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

91–100 of 304 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#91

Post by keiferski »

fuzzythinker wrote: post #84
keiferski wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Explaining how you’ve impacted the bottom line isn’t BS, it’s how business works. Failing to understand this is a common mistake made by technical people, unfortunately.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#92

Post by brailsafe »

rogual wrote: post #5
fardo wrote: post #4

Loved your Hapland games as a kid. Besides the standard callouts of “it’s an anomalously hard job market right now due to a recent layoffs flooding dev supply of interviewees, due to a post-covid hiring frenzy hangover, due to anticipated US tax code changes discouraging hiring, and due to high interest rates in the US currently discouraging risks including hiring” the thing that may be actually in your control is I…

Hey, thanks for the response. I'm in the UK so not sure how much the US situation is contributing, though there might be knock-on effects. I appreciate your feedback about what details to add and about that most recent point. I agree, and will spend some time rewriting. Again, thanks so much for responding and I'm happy to hear you enjoyed those games. Cheers!

It's the same in Canada btw

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#93

Post by brailsafe »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #87
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.

That was my experience pre-2023, now it's 100 applications and maybe one response, except there aren't 100 positions, all of them are the highest possible level of seniority and require 10 y.o.e plus a masters degree, and nobody responds to messages.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#96

Post by lowercased »

keiferski wrote: post #91
fuzzythinker wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Explaining how you’ve impacted the bottom line isn’t BS, it’s how business works. Failing to understand this is a common mistake made by technical people, unfortunately.

It's also difficult to put 'truth' on there when... you did something that you knew was stupid, and there was no positive or measurable benefit.

"Argued with CTO about importance of X. Did X, against my recommendation. Delivered X early, tested, documented, fast, secure. X flopped, and company laid off 20% of staff, including my team".

There may not have actually been positive benefits to everything that you did, because... they were dumb moves. Do you put that on there? Or do you just put what you did, minus the impact?

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#97

Post by slotrans »

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…

Why do hiring managers like such claims? They're all fake.

Re: Ask HN: Why am I suddenly unemployable?

#99

Post by freedomben »

I do hiring in the US not the UK, but I'm only (I'm guessing) a few years older than you so you probably had the "keep it to one page" rule pounded into your head.

I get a lot of resumes, and that is definitely not the case anymore. Two to three pages is perfectly fine. I would suggest:

1. Add a list of skills and/or technologies you're particularly good in. You can include stuff you've used but aren't current in, but make sure it's annotated as such

2. Add a high-level summary that hits the aggregated highlights of your career. Especially important for making sure that the resume reader quickly understands your specialties and focus, depth and breadth. Your Blender work is badass and should def show up in that summary

3. If you have education, I'd add a small thing about that at the bottom. For smaller orgs it doesn't matter but bigger ones it will make a difference. Ditto if you have any certifications

Overall though, I heartily agree that it's a vicious hiring market right now so don't take it personally. You look like a fascinating candidate! If we had open slots and our markets lined up more, I'd be shooting you an email. I'm a little weird in this regard, but I am particularly impressed by open source work that people do. It shows passion, motivation, and a willingness to make the world a better place, which are three things I really appreciate.

Post reply on HN