Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired • Hacker News Board

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#351

Post by selimthegrim » Sun, Mar 17, 2024, 4:23 PM UTC

CoastalCoder wrote: post #340

Ancapistani wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm remote. There are a few of us around, but no community to speak of. I've tried to build a local network, but haven't had much success yet.

> I've tried to build a local network, but haven't had much success yet. I've had a similar problem in Rhode Island. It seems like meaningful meetups are just hard when you don't live near a large community of software developers with similar interests. I imagine remote work exacerbates this. I.e., more of us live away from those population centers.

I have a friend in Pawtucket who is a tech consultant and seems to do OK. Maybe he would know about local meetups.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#352

Post by seoulmetro » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 12:00 AM UTC

bb88 wrote: post #336

seoulmetro wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This made me laugh. Can't tell if it's a joke or not. Are you looking to hire robots or something?

Yes it's a joke, but also not really. If I have an issue and I'm paying a high paid consultant to solve it, well he needs to solve it, right? Particularly if he's not writing code. A $450/hr consultant better be able to save $4500/hr. A $1000/hr consultant better be able to save $10k/hr.

No, you make that decision. It's not given to you. You could be out -$4500 after a consultant has told you that they cannot save you the money. They're not robots. But likely most consultants are there because they can save you money, well.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#353

Post by pdimitar » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 4:18 AM UTC

birdlogic wrote: post #349

gamblor956 wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know a lot of people who claim to make 200k+ as contract programmers doing vaguely web-related stuff. But as a tax guy, I generally see the actual financial data (i.e., the actual 1099-reportable payments), and I rarely see anyone who actually does make 200k+ as a contractor. And all of those positions are always niche positions, and almost all of these roles are for less than a year: meaning: the 200k is the amoun…

I’ve done this for the past 3 years - two startup clients for 20 hrs/week each, just over 500k total pretax. Mostly staff-eng work, lots of independence, got to run some projects, pretty indistinguishable from full-time except for fewer meetings and no health care or equity. I’ve loved it - and so have the startups - they get a staff-level eng for the cost of a mid-level, just for half the hours. I think there’s valu…

Are you open to discuss how did you do it, here or over email? I don't have a network and I wouldn't even know where to start. I am quite capable and this has been recognized by people in the past but I am basically stealth mode (never invested in blogs, proper LinkedIn presence or any other really) so I am wondering how does a capable senior dev finally get to the big bucks?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#354

Post by randomopining » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 5:49 PM UTC

maldev wrote: post #270

randomopining wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What tweaks gave you the most success?

I changed alot of it to action/result oriented. What did I achieve. I also added a section at the bottom of my paragraph with EVER buzzword I could find from about 10-20 relevant job postings to get past the filter. Usually has recruiters making a joke.

So literally a few sentences that string together all the buzz words so that it gets picked up in automated systems? smart.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#355

Post by randomopining » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 5:50 PM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #320

randomopining wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No I believe for all standard app engineers in HCOL locations like NYC metro and SF metro. Top banks like GS I think are even a bit more. But WF etc are 200k-280k, confirmed.

You are talking about niche positions. They aren't paying their front-end or developers 200k+. I do know a number of bank developers making 300k+. They work on the boring, unsexy backend stuff that makes the bank run. Each of them provides the equivalent value of about 100 front-end developers.

Hmm ok. Because I know first hand that senior developers can get 220-300k easy. These aren't even owners or super niche. Just ~10yoe, and working on jira tickets nothinig wild.