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Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

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Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#71

Post by lurking15 »

keiferski wrote: post #59
weinzierl wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not saying you are wrong, but when does management even know exactly which specific X caused how much increase in revenue, let alone a software developer.

It's not about saying you directly caused the specific increase in revenue, it's more about highlighting the value you can bring to a future organization – at least so you can talk about it in an interview. Remember, this game is not about determining if that increase was purely attributable to your work, it's about convincing an employer that you can add value. For example: you coded and launched a new feature, and…

Sure that's ideal but honestly I've worked on a bunch of stuff at several different companies but have yet to land in a place where I was able to collect these sorts of statistics that everyone is always going on about putting in your resume.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#72

Post by dave1999x »

The worst thing about your CV is the non-chronological layout and the second item the "University of Bedfordshire"

A lazy recruiter will see that as a watermark as your education and assume the rest is amateur stuff. This makes it look like you have less than one year experience.

For some companies/recruiters they often like to see month and year for each position. It can be a red flag as it looks like hiding of career gaps.

Lack of personal statement is a lesser problem. Recruiters won't necessarily care, but it makes a hiring managers job harder. The job positions should be seen as supporting evidence for the claims in that statement.

That said, despite these problems, the jobs market is at the slowest it's been for years. Particular for more senior roles.

My company has a hiring freeze despite being profitable and growing and we're cutting costs to avoid making people redundant.

I'm UK based and have reviewed hundreds if not thousands of CVs.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#73

Post by keiferski »

lurking15 wrote: post #71
keiferski wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about saying you directly caused the specific increase in revenue, it's more about highlighting the value you can bring to a future organization – at least so you can talk about it in an interview. Remember, this game is not about determining if that increase was purely attributable to your work, it's about convincing an employer that you can add value. For example: you coded and launched a new feature, and…

Sure that's ideal but honestly I've worked on a bunch of stuff at several different companies but have yet to land in a place where I was able to collect these sorts of statistics that everyone is always going on about putting in your resume.

If you don't have specific data, you can still frame your work in a way that is more compelling than, "I can code in Python and I worked at XYZ company for 3 years." Whatever value you were adding, put that first, even if it's just "built new products that increased company's sales and helped expand to X new markets."

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#74

Post by drcongo »

philipwhiuk wrote: post #37

Beware the comments here from the US that don't apply to UK CVs - which are a different style. Personal intros are not important. I can't see any job titles - which is frankly more important than the company and makes it easier to skim sections of experience Definitely go into more detail than just "Worked on" and "Used" - anything on stuff the company uses in the CV is not confidential and you can put on your CV. Fi…

(UK CTO) I'd disagree with the "Personal intros are not important" bit, I use that a lot when filtering but the rest of this is good advice. It's also missing a list of skills you consider yourself to have, what you like doing with those skills, things you maybe do in your off-time - personality basically.

The other thing I'd suggest is tailoring your CV to the roles you're going for - the last time I had to write my own I had a two page appendix of the awards won by my projects as that's the sort of thing the hirers I was targeting would be looking for. And as someone hiring now I'm far more likely to interview someone who's CV shows some interest in the kind of work we do and who we do it for.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#75

Post by iamflimflam1 »

sam8401 wrote: post #63
iamflimflam1 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't want this to come across as snarky, and things are very tough out there right now, but if you think the OP's CV is fine and yours is similar to his then that might explain some of your own difficulties. It's no good being a "star" employee if you can't communicate that fact to other people.

Thank you I needed to hear this, but I also detest self propaganda. Maybe I need to find a middle ground. Or just reach out to one of my old employers ... which again, I am not a big fan of :)

I think as someone else said - be authentic.

We can have a tendency to underplay what we have done. Often in tech we pull amazing rabbits out of hats - and then when people say how great it is, we'll respond with how it was nothing and anyone could have done it. It's nothing special...

Someone gave me some advice a few years back which was - if you don't feel mildly embarrassed when you read your CV you are probably underselling yourself.

On the reaching out to old employers - unless you left on really bad terms - drop them a line. You are a known quantity, it's a low effort hire that won't cost them anything (apart from your salary).

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#76

Post by Volundr »

lurking15 wrote: post #71
keiferski wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about saying you directly caused the specific increase in revenue, it's more about highlighting the value you can bring to a future organization – at least so you can talk about it in an interview. Remember, this game is not about determining if that increase was purely attributable to your work, it's about convincing an employer that you can add value. For example: you coded and launched a new feature, and…

Sure that's ideal but honestly I've worked on a bunch of stuff at several different companies but have yet to land in a place where I was able to collect these sorts of statistics that everyone is always going on about putting in your resume.

Numbers are ideal, and I'd think carefully on if there is a metric you can tie to a data point, but it doesn't have to be all about numbers. Example: maybe you streamlined a common app flow making it significantly easier for users to accomplish a task, or implemented accessibility best practices across your product making it usable by a wider range of people. Both of these have more pop if there is a statistic you can cite with them, but even without they speak to impact not just "worked on Python web application".

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#77

Post by syngrog66 »

it has gotten extremely bad compared to 2023 or any other year in my career memory. and I am the same person. no: I'm better and more skilled and accomplished than ever before, with new achievements and attractive evidence (in public view) added to my CV this last fall. in any sane and objective world I'd be treated better than before

no

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#78

Post by [deleted] »

codingdave wrote: post #27

Your CV doesn't tell me anything you accomplished, it just lists things you did. Hiring managers want to know the impact of your work, not a page of bullets that all say: "I did a thing." Picking one at random: "Worked on frontend and backend systems for this health tech company." OK... and what impact did your work have? Can you cite a qualitative improvement on the business due to your work? If not, can you at leas…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#79

Post by dr_kiszonka »

jmarchello wrote: post #26

As unfair as this may seem, your problem may be UX, rather than content. There is no focal point and ironically the shear volume of experience makes it hard to get a quick picture of who you are. I’d recommend a punchy executive summary at the top. In my experience the 1 page constraint is less important so long as it’s easy to get a good picture of you on the first page.

Yes. There is no other way to figure out what OP specializes in and worked on besides reading all bullets carefully. A summary and job titles would help a lot.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#80

Post by dr_kiszonka »

austin-cheney wrote: post #68
bluedevil2k wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d also suggest losing the “old guy arrogance” before giving it another shot.

What would you suggest instead?

Since you asked, based solely on your earlier comment, I would suggest being more open, humble, and respectful. I recognize the downsides of relying on frameworks, but I can also see good reasons for using them. I wouldn't refer to colleagues using frameworks the way you did.
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