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Is the Job Market Dying?

rachdele.substack.com

71–80 of 198 posts

Re: Is the Job Market Dying?

#71
I can't speak for US but in Europe there is significantly less working options but old rusty corporates like insurance companies or banks are always hiring because their rusty boring old systems need mainteance and constant rewriting. At least thats my bet. Wait through bad times here. You can get easily starting point of six figures per year. Heh. It is not much but it's honest work.

Re: Is the Job Market Dying?

#73
post #8

No, it is not. For those of you who are new here (aka didn't live through the 2000 bubble) welcome to a shitty job market. 1. Your best bet to get a job is your network. If you were a clock puncher, if you didn't go above and beyond, if you aren't the person who is gonna make the co-worker who vouches for you look good... you are not gonna get much help in your network. 2. The next best bet is to either a) start your…

I disagree with #1. Not entirely but it is about perception. Working an extra 10-20 hrs a week for free in return for a chance but no guarantee of a vouch is in itself a bad deal. So while you may have reasons for working long hours, hoping someone has your back is not a great one. Unless you have known them since you were 8 or something and even then.

It’s called hustling. Not everyone makes it, but putting in extra effort improves your odds. It’s pretty amazing to me that this is now considered controversial.

Re: Is the Job Market Dying?

#74
post #66
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, it's different this time. 1. My entire network is struggling, even the ones who have jobs are worried. Despite being universally acclaimed and vouched for by my past coworkers, it seems to have no impact. Companies don't trust their own employees references right now. 2. Maybe this is changing, but it seems like entrepreneurship is at an all-time low. Nobody has ideas, everyone just wants to go to sleep at a co…

The only 'ideas' allowed are AI and AI if done from the ground up can only be afforded by billion dollar companies, which is why you see nvidia, microsoft, google owning most of it. The entrepreneurship of ten years ago of two dudes sitting in a house coding apps is gone.

Not sure. Read the recent PG essay. But I reckon you are going to be writing the procurement app for a midsized building firm, or a ERP for a road haulage firm, or a shift management system for a hospital, rather than some low hanging tech bro idea fruit. What they call “IT”.

Re: Is the Job Market Dying?

#75
post #8

No, it is not. For those of you who are new here (aka didn't live through the 2000 bubble) welcome to a shitty job market. 1. Your best bet to get a job is your network. If you were a clock puncher, if you didn't go above and beyond, if you aren't the person who is gonna make the co-worker who vouches for you look good... you are not gonna get much help in your network. 2. The next best bet is to either a) start your…

> The rest left tech for good.

This is an important reality check for many people.

I entered tech in 2004, during the immediate aftermath of the dotcom crash. At that time software engineers got paid well, but not insane. Additionally, every software engineer I met was passionate about writing code.

Honestly, around 2019 I was really missing those days. The field has become flooded with people looking for a high paying job with essentially no interest in software or computer science beyond the paycheck it provides. I don't blame people for wanting to make money, but I do miss virtually everyone in the industry being genuinely fascinated with software and programming.

The good news is, if you're the kind of person who would write code even if it paid minimum wage, you'll survive this. People whose book shelves are filled with CS books, who find themselves working on coding problems at night because it's fun, who can't help hacking around with new ideas on the weeked, will very likely continue to work in software. You'll likely make less money, but you'll also have more fun.

Unsurprisingly, in this current market I'm getting paid less but having more fun at work than I've had in nearly a decade.

Re: Is the Job Market Dying?

#76
post #61

Is there a route for high skilled engineer for going through this mess? Say, I am happy and confident to do all your leetcode/homework assignments + 8h interviews, but I want to be also top candidate as result.

if there is an OSS project that you have your eye on, you can easily get noticed by engaging with them and starting to fix/address small issues or convenience features. I know a handful of people who got hired this way.

I think this is very unreliable channel, but something worth to try in parallel.

To be specific, I am not looking for a job atm, but current approach seems broken, and wondering why companies don't like to use more efficient ways to hire.

Re: Is the Job Market Dying?

#77
post #60
post #8

No, it is not. For those of you who are new here (aka didn't live through the 2000 bubble) welcome to a shitty job market. 1. Your best bet to get a job is your network. If you were a clock puncher, if you didn't go above and beyond, if you aren't the person who is gonna make the co-worker who vouches for you look good... you are not gonna get much help in your network. 2. The next best bet is to either a) start your…

Interesting you don’t mention a huge option that opened up after 2001 — govt/defense work. There was a huge ramp up in military spending in the 2000s and it was still “tech” work, albeit often of the more “move slow, change incrementally” variety.

I spent the start of my career in Defense in the late 2000s. People told me it was foolish to leave defense for less money/benefits in tech startups where nothing was guaranteed. I ended up finally leaving and it was the best career decision I ever made.

Re: Is the Job Market Dying?

#79
post #8

No, it is not. For those of you who are new here (aka didn't live through the 2000 bubble) welcome to a shitty job market. 1. Your best bet to get a job is your network. If you were a clock puncher, if you didn't go above and beyond, if you aren't the person who is gonna make the co-worker who vouches for you look good... you are not gonna get much help in your network. 2. The next best bet is to either a) start your…

I disagree with #1. Not entirely but it is about perception. Working an extra 10-20 hrs a week for free in return for a chance but no guarantee of a vouch is in itself a bad deal. So while you may have reasons for working long hours, hoping someone has your back is not a great one. Unless you have known them since you were 8 or something and even then.

There’s a good paper on how effective networking and “weak ties” is for getting a job. It’s silly that this person is blaming AI resume parsers. https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4865899/mod_resou...

Re: Is the Job Market Dying?

#80
post #77
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting you don’t mention a huge option that opened up after 2001 — govt/defense work. There was a huge ramp up in military spending in the 2000s and it was still “tech” work, albeit often of the more “move slow, change incrementally” variety.

I spent the start of my career in Defense in the late 2000s. People told me it was foolish to leave defense for less money/benefits in tech startups where nothing was guaranteed. I ended up finally leaving and it was the best career decision I ever made.

Without question. I had a kid around that time so startup life seemed really mismatched, so now kinda stuck.
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