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Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#41

Post by johnh-hn »

I've been out of work coming up to six years. I had to look after my dad during the pandemic. I've been looking for work in London, UK, since January. During that time I've had a total of 2 interviews. Recruiters, who seem to do a keyword search only, message me from time-to-time on LinkedIn. I reply and they almost invariably never respond, presumably because they look more closely and see the large gap in employment.

What complicates things for me is being legally blind. I have enough vision to use a computer, but not much else and so I don't have the breadth of career options available to me that most people do. I need a way back in.

I keep reading, and I keep playing with code like I always have. I'm comfortable with C#, JavaScript and their respective ecosystems. It's like riding a bike. But convincing other people of that, recruiters especially, is proving to be a problem.

As for how I'm coping, I'm very up and down. It's hard not to feel that my career might be over. So when interviews have come up, I'm extremely nervous despite never having that problem in the past where I'd usually interview well.

Somehow, at least for now, I've kept going. Thanks for starting the thread.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#42

Post by Forgeties79 »

SeanAnderson wrote: post #15

I've been unemployed for almost three years. It's somewhat intentional - at least leaving my last job was and I've been dragging my feet. Hopefully will have a job in upper management at the start of next year if things work out. Coping by trying my best to become the type of person that I aspire to be. Quit weed, alcohol, caffeine. Lost 20lbs of fat and put on some muscle. Run 6 days a week, lift 3-4 days a week. Me…

> wish I felt more "accomplished" in how I used my time.

Idk man I think a lot of people here would be proud to have knocked off even one of those things on that list. The lifestyle changes alone are huge accomplishments. I also wouldn’t downplay the significance of spending a little time doing nothing. Probably added some years to your life

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#43

Post by yogorenapan »

selimthegrim wrote: post #28

Yes, longer. It seems no one wants to hire graduating PhD students without a postdoc or internship.

Huawei which I previously worked for run month long hackathons aimed at PHDs & would offer internships to the top 3 teams with a return offer if they do well. This is Europe only though and competition is tough (~200+ teams with people from around the continent)

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#44

Post by kilroy123 »

Yes, but intentionally.

I am not stopping until I am a successful entrepreneur. I refuse to go back to a full-time software job. I have had to do some long stints freelancing or agency work to make ends meet. Gotta do what you gotta do.

But I'm not going back or stopping until I make it.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#45

Post by fellowniusmonk »

OsrsNeedsf2P wrote: post #11
ge96 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tech-wise in the US it was tough. I went to work in factory for a bit. I had recruiters hitting me up but they were 6 month contracts so I kept turning those down but eventually I just accepted one and I'm almost a year in now. I will note I at the time had 5 YOE but no degree so that is a factor (many I don't qualify since no degree). Reading r/cscareerquestions is depressing not that I go on there much now. People…

So apply to thousands of jobs then? That's only a couple applications a day for 2 years. And I'm not saying this from an ivory tower, my first job took 700 applications in 2021. But until you have a job, your job is to apply 8 hours a day

2021 and 2025 are different.

I have a friend who is a SSE. Mid 30s. Been fully employed his entire life. No degree. Has been writing production code since 15.

His entire local professional network got nuked and people stopped hiring because of that stupid software engineering R&D amortization budget deception of Section 174. And I assume the double whammy of ai.

He had his resume reviewed, ran it by friends it looked good and solid.

Applied to about 300 roles before realizing it was a non starter and he was getting automated rejections for everything.

He had to automate his application process around a full career CV and Ai.

He would spend all day copying in role descriptions and urls and had cursor spit out custom .MD resumes and then run a pdf generator on them.

It was kinda ok and also kinda like each resume was a hyper specific lie. It definitely hallucinated.

He still hit 3k resumes before getting hired and he still only had like 4 companies give interviews.

And that was only after that stupid tax law was revoked.

One persons past suffering and struggle cannot be so naively extrapolated to anothers current suffering.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#46

Post by zwnow »

fvgvkujdfbllo wrote: post #25
zwnow wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People also just shotgun applications, why would a company look at a unpersoanlized lazy shotgunned job application?

Based on anecdotal data, companies don’t look at any personalized resume. Much better use of your time to send your standard cover letter and resume. Just apply to positions where you are, at least, 80% match. And yes you will never find 100% match, most employers make up requirements anyways.

Good thing I never had to write more than 10 to land a job...

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#47

Post by dmoy »

SeanAnderson wrote: post #15

I've been unemployed for almost three years. It's somewhat intentional - at least leaving my last job was and I've been dragging my feet. Hopefully will have a job in upper management at the start of next year if things work out. Coping by trying my best to become the type of person that I aspire to be. Quit weed, alcohol, caffeine. Lost 20lbs of fat and put on some muscle. Run 6 days a week, lift 3-4 days a week. Me…

Making games in rust in retirement is my plan. Not, you know, good games (zero game dev experience), or games that anyone would realistically want to play, but seems like it would be interesting to learn.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#48

Post by johnh-hn »

fvgvkujdfbllo wrote: post #25
zwnow wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People also just shotgun applications, why would a company look at a unpersoanlized lazy shotgunned job application?

Based on anecdotal data, companies don’t look at any personalized resume. Much better use of your time to send your standard cover letter and resume. Just apply to positions where you are, at least, 80% match. And yes you will never find 100% match, most employers make up requirements anyways.

This is my experience too. It didn't used to be this way. I always used to research a company, tailor my CV and add a cover letter. I'd be hired within 1-3 applications.

Now? It seems a waste of time because no one responds anyway. I'm incentivised to apply to as many as possible in the hope of having a conversation with someone.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?

#50

Post by shoobiedoo »

CoolestBeans wrote: post #10

I learned an instrument (guitar), then I learned another instrument (bass guitar). I caught up with my family, I got to spend a lot more time with my nephews and nieces. I got to spend a lot of time with my dad. I picked back up circuit design and made an overdrive guitar pedal from scratch and learned KiCad in the process. I caught up with old friends but lost touch with other ones. I probably acted like an ass to a…

Picking up cursive again (I had to learn a little bit in elementary school) has been so rewarding for me. Having something right there, in the real world, ready to be picked up at a moments notice and convey whatever is in my mind onto paper is so soothing. It has been the greatest asset in my "put the d** phone down" battle so far
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