Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: V2 – Laid off folks, are you getting hired yet?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–188 of 188 posts

Re: Ask HN: V2 – Laid off folks, are you getting hired yet?

#181

Post by h0l0cube »

moneywoes wrote: post #49
h0l0cube wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever I've seen a situation with low supply/high demand, networks trump credentials

Any suggestion for boosting that when you live in a non tech city? Spam LinkedIn cold messages

If I were you, I'd go out and talk to people. Talk to friends in the industry. Go to tech meet ups. Even your neighbors might know someone who knows someone. If you can be adaptable, and self-promote, you might even find opportunities to help non-tech orgs improve their systems. If you're like me, and social skills aren't innate, it might take some exposure therapy, but as long as you maintain a friendly and positive attitude, that will register. It's all about building trust.

Re: Ask HN: V2 – Laid off folks, are you getting hired yet?

#182

Post by h0l0cube »

JohnFen wrote: post #176
h0l0cube wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever I've seen a situation with low supply/high demand, networks trump credentials

I wouldn't say that networks trump demonstrated ability (I prefer that to "credentials" because that's what credentials are a proxy for), but in any economic environment, your network is as valuable as your demonstrated ability. This is for many very rational reasons.

> I wouldn't say that networks trump demonstrated ability (I prefer that to "credentials" because that's what credentials are a proxy for)

That's not what I said. To emphasize my own comment:

> Whenever I've seen a situation with low supply/high demand

In context to the GGP I was making reference to improving resumes when the labor market is over-saturated. Many orgs will sooner hire someone who's been vouched for than to sift through 100s of Github repos and contact 100s of references. They might not be as good as the best candidate in the pool, but the expense of verifying that might be too much, especially if they don't have the bandwidth to do that (e.g., HR staff, time from tech staff). And in times like these, candidates will be just leaping out of their networks.

Re: Ask HN: V2 – Laid off folks, are you getting hired yet?

#184

Post by hazalmestci »

snizovtsev wrote: post #61

I had to quit in September due to burn out. Given how many better engineers now on market I feel there are no space for me anymore. Now burning my saving money on rent and food and going to commit suicide few months later.

"better engineers" is subjective, some people have more technical skills and some more leadership skills, some more interpersonal skills etc. there is always space for you and everything you bring to the table, and you are so much more than your "labor" capacity. please don't commit suicide.

Re: Ask HN: V2 – Laid off folks, are you getting hired yet?

#186

Post by mock-possum »

I am! Laid off about five months ago now, finally find myself being courted by three employers: a local manufacturer, and two financial institutions. It's such a relief to have real offers on the table, and to have an interesting choice to make, instead of desperately scrabbling for anyone or anything. Five months is a long time without an income, and I've sent out ~100 applications in that time.

It could be a coincidence, but I've been writing more and more 'personal' cover letters, with more of a 'voice' and less formal stilted prose. Maybe people like it? Maybe people are just hiring again? Who knows.

Re: Ask HN: V2 – Laid off folks, are you getting hired yet?

#187

Post by mfalcon »

Laid off a month ago (data scientist). I had been going through several technical interviews where the company told me I passed but then they either stopped contacting me or told me the position is being put on hold.

Now I'm pretty much in square one, some possible interviews but nothing strong. I'm from Argentina and I'm looking for remote work, I guess it's even more difficult because the usual companies that hire people like me are startups.

First time I experience something like this.

Re: Ask HN: V2 – Laid off folks, are you getting hired yet?

#188

Post by [deleted] »

tricksforfree wrote: post #139

I just interviewed a developer for a senior level front end position and they couldn't print a 2d array to the console. They apparently worked on a large web application and wrote typescript everyday. What I've known for years, I'm finally seeing first hand: There are way too many people out there that should never have been engineers in the first place. This is a rebalancing. Those who are competent will always be h…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN