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

Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 304 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#81

Post by thr0way120 »

I DISAGREE THAT IT IS SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR RESUME.

You said it yourself: You got lots of pings, resume or not. The resume is secondary to the state of the market.

Going through same. This is like 2007-2008 or 2000. You need a playbook here.

1. You are a media-related programmer, you better be stacking skills in Generative AI, showing your work, and becoming proficient in generative AI tools across all stacks. It hasn't happened yet, but Generative AI + your skills will be in serious demand (AI technologist / AI generalist developer or Creator). It hasn't happened yet and won't happen until the layoffs are done. Don't get caught off-sides when the hiring market resumes and suddenly everyone is demanding Unity + Generative AI skills.

2. Sometimes there is literally nothing you can do but wait

I have been in same position the last six months or so. Absolutely nothing is moving. I have been through multiple interviews, companies pretend to be wanting to hire (they actually arent). There is ZERO urgency in this hiring market, companies are in full on scale-down mode and pivot. We are still in waves of layoffs. After / during the layoffs and restructuring, companies must THEN reconsider a NEW direction to go on.

A new set of skills will go into vogue and suddenly everyone starts hiring in that direction. Unfortunately, you cannot control the timelines. It could take months or years before companies decide which direction to take next. AI is going to obviously be the #1 skill. Ability to show you can supercharge what you are doing by augmenting via AI and Generative AI will be in the most demand imo. But that is a strategy decision and companies are still winding down and moving out of their prior strategies they used the last decade.

3. This is the end of the old cycle and start of a new cycle

Expect it to take time to ramp the new cycle. Skills that were super valuable before are now less valuable. Companies are more focused on shutting down the old strategy than hiring the new strategy.This is a very uncomfortable in-between period and it could last another 6-18 months. The best you can do is focus on predicting the market and getting "into position."

The market may suck for longer than you think, you have to "wait well" and stack skills and networks. Unfortunately there may not be anything other than to wait, and let the market work itself out.

Gaming has been getting annihilated as a market.In a downturn, the shakiest stuff gets thrashed out first. Crypto, gaming are "nice to haves" from the perspective of the market.The market is going to contract down to only the essentials. Stuff people absolutely need to spend money on. All the "nice to have and fun" stuff is getting defunded.

Follow the money. It will flood into generative AI and AI productivity tools.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#82

Post by ownagefool »

f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #67

We're currently going through the largest tech downturn since the dot com bubble. It's not you, it's the market. Tough for everybody who is looking right now. For the first time in 20 years there are more applicants than jobs again.

This.

I'm in the UK. Strong skills. Good CV. Ghosted constantly.

Half the jobs you're applying for ( or more ) are fake, and the recruiters are just trying to collect CVs to drum up future business.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#83

Post by [deleted] »

rogual wrote: post #13
infinitedata wrote: post #6

You have an impressing background! I think folks reading this are seeing that you are too technical and lack of business acumen (while maybe not true). For the work that you have done in each company they may be interested in the results of you creating these not that you created those. Did you ever find out what was the impact of your software development on the actual business? Make sure to include numbers, people…

Thanks for the reply! I'm definitely guilty of thinking like a dev. Built what the PM wanted, they liked it, I did good, right? D'oh. I guess I should have been keeping notes of those business figures all this time. I'll definitely do that when I find a job again. Of course, even if sales improved while I was there, I'd feel a bit silly claiming it was because of me, but maybe I should anyway. Thank you! About summar…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#84

Post by fuzzythinker »

keiferski wrote: post #31
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…

This is the best advice here. You want to be able to say, “during the time I worked here, I did X and the company’s revenue increased by Y.” Swap in whatever metrics are particularly relevant to the job you’re applying for.

I read resumes and that "bs" gets one negative point. Another negative point and resume goes to trash bin.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#85

Post by ownagefool »

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.

I have £19m to £75m revenue in approx 20 months bootstrapped start-up CTO on my CV.

In the UK market folks aren't particularly receptive to that sort of thing.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#86

Post by austin-cheney »

dr_kiszonka wrote: post #80
austin-cheney wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Why wouldn’t you call it as you see it? When you have lost your job and are no longer seeking that employment you can afford to become a bit more honest. Fearing that someone likely under qualified for their job might be offended by the mere mention of such sounds like a first world problem.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#87

Post by theandrewbailey »

f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #67

We're currently going through the largest tech downturn since the dot com bubble. It's not you, it's the market. Tough for everybody who is looking right now. For the first time in 20 years there are more applicants than jobs again.

> For the first time in 20 years there are more applicants than jobs again.

I'd argue that happened during 2008 and 2009.

Source: I graduated and had to get a first job during that time. For every 100 positions I applied for, I got a call for 5, and had on site interviews for 1. Sounds like that may be the case again.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#88

Post by bmitc »

You are apparently in the UK, but the job market in the U.S. has similarly been very spooky lately. I was laid off and have received almost no interviews outside of a single previous employer. My resume was flat out rejected, even from places that I had previously worked or was made an offer from as little as a year or two ago. It was really weird. As in, previous contacts would not even reply to emails or LinkedIn messages. I felt the same thing, thinking things like if I insulted someone's dog or something. I even got contacted by a former company asking if I'd be interested in coming back, and then when I responded, they responded with a flat "we don't see a fit". Just purely bizarre.

I am finding that more and more people are looking for extremely specific and narrow experience. Like, if you haven't used technology and worked in domain, they don't want to even speak to you. They'd almost rather higher a new grad who happened to work in than someone with experience in many languages and domains. It's really weird. I've been thinking a lot about how to make my own path, because it's exhausting trying to apply and work for myopic places.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#89

Post by bmitc »

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…

> Finally put months on your CV - it's not clear if your most recent role was 12 months or 1.

I've stopped doing that because it gets tiring why I changed so frequently in recent years. It's not my fault places go bankrupt, startups do layoffs, or teams just up and dissolve after you join, and it gets tiring explaining that rather than discussing my experience, skills, and interests and the role at hand. It was a total mistake to enter into the startup world.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#90

Post by georgeashworth »

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?

Rather than expressing frustration at the less experienced developers you are working with... as a hiring manager I would prefer to hear something more constructive, like that you are able to understand the common pitfalls a team of less experienced developers are likely to run into and proactively lead/wrangle/herd them towards success.
Post reply on HN