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

Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 161 posts

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#31

Post by 0xEF »

"How are you dealing?"

Short answer; not well.

Long answer; I'm currently stuck in a job with an employer that I hate, that is slowly destroying my love of the work, and I can't afford the time it would take to leave, upgrade my skills and get into a better situation.

For context, I am a versatile service tech for industrial machines. I have zero certifications in anything only because I never needed them before since I keep pretty good logs of stuff I work on in my spare time and that typically serves nicely as a portfolio. I'm in my mid-40's and realized I have hit the upper limits of what I can do without certifications and an upgraded skillset.

I'd love to move into the world of PLC programming and cybersecurity in an industrial setting. I've expressed this to my current employer, but it's clear they want me to stay where I am at, so I'm more or less on my own if I want to grow.

I have been quietly looking for a company that offers opportunities for this type of learning and makes an effort to invest in their people. Nothing that comes up are positions I qualify for since I lack said certifications.

I realize this is my fault, of course, and could have been avoided with different decisions in my youth...but now I am panicking because I'm having trouble seeing what my next move is and that is something I've never had to deal with. In the past, I've been blessed enough to interview well and prove my skills, generally landing a new job within two weeks of leaving the old. Now I can't even get recruiters to call me back, with their bars being set historically low.

I'm at the point where I'm open to night school (sacrificing pretty much all personal/family time I have left) but I have no idea what viable institutions are out there, and what's a diploma mill to be avoided.

If anyone works in SCADA, cybersecurity for industrial settimgs, PLC programming, etc, I am open to any direction you can provide. Lord knows I am not getting it from the folks I'm surrounded with in the industry.

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#33

Post by bschabs »

kemiller2002 wrote: post #13

I'll let you in on the secret to finding a job. It's not about your skills really (maybe some), it's about who you know. If you're relying on only your skill to carry you through to finding a job, you're going to have a rough time. It's about who you know. You're looking for a job? Go to meetups, code and coffees, free tech seminars by companies etc. That's your job now. Connect with people on LinkedIn. There are ver…

This one hits the nail on the head. For instance immediately when I started the job search I got a couple referrals from friends. Unfortunately they still didn't work out but I made it the furthest with those, since then I have applied to 150 jobs anywhere from mid level to lead, and a few phone calls here and there but ultimately without those referrals most turn into nothing sandwiches. I'm not a coding god but I do love it and spend a lot of time doing it, and this job market is by far and away harder than when I entered software in 2019, and the pay is much lower than even 2019 pay.

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#34

Post by gepeto42 »

maximus-decimus wrote: post #26
kemiller2002 wrote: post #13

I'll let you in on the secret to finding a job. It's not about your skills really (maybe some), it's about who you know. If you're relying on only your skill to carry you through to finding a job, you're going to have a rough time. It's about who you know. You're looking for a job? Go to meetups, code and coffees, free tech seminars by companies etc. That's your job now. Connect with people on LinkedIn. There are ver…

I'm in Canada and it seems like all the good paying jobs are remote for American companies (or would require moving to the states). Do you have any tip for networking when you want a job that is remote or in another location?

For me it was conferences, and after landing one remote US job then through contacts it became the new normal over a decade or so.

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#35

Post by piva00 »

Unfrozen0688 wrote: post #25
kemiller2002 wrote: post #13

I'll let you in on the secret to finding a job. It's not about your skills really (maybe some), it's about who you know. If you're relying on only your skill to carry you through to finding a job, you're going to have a rough time. It's about who you know. You're looking for a job? Go to meetups, code and coffees, free tech seminars by companies etc. That's your job now. Connect with people on LinkedIn. There are ver…

I agree, if he has been working since 2011 he should know a lot of ppl? He never worked in a team and can grab them on discord, phone, sms, text, skype, email, blog comment, instagram , snapchat, github account and see if they are looking where they are working now? Asking OP.

Grab them on Discord? I don't think I have anyone from my past 20 years of career on Discord... Is that a thing nowadays?

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#36

Post by fredgrott »

0xEF wrote: post #31

"How are you dealing?" Short answer; not well. Long answer; I'm currently stuck in a job with an employer that I hate, that is slowly destroying my love of the work, and I can't afford the time it would take to leave, upgrade my skills and get into a better situation. For context, I am a versatile service tech for industrial machines. I have zero certifications in anything only because I never needed them before sinc…

STOP! All that time spent in distractions to salivate the job hate is not doing you any favors....use it instead to pick up PCL! I speak from exp....my brother did exactly that...he is now a manager with good money and better employer.

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#37

Post by hx8 »

The best way to avoid job market anxiety is when you already have a job. Build a finical safety net for yourself. Have a plan on how you'll pay all your bills if you lose your job. The "I'm slowly bleeding out" stress is very different than the "I don't know how I'm going to pay this bill" stress. The more time you buy yourself the more options you will have.

If you don't have a job, and you are actively searching, and feeling anxiety about not being able to find a job then you need low cost stress reduction options. I would advise exercise and meditation as all purpose anxiety relief.

I would advise actively coding and publishing the results as a way to gain confidence in your skills. Github, blog posts, app marketplaces, etc.

I would advise studying the history of the tech economy as another way of alleviating the anxiety. You weren't here for 2008, or 2000, or the previous tech crashes. These things are part of the business cycle around here.

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#38

Post by tedajax »

danjac wrote: post #19
mateusfreira wrote: post #11

What is your stack? There are areas with more opportunities than others that may be worth considering a stack shift. I have been in the market since 2006, and I have seen it go up and down; I've never been unemployed since, but I have close friends who run over one year without a job (In Brazil, we usually have financial crises here more often), at that time their option was to do freelancing for a while until they f…

The problem is you can't "stack shift". I mean, of course you can, we know that if you know some programming languages you can pick up another language, if you know an HTTP router you can learn another, a MySQL expert can learn PostgreSQL, if you know React you can learn Vue and so on. But you won't get through the HR filters unless you have the magic n years' experience. Once you learn that stack in your junior year…

Protip: lie

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#39

Post by pavlov »

blitz_skull wrote: post #29

Idk, lots of folks have been talking about “downturns” but I’ve been in the industry for 8 years now and I’ve never had to look for more than 2-3 weeks to get a job—and that’s while I was already working so I’d imagine I could find one even faster if I dedicated all my time to it. I’m not trying to be contrarian or suggest that other folks don’t struggle finding a job. I’m just offering an alternate viewpoint. Maybe…

> “folks have been talking about ‘downturns’ but I’ve been in the industry for 8 years”

This here is the first downturn in over 12 years. So you haven’t seen one until now.

Re: Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?

#40

Post by Unfrozen0688 »

piva00 wrote: post #35
Unfrozen0688 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, if he has been working since 2011 he should know a lot of ppl? He never worked in a team and can grab them on discord, phone, sms, text, skype, email, blog comment, instagram , snapchat, github account and see if they are looking where they are working now? Asking OP.

Grab them on Discord? I don't think I have anyone from my past 20 years of career on Discord... Is that a thing nowadays?

phone, sms, text, skype, email, blog comment, instagram , snapchat, github account whatever man you know what I MEAN FFS

Whatever YOU use to COMMUNICATE with your FREINDS

But yes Discord has been a thing for me for since Im a GAMER. This is contacting techs who Ive worked with working for big companies and they can talk up to their boss etc

Post reply on HN