Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#121

Post by pizzafeelsright » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:40 PM UTC

jeswin wrote: post #74

Hang in there. I feel the tables are about to turn as AI eliminates junior positions. You'd need people who understand business, potential issues, and architecture at a higher level. Which usually means people who are more senior. My advice would be to repackage your skills. Don't compete on things that a junior developer can complete at a lower cost. I didn't make this up - I'm in my 40s and use Generative AI for mo…

I said the similar and was lit up here with respect to using AI.

We do not need any more juniors or more staff provided the current staff embrace the time saving that the AI, LLM, etc can provide.

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#122

Post by kayodelycaon » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:41 PM UTC

pcthrowaway wrote: post #71

baq wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pay enough so it doesn't make sense to hop jobs.

At this point, pay whatever you think just below market is and let candidates know they get a 10-15% raise at 6 months and 12 months, and 5-10% at 18 months and 24 months. Show them a comp schedule for their targeted salary, and give them a decent signing bonus with a repayment policy if they quit in the first year. Solves the problem of hires wanting to jump ship even if they started 10-20% below their target salary…

I would never trust a company to give me a raise like that. Management would just deny it when they want to save money on payroll.

I’ve had so many people promise things and have someone else them prevent them from following through.

I’ve had a department head reporting to the CEO try to keep me but HR wanted me gone. HR knew how to play politics and I was gone.

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#123

Post by meowfly » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:41 PM UTC

5350-uiop-1130 wrote: post #13

from my exp. hiring for ages, they interview lots of people, then it goes quiet - nothing comes of it. 6 months later you hear some nepotistic hire takes the position. maybe companies prefer people they know rather than 1000s of applicants. also a toxic culture of seeking perfection and a cargo culting attitude prevalent among many senior/lead engineers and managers. maybe justified, i dont know and i dont care anymo…

I have a theory that a lot of the jobs listed are to prove you tried to find qualified candidates before you hire a developer's friend.

In defense of hiring friends: If the referer is considered a trustworthy employee, it's probably going to be your highest information hire.

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#124

Post by silverquiet » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:41 PM UTC

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #96

charliebwrites wrote: post #18

Everyone. I am a very senior PM with two big name tech companies on my resume, and the track record of bringing multiple products from zero to one and creating revenue (and even profit!) from them. In the old days, I had recruiters in my LinkedIn, I would breeze through the first 30 minute screener calls, and get lots of call backs. My hit rate for job applications for non-FAANG cold applies was fairly high. Two mont…

Any idea / feeling, on if this is temporary? I just have hard time understanding how 1 year ago, everyone was hiring SE and now nobody is. Shouldn't this be indicative of some huge economic meltdown? But economy isn't melting down. Can skills mismatch suddenly be so dramatically different? AI is great but it can't have this much impact already. Could over-hiring during Covid really have this much impact? It just feel…

My take is that for one reason or another (and I wouldn't count premeditated evil genius as high on the list of reasons), the FAANG and adjacent companies have been hiring the developer equivalent of people to dig holes and fill them up for a few years now. Think about it - does Google really need teams of developers with something on the order of half a million in total compensation each in order to develop some new product that they're going to cancel in a year or two?

Essentially, you've got an oligarch class in the US/World with more money than they know what to do with and it gets put to weird uses. Tech/VC seem to be the sexiest use of that money and so it gets directed in that direction and comes out everywhere. ZIRP exacerbates it. And it seems the end of ZIRP and other effects finally pop the bubble. What really sucks is when your family's healthcare is dependent on your employer playing the above game.

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#125

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:41 PM UTC

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #96

charliebwrites wrote: post #18

Everyone. I am a very senior PM with two big name tech companies on my resume, and the track record of bringing multiple products from zero to one and creating revenue (and even profit!) from them. In the old days, I had recruiters in my LinkedIn, I would breeze through the first 30 minute screener calls, and get lots of call backs. My hit rate for job applications for non-FAANG cold applies was fairly high. Two mont…

Any idea / feeling, on if this is temporary? I just have hard time understanding how 1 year ago, everyone was hiring SE and now nobody is. Shouldn't this be indicative of some huge economic meltdown? But economy isn't melting down. Can skills mismatch suddenly be so dramatically different? AI is great but it can't have this much impact already. Could over-hiring during Covid really have this much impact? It just feel…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#126

Post by pizzafeelsright » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:41 PM UTC

influx wrote: post #79

dgfitz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This describes me as well. I’m almost to the point of grinding leetcode and learning react or some such front end. I have no AWS-esque type skills or anything scaling/web related. My last pref. review I was told “you’re the guy we ask to solve problems 10x harder than the other devs. Anyone can patch a bug, we always ask you to figure out the things nobody else can.” Which unfortunately doesn’t translate well on a re…

Build a small web project on AWS using Terraform, and Node/React running on a container platform with a full cicd platform. I have your background and doing this increased my scope and kills significantly.

Do this, and get a certification or two in lower level AWS/Azure and you'll have a job within 2 months.

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#127

Post by shnkr » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:42 PM UTC

mojomark wrote: post #16

I have not from the perspective of seeking emplyment, but from the smaller mid-size employer side (200 employees, robotics) we have had to reject a number of candidates. Normally this is based on a resume review (so as not to waste people's time), but sometimes it does come out in interviews. My main challenge, and I'm not saying this is the case for you - I'm just offering the perspective on the other side, has been…

insert meme *Don't give me hope*

In an idealist world, you're the perfect employer and I should be your employee. I want to believe that these employers exist but my conventional wisdom says, they are just textbook version, real world is different.

A little bit about me: In my 12 yoe (still at same place with steady growth), worked 6 years for one team, built a framework. one SE was dumping his new projects and moving to fresh ones while I get to maintain them, soon moved to different team. I stayed, maintained, stabilized, scaled, tuned, left only after then to different team (actually I'm the only one) to work on a new product. Again same situation, many have joined and left, few after 1 year and none of them contributed anything significant to the product. None of them cared about the product or the company, just optimizing for their career and pay. But then what's the passion in it if you don't care about what you've built and make it better.

I'm now pivoting to new team (don't know yet) planning to build something again from scratch. I'm optimizing for my passion, but some where deep inside I'm worried about my future prospects because of long haul.

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#128

Post by ghaff » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:44 PM UTC

happimess wrote: post #94

thinkingtoilet wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no real way to handle the influx of applications these days since it's so easy to apply, especially on platforms like LinkedIn. I just take the first X and try to find a qualified applicant. I'm at a small company, we simply can't process 1000 resumes.

A former boss told me that this is how you make sure only to hire lucky people.

Ah. Hiring for the Teela Brown gene. I love it.

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#129

Post by rootusrootus » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:46 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #42

mojomark wrote: post #16

I have not from the perspective of seeking emplyment, but from the smaller mid-size employer side (200 employees, robotics) we have had to reject a number of candidates. Normally this is based on a resume review (so as not to waste people's time), but sometimes it does come out in interviews. My main challenge, and I'm not saying this is the case for you - I'm just offering the perspective on the other side, has been…

How many people looking for jobs though have a 10 year stint with a company on their resume? It's probably pretty uncommon outside of some traditional tech employers like IBM where I know people who have been there for 25+ years. On the other hand, if the resume is all 1-3 year segments, yeah, there's no reason to think you're going to be different.

I'm coming up on 10 years in my current position, and there are a lot of people just like me at this company. As well as a number of lifers with 20+ years at the company. It doesn't seem all that uncommon, but this is just an established mid-size software company that owns their niche, and not a silicon valley tech darling.

I'm starting to gear up for a job search myself, and I'm definitely going to be looking for quality places where I think the odds are good I can do another 10 year stretch happily. I don't job hob any more.

Re: Ask HN: Who's getting their job applications rejected?

#130

Post by silverquiet » Thu, Mar 28, 2024, 2:48 PM UTC

starbugs wrote: post #111

silverquiet wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I've been warning people about since I was at a company acquired by private equity. They straight up told us that if a job can be done from home, then it can be done from India. I got my layoff not too long after that.

> They straight up told us that if a job can be done from home, then it can be done from India. Company leadership could be done from home during covid, right?

I mean, when the big one came, they were pretty brutal to a few of the C levels too. They got a brief mention on the call at least.

I always assumed that the PE overlords take a dozen or so executives and lock them in a room with half a dozen knives and tell them to figure it out on their own, but it's possible I'm a bit overly cynical and have a vivid imagination.