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Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#211
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but should be used to augment technology experience, not replace it. Do you have some specific feedback or bullets that stand out to you? Most of Google tech is all in-house stuff that nobody would recognize, outside of a few open-source counterparts (Blaze -> Bazel). I'm confused how my resume could better convey what I'm good at. I can say I worked with Java, Angular, Typescript, etc. But that's all exceedingly g…

I didn't even notice you worked at Google until i spent like a minute reading your resume. You really need to remove that gigantic wall of text and briefly summarize things better and add some visual hierarchy. When i look at this resume i get the impression you wouldn't be able to communicate very well.

Thank you for the fresh set of eyes and the feedback. I think I have spent so much time staring at, reading, and revising this thing that I’ve become blind to issues like these.

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#212
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but should be used to augment technology experience, not replace it. Do you have some specific feedback or bullets that stand out to you? Most of Google tech is all in-house stuff that nobody would recognize, outside of a few open-source counterparts (Blaze -> Bazel). I'm confused how my resume could better convey what I'm good at. I can say I worked with Java, Angular, Typescript, etc. But that's all exceedingly g…

You’re describing work that has no relevance outside of a megacorp like Google which even amongst megacorps is quite unique because it invents technology and can afford to do so. If you look at the type of work being done at “normal” companies you’re applying for, you’ll likely see work that is much more at the coal face and so experience at the coal face is worth much more than work that most people can’t even conce…

Thank you for taking the time to write out this detailed feedback. I will have to think hard about how my resume may change, and in what ways.

I may end up starting from scratch and seeing what I can come up with and get further feedback from there.

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#213

Once you've moved beyond a junior-level of experience, I'm not sure if there's a better way than working your network for opportunities. In my experience there is never, and will never be, a shortage of business people looking for technical problems solvers.

Joel Spolksy has an interesting quote about this: "Third, and trust me on this, there’s still an incredible shortage of the really good programmers, here and in India. Yes, there are a bunch of out of work IT people making a lot of noise about how long they’ve been out of work, but you know what? At the risk of pissing them off, really good programmers do have jobs" From: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2005/01/02/adv…

"this" is different.

Your quote's from a general article addressing CS undergrads still in school and further, from a subsection dismissing fears about an outright collapse in CS jobs outside of India.

Meanwhile, the parent's saying use your network, and there's plenty of demand for good developers.

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And the data indicating non remote work, possibly not performed on computers is widely available The initially reported jobs numbers each month always claim that, and then those numbers are consistently revised down over time so that jobs have been lost the whole time, and our perceptions were more accurate than the initially reported data.

Presumably, this chart is using revised data, and it does not show any material upward movement in even the most expansive definition of unemployed for almost a year: https://www.macrotrends.net/1377/u6-unemployment-rate

After 6 months people fall off the list, and also many people with high salaries don’t bother applying for the meager benefits.

It also isn’t specific to tech so a slight decrease in unemployment outside of tech would mask tech unemployment.

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#215
post #4

1. Make friends with people at work 2. Eventually, some of those people will get new jobs, and they can refer you to their new employer (and vice versa). 3. Repeat for a few cycles and you have a network full of potential job opportunities without ever going through a job board.

This is going to bite a lot of the hardcore WFH people in the next decade. They just won't have even watercooler-level connections with former colleagues.

Rationalist Ivy-league haters community thinks their resume is all that matters.

According to PG, this is the exact time for them to be hitting it out of the ballpark doing a startup.

Swing harder, people!

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#216
post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re describing work that has no relevance outside of a megacorp like Google which even amongst megacorps is quite unique because it invents technology and can afford to do so. If you look at the type of work being done at “normal” companies you’re applying for, you’ll likely see work that is much more at the coal face and so experience at the coal face is worth much more than work that most people can’t even conce…

> In a competitive hiring environment, you need your resume to tell the person reviewing it why you’re a safe bet. Your resume tells me that if I need someone to build internal full stack web-app automation then you’ve got experience of doing that at Google… which is great except Google is pretty much the only place where that work is required This is so incredibly dismissive and naive about the work being done. I ca…

I absolutely do not mean to suggest his work was not valuable or that he is a bad software engineer. I am sure he is very talented. My point is that his resume is the problem, not his skill. A resume is a sales tool, and sales is about knowing your audience. His resume would be great if he was applying for a job at Google… but he isn’t and so he needs a resume that sells his skills to companies that aren’t Google.

I am sorry that my comments came across as anything other than encouraging and positive: I think he has great potential and that his time at Google will be a differentiator for him and will help him get interviews… as long as the resume is good.

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UPS is only paying experienced drivers (with experience at UPS) those rates, at the entry level it's more in the neighborhood of part time work 20 dollars an hour, which is a common entry level rate in warehousing and logistics these days. Similarly, it's a long road to being a skilled laborer that can pull those large contracts, and even then the margins can be utterly ruthless to small operators. Just seeking to be…

UPS is paying $170K on average per driver this year per renegotiated contracts. True, like any job, you start off on the lower side, but unlike other companies, UPS pay begins going way up after just a year and that doesn't include the incredible amount of overtime available to even new drivers. You don't need to pull in large contracts or even be the business owner of a skilled-trade to do well. Literally every trad…

170k total compensation. So, like $90,000 salary and the rest being calculated from PTO, health insurance, education assistance, etc.

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#218

I'm a new grad and I was extremely scared because of all the doom and gloom on HN and reddit. I also felt like new grads would be hit the hardest. Come application time... it was totally normal. Had some interviews and some rejections. Ended up getting multiple offers with very competitive compensation. While I may be the exception rather the norm, there are definitely companies that are still hiring and some that ar…

Every market is a good one for some job seekers and a terrible one for others.

It's very hard to have a good sense of it unless you're really close to the industry cycles(financing, hiring, etc.) - anecdotes always have an aspect of normalizing your own situation, because that's just what humans do.

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Been looking seriously for ~4 months now, no luck yet. My degree is in political science and I worked at a DC think tank as a research fellow focused on technology policy before leaving to co-found a VC-backed tech startup. After five years it failed. Now it seems difficult to find a place which needs my mix of skills, a combination of communication and technical. I don't know if it's my unusual career path or someth…

I'm in a similar position. Been 3 months. Good luck!

Thanks, you too!

Re: Ask HN: How do you look for jobs in 2023?

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience was an absolute TON of jobs that had no idea what I do as a Staff+ engineer, or what it costs to get someone with my experience and skills. I'm talking many many recruiters fishing with 75% off my total comp. My take is there are lots of open roles, but companies are being slow to hire because they know they have the upper hand and want to wait out the market and get a great hire at a lower price. And r…

A startup with a tech team of 50 doesn't really need a staff+ engineer. They don't know what you do because these aren't things they even think about.

A lot of startup folks just think a higher "level" just means "Faster". While I agree, I think it's measured more abstractly and across time, than just like "1..2...3.. Go" kind of race on a feature/issue.
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