresh workers), are continuing to get them. Their trick is just to pay the same salaries as before: inflation-free!

I'd be curious to know how self-employed workers are doing instead. From one side, the risk should be higher for them, on the other side they should be preferred from companies to compensate for hiring freeze while still pushing on projects, right? I'm seriously thinking about making the switch, as this industry downturn has also brought a new sense of awareness in workers, and thus in me too...

Re: Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

#475
post #350

Yeah, i just signed a contract for a senior engineering role, starting at the end of the month. It wasn't hard for me to find, either. Competitive pay and benefits.

Out of curiosity, how did you get there? Personal network? Headhunter? etc.

Personal network.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

#476

I think remote work has definitely changed the game (not in a bad way). I was working remotely at a YC start up since the start of the pandemic and they never really figured out their business since I've been there. I've been looking around for new work and my job search has changed drastically from pre-pandemic. I've reached out to my network and found some success there but I've also been shotgunning out applicatio…

> I've been looking around for new work and my job search has changed drastically from pre-pandemic.

I am building a product that improves job search compared to the current offerings.

May I ask you a couple of questions about how your job search has changed and what would improve it even more?

Re: Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

#477

I'm an independent contractor, I thought lay-offs would translate into lots of small contracts but it hasn't, in fact, my existing co tracts have dried off and not finding any new ones right now.

May I ask which location you're in?

I am in Canada,I have worked remotely both for Canada and US based companies as well as in-office in Calgary over the last 15 years.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off folks, are you getting hired?

#479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2 reasons: the first is to show myself how I'm now "serious" about this; I've always have half-assed projects I mentally considered to be hobbies, but these experiments will be different. The second reason is related - I want to have a clear separation between my personal finances and the new venture in order to track my losses. It is aspirational, but I needed to take the step for self-accountability and self-motiva…

What about taxes on LLC?

$300/year to the state of Delaware works out to less than a dollar a day. The LLC is a pass-through entity (single member), so federal taxes will be handled with my personal tax filing. The lack of profits keeps my bookkeeping and taxes simple, if/when it become profitable enough that income tax categorization becomes a disadvantage, well, that will be good problem to have.
Post reply on HN