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Looking for a Job Is Tough

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Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#181

Post by hombre_fatal »

namaria wrote: post #173
svilen_dobrev wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s as if the industry has forgotten that building software is about the application of algorithms to data structures to accomplish some user need My 3 months experience searching - and getting only ~3-4 initial interviews - is the New-AI-Kids-on-Da-Block think software-engineering is just another plumbing for their Artificially Great Intelligence. One CEO even used the exact word. waw. Plumbers make real good $$$…

They are just saying the quite part out loud now because they think they can finally get away with that. Well when the discount plumbing they are getting put in starts to leak shit all over the place there will be a premium again in actually knowing how to do it properly.

Though getting a job at the fixer consultancies they might use isn't any easier. :P

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#182

Post by GenerWork »

svilen_dobrev wrote: post #158
GenerWork wrote: post #28

I've been unemployed for 4 months. While I have received a job offer, it would require me to move and either sell my house, rent it out, or just continue to pay the mortgage on top of rent. I'm torn as to what to do as I do need a job, but I don't want to leave my friends and family. My thoughts go out to everybody else out there looking for a job at this time.

move temporarily . 3 months. 6 months. .. do not do any other drastic changes (selling houses, divorcing, whatever). Decide what to do then.

This is the backup plan if the interview I have on Friday doesn't pan out.

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#183

Post by whtsthmttrmn »

anal_reactor wrote: post #81
nickd2001 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, its more the older ones that "just don't care that much about winning an argument at work", because we've learned over time to choose our battles, and "the healthy art of not giving a s**" . Maybe come back in 10 yrs time and see if you still think this? ;)

> Maybe come back in 10 yrs time and see if you still think this? ;) No, I don't care about proving things to you

Complaining about big egos then come back with that reply...interesting approach.

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#184

Post by hombre_fatal »

lotsoweiners wrote: post #136
purple-leafy wrote: post #59

It’s insanely tough. I’m currently searching. For context - I’ve made 4 personal projects that currently have over 1000+ daily active users (numbers are ~1500, ~6000, ~14,000, and ~430,000) all created within the span of the last year. I’ve also sold software. On top of all that, I have an Engineering degree, 4 years experience, no breaks in employment, study on my afternoons and weekends (C, Go, C#) and take extra u…

Just trying to play devils advocate here but have you considered that your lack of “coasting” could be part of the problem? If your resume looks anything like this post then that is something to consider. Your side projects could give the impression that you are more dedicated to those than to your primary employer. For the roles I review resumes for and interview I want a well rounded individual who seems like they…

Idk, this sounds suspiciously like the sort of rube goldberg chain of logic that software developers tell themselves when they're overthinking everything. "I probably didn't get the job because I have too many successful side projects, so employers are scared I won't get any work done."

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#185

Post by bluefirebrand »

thrw42A8N wrote: post #141
bluefirebrand wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It's bad everywhere" or "it's worse elsewhere" does not mean it's not bad "Other people have it worse" is not a compelling reason to make people believe their own shitty situation is good Maybe we could improve the interviewing in all industries? But we could start with Software since that's where most of the people on this board work

I don't think SWE interviews are bad. And I have no idea who's the "we" that's supposed to fix it globally.

Do you think that SWE interviews are perfect and could not possibly be improved?

I personally think there's a lot of room for improvement in interview processes, regardless of if they are currently "bad" or not, they certainly could be better

I also don't think things ever really improve broadly as long as there are enough people who think "that's actually not that bad"

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#186

Post by [deleted] »

snapcaster wrote: post #151
joshuaturner wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. We pretty explicitly ask candidates to not use AI. While it's fine when doing the job the purpose of the interview is to gauge your ability to understand and solve problems, while AI can help you with that you understanding how to do it yourself signals that you'll be able to solve other more complex wider-spanning problems. Just like with a calculator - it's important for candidates to know _why_ somethi…

>We pretty explicitly ask candidates to not use AI. This doesn't work, because regardless of what the rules say if i think all my competitors are using AI (and you won't be able to reliably detect it) i'll feel pressured to use it as well. This is true of any advantage (spending extra time on 2 hour takehome assignment is the classic version of this)

[deleted]

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#187

Post by fatnoah »

friggeri wrote: post #3

One piece of advice I usually give is to avoid applying to jobs through company’s career websites or LinkedIn. Instead, tap your social network: see if there is someone you know/have worked with who either works at the company you’re interested in or is connected to it someone (as an advisor, investor, personal friend of someone in a leadership position) and ask them for a warm intro. Social proof gives you an advant…

My previous job search in 2019 yielded 2 FAANG offers, 1 exec role at a $2B public company, and an "almost" from another Seattle-based big tech company.

This September, I finished up a 10 month job search (had a job that was going nowhere, so looked for another) In that time, I started with careful analysis of each role, custom resume building, and applying to one or two jobs a week. When that yielded no results after a few months, I crafted a few resumes to match the broad categories of roles that I saw that were good matches and started applying in bulk. That yielded much better result in terms of actual human contact.

I did also leverage my LinkedIn network, and that yielded lots of nice reconnections with past coworkers, but zero job opportunities. The one reach out that led to anything was to the manager for the FAANG job I rejected in 2019 (always say no very nicely!). That manager made it to VP in that timeframe, and a VP recommendation to the recruiting team WILL get you in the door to talk to someone. Of course, a multi-month process resulted in a kafka-esque situation where the team that wanted me got laid off and that killed the entire process. Oh well.

In the end, I'd sent out over 300 applications, had a few dozen recruiter calls, and 7 full loops (4 offers, one of which was a lowball and 3 that all happened at the same time). Ironically, the job I ended up taking came as an inbound opportunity via LinkedIn from a recruiter at the company.

The good news seemed to be that by the August timeframe, activity had really picked up. The same resumes started getting a lot more traction.

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#188

Post by norwalkbear »

MrVandemar wrote: post #55
rdfc-xn-uuid wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> It hurts when you see posh privileged urban women having much more chance of getting into a good company than a man who worked his way up through sacrifice. It's not a gender issue. I would be looking to hire someone competent who works hard, not someone who makes "sacrifices" and then expects a job/promotion. The latter never works. That's not the work culture in most places. I've seen it many times, people who ma…

I think it does work, just look who won the presidential election thanks to Men

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#189

Post by norwalkbear »

InsideOutSanta wrote: post #100
throw111424 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

This has not been my experience. The women I've worked with in software engineering teams have all been, well, engineers. One of them worked on some kind of real-time printer operating system before becoming a Java dev, another one is currently team lead on the cluster team on a distributed software product, another one has the most in-depth knowledge of CSS of anyone in a 50+ people frontend department. I see a lot…

That has not been my experience consulting at many big videogame companies.

Lately my bread and butter is fixing legacy game engines. I have yet to meet a ciswoman tech lead who can do this work.

Re: Looking for a Job Is Tough

#190

Post by FooBarBizBazz »

mlsu wrote: post #49
nradov wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Admissions to selective colleges are the same way. For most students it's rather foolish and wasteful to target any one specific college because luck plays a huge factor (or the actual selection criteria are unknown and unknowable, which from the applicant's perspective is indistinguishable from luck).

People cannot discriminate. They must spray and pray because the algorithm demands it of them. Thus, both sides (employer and employee) lose, because every applicant and every institution becomes flattened, generalized. It used to be, applying to places took time and effort. So students (and job applicants likewise) would discriminate. This allowed employers and institutions to actually build culture. An institution…

Upvoted, but my experience is that radically different cultures actually do continue to exist, especially across different industries. But maybe not at the apex of money and prestige.
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