Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety? • Hacker News Board

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

#141

Post by HeyLaughingBoy » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 3:52 AM UTC

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…

I can't help you directly, but have you checked plctalk.com? Lots of experience on there and I'm sure you can find someone who's been in the same situation and can offer some guidance.

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

#142

Post by 1jreuben1 » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 7:01 AM UTC

Paradoxically, Curiosity and Passion for Learning can work against you: - The time and effort put into continuously building tech skills has an opportunity cost on networking for jobs - many positions seek for narrow and deep expertise of specialists, so if you are driven to broad life-long learning, being a generalist can dilute and blur the specifics.

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

#143

Post by amrx431 » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 7:46 AM UTC

the_only_law wrote: post #5

I ended up finding new work after a while but may not be able to hold it down for long. At this point if the market is still garbage in preparing to resign and find something else to do with my life.

Me thinking a 10 year stint at academia. Get a PhD.....

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

#144

Post by coolThingsFirst » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 7:55 AM UTC

harveywi wrote: post #84

1. Read this great "Surviving A Layoff" essay [1] and build a plan for yourself. 2. Take the time to level up on one or two foundational skills whose barriers to entry are combinations of tenacity and intelligence, or tech stacks that are very close to a foundational skill. Something like "Fart App Framework" is not a foundational skill because it becomes obsolete in a very short amount of time. Things like mathemati…

For 1), foundational skills don't help at all apart from being able to solve LC problems. For me solving LC is a breeze but then they ask if I know their favourite stack and how well I know it. Now you need to know React, Redux with online non-trivial project in that to even be considered for interview. DB indexing is a common question as well. Web security pops up as well.

In my opinion just focusing on React/Redux is a lot better than review of algos and this is for no-name companies as well.

The thing is for tech jobs you really need to know a lot. Algorithms don't cut it anymore unless you went to top 10 school and can secure a FAANG interview where they only ask those.

The skill inflation is real. It gets more and more competitive. Nowadays they expect you to hit the ground running.

This is for junior level.

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

#145

Post by thiago_fm » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 9:02 AM UTC

Pay for a therapist. They will help you to untie those thoughts.

Nothing said in HN will help you. It's mostly about processing emotions.

In the real world, it's not like you will not have what to eat. There are many jobs, even if the worst-case scenario exists, of you never finding a new job in tech, which is unlikely. You can adapt.

The thing is, if you only live in front of a display and use HN to help you process your emotions, even while making millions in FAANG, you'll still feel you are missing out on something.

Go outside, touch grass etc. And of course, get help from a professional, a therapist.

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

#146

Post by austin-cheney » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 9:51 AM UTC

I stopped chasing JavaScript jobs. I would rather be unemployed than go back to framework nonsense working with a bunch of emotional liars. I say emotional liars because most of these framework trend chasers put up a super confident front like sales people but most of them are extremely insecure and have no idea what they are doing. A true case study of Dunning-Kruger.

Now I only look at clearance required positions because that job market is still hot and many of the people doing that work have no delusions about who they are or what they are doing.

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

#147

Post by piva00 » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 10:35 AM UTC

Unfrozen0688 wrote: post #40

piva00 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

> whatever man you know what I MEAN FFS

No, I don't know what you mean, it's good to have clear communication through text media hence why I asked if that was a thing nowadays, I'm not in touch with the expectations from the younger generation growing up with Discord.

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

#148

Post by janandonly » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 12:25 PM UTC

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…

Having people around you who can get you into a first conversation about a new job is indeed a great help.

There is lots of advice around on how to live on a smaller budget. The upside of this is that you won't feel pressured to quickly find something new between jobs.

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

#149

Post by red-iron-pine » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 3:11 PM UTC

heavy drinking, and the occasional IT cert

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

#150

Post by paulcole » Wed, Dec 06, 2023, 4:40 PM UTC

smelly101 wrote: post #53

anymouse123456 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can do it! You just have to start. No one on Earth can stop you from learning what you want to learn. Don't worry about certifications, dig into the information on your own time. Do it at night, or in the morning, when everyone else is sleeping. Buy some old, broken or used controls and mess around with automating something in your house. Once you start taking action that convinces you that the day job you hate i…

> You can do it! You just have to start. No one on Earth can stop you from learning what you want to learn. The 'weekend' is not enough time to switch a career. A university undergrad takes 1460 days. With 100 weekend days a year it would take 14 years to achieve that. That's assuming you don't take a single day off for 14 years. You're gaslighting the poor dude.

I mean what's better? To say "Well if you try you might get what you want..." or to go, "Yeah you're right it's hopeless and you are stuck..."