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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?

#311
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At conferences and the like I've always been super-impressed by the Google folks I've spoke with and listened to. But it's also my understanding that Google doesn't let just anyone "out in the wild" so I assume I'm pretty much seeing one end of the barbell (or probably a smallish slice of it).

I can’t speak for Google. But Amazon has an internal speaker certification and you have to be approved before they let you go out in the wild.

Let’s be clear here: the certification steps are required to give a talk as an Amazon staff member. You can go to conferences as an attendee, you can mention where you work. You just can’t get up on stage and give a talk about what you work on without going through some steps to make sure you’re not inadvertently giving away secret sauce or putting the share price into a tailspin.

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

#314
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.

While it’s true that it’s harder to form close connections while working from home, it’s actually managed to broaden my network considerably. I now have friends and former colleagues stationed all around the world, instead of just the US.

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

#315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dan Luu has an interesting post about it as well. https://danluu.com/hiring-lemons/

From about half-way down the post: " At the last conference I attended, I asked most people I met two questions: Do you know of any companies that aren't highly dysfunctional? Do you know of any particular teams that are great and are hiring? Not one single person told me that their company meets the criteria in (1). A few people suggested that, maybe, Dropbox is ok, or that, maybe, Jane Street is ok, but the answers…

I struggle with that. I loathe looking for work again because I know I’ll end up somewhere fucked up selling my soul and wearing myself out y til I have to quit again to recharge and reset the cycle. Sometimes I wish I had a totally different profession.

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

#317
post #38
post #8

Bit of a tangent, but what has been everyone's experience so far in 2023 trying to find a new job? I got really interested in this and have been passively researching it (HN, reddit posts). My conclusion, so far, is unless you've got strong connections it's hard right now to find a job. Most job posting, as OP mentions get hundreds if not thousands of applications. Other times, I've personally also notice, candidates…

my job search is miserable. I want to post a well thought out rant about my experience but idk how to do it anonymously without ruining my chances to get a job looking like a dick online. Every part is horrible: recruiters that don't know the industry beyond buzzwords. this is frustrating, they cant think outside their box "oh you havent done exactly this for 10 years, so i guess youll never do it." I dont think peop…

"recruiters that don't know the industry beyond buzzwords. this is frustrating"

I am not even in the Tech Industry (Plastics Manufacturing Engineering), and this is the case. There are maybe... MAYBE... a handful of recruiters that have been in the business, working with my industry long enough to actually know what the heck they are talking about. They are ones that have actually gone to plants, gone on tours, asked questions, and tried to understand the difference between a dryer, a hopper, and a barrel on an injection molding machine. Modern recruiting is as much a numbers game as modern job hunting (for the most part) and it is completely idiotic.

I don't have really any advice, just wanted people to know that it's not just Tech that is seeing what you're seeing. The rest of us career professionals (16 years here) feel your pain and empathize.

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

#318
Some things that worked for me this year:

- Update your resume / cover letter to make it more appetizing. Don't hesitate to use ChatGPT. Change the title to match the job. You usually have to cater for HR first, not technical people. Also remove the stuff that you don't want to work with. This will remove the tech you don't want to work with anymore.

- Emphasize anything that could stand out (side projects, anything to do with hot topics / techs). Again you have to catter to HR first.

- Don't get afraid of the numbers (out of the 500 applications you mention a good 450 will be thrown into the garbage immediatly). But try to get early.

- Often the first steps of the process require some customs texts (mails, achievements, why I want to works with you). LLMs can save you time and make your answers more appealing.

- Specialized Recruiting firms can be you friend. Sometimes you need to be blunt with them. Discuss expectation early. ("I am currently making X with Y days remote. Would you be able to find something that match my skill and offer X+20% and at least Y+1 days remote ?")

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

#320

Check out our job board at https://levels.fyi/jobs We’re constantly iterating on it and the cornerstone of our board is the ability to filter opportunities by compensation. You can also set alerts for specific filters, and we’re always open to feedback!

I really like the levels.fyi search, but I wish it would actually restrict San Francisco results to SF. Seems to be an issue with all the job sites that even after specifying SF and not "bay area" I still see roles in San Mateo and Mountain View.

Appreciate the feedback, we're working on city-specific filters instead of region. For now, you can text search it for a more acute match: https://www.levels.fyi/jobs?searchText=San+Francisco
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