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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?

#161

Post by jethro_tell »

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.

I had a role open for a sr. Sys admin.

I got 150+ applications per day.

At some point, you just have to close the window. I can only realistically do 10/25 résumé per day and still do my job.

All most all hiring has a strong element of luck. I've hired really good engineers that can't write a resume or aren't self promoting enough in an interview and they seem kinda flat. But they roll in and make good decisions, good products, good documentation and they are easy to work with.

If I could, I'd talk to everyone on the phone for a few minutes to get a feel but I can't do that either.

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

#162

Post by shnkr »

layer8 wrote: post #131
shnkr wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 movin…

We need more devs like you.

thanks. I want to see more devs like me. I call it - owners mindset.

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

#163

Post by PheonixPharts »

sotix wrote: post #138

I was laid off in January and have been regularly applying every week as a requirement for unemployment. So far zero responses, which is hard because it sounds like more experienced devs are on the market and will land jobs before me. I did see my former employer was looking for someone in India or Eastern Europe to fill a dev position requiring my exact stack. I do wonder if taking whatever pay cut down to the lower…

> I’m in a mild panic about my future career despite knowing I’m capable. I may end up using my CPA to switch back into accounting for the time being

Having started my career in the shadow of the dotcom bust, I can say that this is exactly what most technical workers did. I started my career outside of tech and most of my grad school classmates were people trying to find a new career outside of software.

Many of the people I knew in this situation who were truly passionate about software ended up eventually returning, but quite a few others found the alternate career more satisfying in the long run.

The problem right now is that nobody else has really abandoned their tech career, still too early with too much money on the line. This means the signal to noise ratio for hiring is abysmal. If this keeps on long enough that software is no longer cool (and more importantly, not as high paying), it will be easier to reenter the industry.

Till then the only people that won't be struggling to find work are people with good networks and/or really standout backgrounds.

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

#164

Post by 62951413 »

benjaminwootton wrote: post #21

You have to wonder if remote work is starting to bite developers. 10 year ago I started a business that had hundreds of engineers in London and New York. I am now starting a new one and this time I am hiring talent from all over the world now that it is more acceptable for us and our clients. Surely this must be a factor in people in expensive western markets?

Last years I worked for a SJ-headquartered public company with spectacular compensation. While I was still there they stopped hiring in CA and the gossip was about TX. But on my team new roles were opened in Europe instead (surprisingly, not Eastern). The layoffs were concentrated in the Bay Area too. I heard that since then they started looking for even cheaper locations.

I have recently seen large American companies where managers/team leads are full-time employees while their teams are mostly contractors from LatAm. And even those managers are not on PST. They advertise "W2 contract-to-hire" roles here in the US though.

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

#165

Post by throw1234651234 »

floor2 wrote: post #135
FrustratedMonky wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

We've all secretly been benefiting from the dreaded "trickle down economics" which has shifted as interest rates have increased. What percent of HN users salaries are actually paid by the revenue from the customers of their business rather than burning down investment funding? Most of us have had high paid jobs funded by some billionaire VC burning their wealth on unprofitable ventures, because they were willing to l…

Speak for yourself, I built the architecture that enabled a business to go from 50 mil to 3 billion revenue in the last 4 years and I have zero equity and a midwest salary. Really need to think about my life choices.

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

#166

Post by pc86 »

layer8 wrote: post #141
pc86 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean it is extremely likely it is a problem with the company. We don't know how many "a rash of folks" is but sounds like at least 3 or 4 and at that point it's not just bad luck. Most people don't want to work somewhere for a year and leave, they do it because something better comes along.

Changing jobs often was a common advice though to ramp up your salary.

Which is only the case because the companies don't keep current employees' pay up to market rate. It's a problem with the company.

When the market rate salary increases 5-10% a year, year over year, and you're giving 2-3% raises, it's no surprise people leave for a 30% range after a few years.

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

#167

Post by ghaff »

jethro_tell wrote: post #161
happimess wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I had a role open for a sr. Sys admin. I got 150+ applications per day. At some point, you just have to close the window. I can only realistically do 10/25 résumé per day and still do my job. All most all hiring has a strong element of luck. I've hired really good engineers that can't write a resume or aren't self promoting enough in an interview and they seem kinda flat. But they roll in and make good decisions, goo…

If a machine isn't doing a lot of pre-filter, I'm going to be doing a first pass filter on some really lazy heuristics.

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

#168

Post by tempaccount420 »

Nemi wrote: post #98
rrr_oh_man wrote: post #36

To everyone struggling to get hired: Start your own thing. Seriously.

This only really works if you have a way to pay the bills outside of your salary, or are young enough to live with your parents or on a buddy’s couch.

If you worked (not just starting, please don't make a company if so) in tech you should have large enough savings to be able to do what rrr_oh_man is proposing.

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

#169

Post by fundad »

angarg12 wrote: post #97
aiisahik wrote: post #75

Hang in there, everyone. This is what happens when interest rates are high, LPs prefer to plow money into fixed income or public markets and VCs with what little funds they have prefer to be in AI. 2011-2022 was an unusual golden age for software engineers with 2021 being the absolute peak. The current state is an usual low while the overdose is wearing off. This is not you - this is just the nature of the cycle. You…

> You got to enjoy the high but how you have to survive the lows. But I have been in the same employer for the last 6 years, so I didn't get to enjoy the high :/

some people get high on 6 years of steady employment. Are you still working there?

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

#170

Post by frenchman_in_ny »

I was laid off in May 2023 from one of the bulge-bracket banks. Had been doing founder-focused lending on shares of private companies. I'll tell you that I've applied to probably 1,000 jobs since then (across the spectrum of opportunities), and these days rarely get even an acknowledgement of the application or even a rejection. It's basically full-on corporate ghosting.
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