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I automated my job application process

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Re: I automated my job application process

#331

Post by MrMember »

randomNumber7 wrote: post #329
MrMember wrote: post #314

I'm seeing a lot of back in forth in the comments between hiring managers and employees discussing who is more responsible for the current situation, but from the perspective of someone looking for a job what should I be doing? I've been pretty aggressively looking for a job for the past six months or so. I have 10+ years of professional software dev experience so I've mostly been looking at senior dev positions. I h…

If you can't stand out from an LLM then why can't it do your job? Also, not using LLMs might be a red flag. I wouldn't want a dev that is not open to this technology...

>If you can't stand out from an LLM then why can't it do your job?

My job isn't writing resumes and cover letters.

> Also, not using LLMs might be a red flag. I wouldn't want a dev that is not open to this technology...

lmao this is exactly the issue. There are hiring managers in here saying they're trying to filter out people using LLMs in applications and you're telling me to use LLMs.

Re: I automated my job application process

#332

Post by cess11 »

codegeek wrote: post #40
nsxwolf wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s our alternative? It doesn’t seem to be “carefully consider and apply to a handful of highly relevant postings”. I don’t see the downsides for candidates to play the numbers game.

The downside is that if all candidates are thinking like you, you are now hoping that the hiring team can sort through 100s of garbage Resumes to may be find you who may be a good fit. Your odds of being called for Round 1 is now much lower due to all that noise. Doesn't matter whose fault it is. Your probability of being called for Round 1 just went down significantly and this hurts you.

Sorting a few hundred documents don't seem like a very hard task for a software company.

Re: I automated my job application process

#334

Post by margalabargala »

randomNumber7 wrote: post #329
MrMember wrote: post #314

I'm seeing a lot of back in forth in the comments between hiring managers and employees discussing who is more responsible for the current situation, but from the perspective of someone looking for a job what should I be doing? I've been pretty aggressively looking for a job for the past six months or so. I have 10+ years of professional software dev experience so I've mostly been looking at senior dev positions. I h…

If you can't stand out from an LLM then why can't it do your job? Also, not using LLMs might be a red flag. I wouldn't want a dev that is not open to this technology...

> Also, not using LLMs might be a red flag. I wouldn't want a dev that is not open to this technology...

The person you're replying to is a senior, not junior candidate.

For junior devs who are still learning, LLMs are a great force multiplier that help them understand code faster and integrate new things.

For senior devs, LLMs are a maybe-optional tool that might save a couple hours per week, on a good week. I would consider extremely heavy LLM use a much larger red flag for a senior level position, than not using them at all.

Re: I automated my job application process

#335

Post by neilv »

jakewins wrote: post #328
swang wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i saw a tiktok where the guy had his phone propped up but not in view of his webcam, and basically the interviewer's mic was going through his phone on some llm and the llm was spitting out responses for him to reply to the soft questions his interviewer was asking. the interviewer also made him "quickly" turn on his screen sharing so he could see that his computer didn't have anything assisting him. i haven't done a…

But like.. what happens after this supposed trick? I don’t understand how they wouldn’t just be fired after the first week if they can’t actually do the job? Is it that they are applying to places where you don’t pair program?

The reality is that most developers are bad at their jobs.

Also, there's the "fake it till you make it" thinking.

Re: I automated my job application process

#336

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

itronitron wrote: post #324
HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately so many people lie about experience that you need to so some sort of whiteboard test just to see if the candidate really is fluent in the language they are claiming 5 years experience with. It can be a really simple test.

In my two decades of experience, I've never seen another software engineer implement a linked list or even use a linked list. There are better, and more interesting, questions to be asking.

I personally wouldn't expect someone to implement one (end cases easy to mess up if they are stressed), but writing a function to reverse one (foreach, pop front, push front) is enough to catch the liars. You can argue about how often a std::list vs std::vector is a performance win, but I'd run a mile from any developer who wasn't highly familiar with the basic data structures provided by any language they are claiming to be fluent in.

Re: I automated my job application process

#337

Post by cess11 »

mhb wrote: post #255
cherryteastain wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This situation is basically equivalent to the prisoner dilemma and requires jobseekers to spray and pray

More like tragedy of the commons.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/governing-the-commons/A...

Enjoy. It's Nobel prize material.

Re: I automated my job application process

#338

Post by zero-sharp »

randomNumber7 wrote: post #329
MrMember wrote: post #314

I'm seeing a lot of back in forth in the comments between hiring managers and employees discussing who is more responsible for the current situation, but from the perspective of someone looking for a job what should I be doing? I've been pretty aggressively looking for a job for the past six months or so. I have 10+ years of professional software dev experience so I've mostly been looking at senior dev positions. I h…

If you can't stand out from an LLM then why can't it do your job? Also, not using LLMs might be a red flag. I wouldn't want a dev that is not open to this technology...

>If you can't stand out from an LLM then why can't it do your job?

I downvoted your post because this is a complete nonsequitur.

Re: I automated my job application process

#339

Post by vacuity »

jdbdnej wrote: post #297
Uvix wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long ago did this last succeed?

The only applicants I hire are like that. If you cannot show you chose this company why would I assume you would like to work here? Of cause this assumes you are a good fit in the first place regarding your skills. But the latter is usually much easier to filter out

I too would like to know more about @karaterobot's specific circumstances here, because while I understand your sentiment, it's a numbers game for SWE applicants like me. Of course there are some companies I would prefer to work at, but I don't think @karaterobot's experience is realistic right now.

Re: I automated my job application process

#340

Post by jland10 »

bovermyer wrote: post #269
cj wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also switched to only on-site interviews. My initial technical screenings are still done remotely. Pro tip for anyone hiring engineers for remote positions: Tell the applicant that there “might be” an in person technical assessment, even if you know the process will be 100% remote. The amount of fake candidates at the moment is insane. The only thing that makes fake candidates self-select out is knowing there’s t…

I agree with this approach. In this field, unless you're hiring a junior engineer, you can have a reasonable expectation that a potential candidate will fly out for an interview even if it's a 100% remote job. If they refuse, well, there's a chance it's just because they can't afford to. The chance is far greater, though, that you dodged a bullet.

I have 15 YOE and I am a very qualified senior candidate, at least IMO.

There is no world where I would take an interview that I had to fly out and stay at a hotel on my own dime. That would 100% sound like some sort of scam job to me.

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