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

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

#151

Post by rpigab »

kstrauser wrote: post #143

Only a dozen? I applied to 37 jobs when I was hunting, and had a note on each one tracking who I’d talked to and what the next step was, plus to-do tasks to follow up with each on certain dates. It was psychically exhausting. But then I went from have 0 good news to having 3 jobs racing each other to make offers. Go figure. This is a challenging time to be an applicant. Hang in there! Also, completely ignore LinkedIn…

Sounds an awful lot like the dating site/app subscription fees model, they lose money if you ever find love.

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

#152

Post by shrimp_emoji »

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…

[flagged]

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

#153

Post by kstrauser »

rpigab wrote: post #151
kstrauser wrote: post #143

Only a dozen? I applied to 37 jobs when I was hunting, and had a note on each one tracking who I’d talked to and what the next step was, plus to-do tasks to follow up with each on certain dates. It was psychically exhausting. But then I went from have 0 good news to having 3 jobs racing each other to make offers. Go figure. This is a challenging time to be an applicant. Hang in there! Also, completely ignore LinkedIn…

Sounds an awful lot like the dating site/app subscription fees model, they lose money if you ever find love.

Hit that nail right on the head.

In those terms, LinkedIn feels like “click here to win a date with Taylor Swift!” Realistically, that’s not gonna happen. (Not the the least because my wife would kill me before date night even if I won. Sorry, Taylor! Maybe in the next life!) I’m not going to be the #1 candidate in that stack. Well, someone has to be, true, but the odds just aren’t great.

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

#154

Post by itqwertz »

- Apply to more than just dozens of job postings - Polish your resume - Add projects to GitHub - Go to in-person tech events - Set LinkedIn to #OpenToWork - Contact design studios with a direct link to your portfolio - Go on Monster, Indeed, Dice, etc. and publish your resume and tweak your profile - Talk to other devs and humble yourself for any opportunity they may have for you

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

#155

Post by bormaj »

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…

Inline with many adjacent comments, I think companies could genuinely do more to offer an incentive to stay for the long haul. What worked for past generations isn't enough in the current age where inflation/cost of living have significantly outpaced wages.

On a nominal basis I would expect to make more money in 10 years by switching companies every few than sticking around at one company for the duration. Beyond that, a lot of companies don't really care about what kind of growth/trajectory you want. It seems most employers are looking to fill a role and could care less about growing/developing your talent in new/existing ways.

Employers will need to really make an effort to understand their employees and connect with their needs/wants for them to stick around for the long haul. Maybe that's a tall ask, but offering a salary/healthcare/retirement is the norm now and isn't necessarily competitive in itself.

Can I really count on my employer to honor my well-being and interests or are they going to string me along until they don't need me? I think it's perfectly fair for employees to do the same, it's a two-way street.

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

#156

Post by derf_ »

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 have a 9-year and a 10-year stint on my resume. I am not looking for a job, though.

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

#157

Post by tootie »

twojobsoneboss wrote: post #67
tootie wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current situation is absolutely nowhere near a recession. That being said, recessions are measured in very aggregate terms. In aggregate, the US and world economists are in a boom by any broad measures. But during a boom, some sectors or regions can be doing much worse than everyone else. I'm honestly not even sure tech is in much of a downturn. We've just gotten used to extreme boom times and this is now just ki…

It’s definitely a recession for US based tech workers

I really, really don't think so. Not in absolute terms. A lot of people got used to life on easy street with remote work and sky-high salaries. I think that has made a lot of software people complacent and picky. If you want a job, any job to put a roof over your head, it's still easier than the national average and the national average is also really, really good. The current data says the unemployment rate for software engineers is just 2.4% which would probably still qualify as a labor shortage.

https://www.comptia.org/newsroom/press-releases/tech-industr...

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

#158

Post by pcthrowaway »

layer8 wrote: post #144
kayodelycaon wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ask to get it in writing. Then you’ll see how serious they are.

This.

Actually, I'm suggesting the top-level poster explicitly state they do this, so candidates know they aren't fucking around.

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

#159

Post by SAI_Peregrinus »

ghaff wrote: post #82
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.

I've heard other people talk about this dynamic. Companies have generally made it very easy to apply. Especially in the current market this means you have increasingly desperate candidates sending out hundreds or even thousands of resumes. Which in turn means companies are applying simple heuristics or "AI" to massively filter the number of resumes that a human even glances at. Which of course reinforces the cycle be…

It's even more self-reinforcing than that. There are lots of applicants, so companies don't take the time to communicate the status of the application, so it's not viable for candidates to wait for communication before sending out another resume. If you're applying for jobs you can probably apply for 4-5 per day if you're taking the time to research each company and write individualized cover letters & customize the resume for each, more if you're not doing that much work. If it takes a company an average of a month to send any communication back, the candidate will have applied to over 100 positions before they hear back from the first one.

I last applied for jobs several years ago, and there are still dozens of companies I've not gotten a rejection from. A "fire and forget" strategy of sending out hundreds or thousands of applications is the only thing that makes sense to do if you're not getting a job through networking.

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