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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?

#381

Post by monkeyelite »

qaid wrote: post #286

In 2019 I left my cushy job because I wanted $$$ but couldn't push myself to leetcode. I spent much of that year on personal projects and family before I could seriously commit myself. Then covid happened. It took 2.5yr before I worked again, in FAANG. There were many moments of feeling down and alone. I'm unemployed again, 3 months now, this time after being laid off. I wish I could just concentrate my efforts on de…

How much time do you spend talking to people about hiring you?

The leetcode and system design can FEEL productive but it’s 2 steps removed from what you want and what’s probably uncomfortable.

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

#382

Post by SpaceNoodled »

radley wrote: post #342
ihnorton wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seconding. These days I will rarely talk to anyone without a verified LinkedIn or other presence like a clearly inhabited GitHub (and I’m not looking for hyperactivity by any means)

> anyone without a verified LinkedIn Last I checked, verification requires people to install the app. No thanks.

Just uninstall it afterwards.

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

#383

Post by theendisney »

Start a blog and have chatGPT write something ambitious before each rejection.

I just do some preparation walk into the building and announce i want to work there. You dont even have to pay me. Ik im still heren by the end of the month we talk. Stop thinking about it, we have work to do!

This is not a great formula but it is a great filter for the kind of company I want to work for. If it cant detect a good deal im out.

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

#384

Post by eYrKEC2 »

comment95198 wrote: post #52

I had a bout of poor health. And now I'm isolated and I don't know how to get reconnected to other people. I'm not coping terribly well. I think what is most distressing is that I am observing a decline in my capacity. I feel mentally sluggish. I frustrate more easily. I tire more easily. Probably most worryingly to me I get spikes of aggression that lead to combative outbursts. I feel less empathetic, even mildly sa…

Have you considered joining the cult known as crossfit? They have fantastic community. Church as well.

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

#385

Post by monkeyelite »

pluc wrote: post #120
VirusNewbie wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You were a director of engineering and you didn't have more than a year of expenses sitting around?

Directors of Engineering in Eastern Canada make (or made, until recently) < 200k, CAD. That's 145k USD. So no, didn't have much of a golden parachute like the US do.

The side effect of stronger employment protection is limited upside and more friction in getting into new positions.

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

#386

Post by erulabs »

wvlia5 wrote: post #252

I've been happily unemployed since 2022. Not planning to be employed ever again. Have enough money for the rest of my life already. Not because I'm rich, but because I live cheaply. Working on self-improvement: excercise, eat/sleep well, defeat phone addiction, become social. I enjoy drugs once a week. I travel all year in some beautiful places. Spend ~2 hours every day trying to find a wife. In 5-10 years (wifed up…

Not trying to counter you but this is the definition of rich. This modern idea that rich means you have infinite money and many Lamborghinis is odd - rich is being independent, with the ability to travel and do whatever you want, for the rest of your life. It’s OK to be rich, it doesn’t reflect poorly on you!

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

#387

Post by danparsonson »

ihnorton wrote: post #368
danparsonson wrote: post #333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why? Those things are easy to game, and speaking personally, I don't have an online software development presence like Github because I don't spend my off time working on anything I feel is worth sharing.

Numbers. I’ve read thousands of resumes over the past few months, screened dozens of applicants, and experienced a wide variety of weirdness and fakes both in resumes and on screen calls. Please note that I’m talking about raw “application box resumes”. Referrals and other semi-vetted sources don’t get this level of scrutiny. I gave two examples of secondary sources, but what I’m really getting at here is that the nu…

Ah, yes I see what you mean - a low pass filter.

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

#388

Post by uxcolumbo »

wvlia5 wrote: post #252

I've been happily unemployed since 2022. Not planning to be employed ever again. Have enough money for the rest of my life already. Not because I'm rich, but because I live cheaply. Working on self-improvement: excercise, eat/sleep well, defeat phone addiction, become social. I enjoy drugs once a week. I travel all year in some beautiful places. Spend ~2 hours every day trying to find a wife. In 5-10 years (wifed up…

Even if living cheaply, to do those things you listed and staying retired, you would need a few hundreds of thousands.

That sounds rich to me.

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

#389

Post by jacknews »

autotune wrote: post #76
jcims wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your line of work is amenable to independent contracting you might consider setting up a company that you can work through rather than raw dogging 1099. I ran a security consulting company for about ten years and only on exceedingly rare (and obvious) circumstances would we have to submit background checks.

I've tried the consultancy route, but I am just not good enough at marketing myself to develop repeat business. I have an Upwork profile and tried freelancing for a bit, but it's just not worth having to purchase "connects" to initiate a bid proposal and time and again not be selected for the work (yes, I add in a cover letter message on every proposal).

Yes these platforms seem like rippoff.

You pay for connects and most proposals aren't even read.

Then if you do land work, you pay a % to the platform.

Seems to me like it should be one or the other not both.

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

#390

Post by iLoveOncall »

names_are_hard wrote: post #296
iLoveOncall wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would honestly suggest a more professional tld and a better looking website if you want to land a job...

I guess it depends on who reads it but I don't see any issue with it. FWIW - I'm not a recruiter it manager but I've been an interviewer at various tech companies. My impression from the resume is that she's relatively junior with limited experience, but not zero, and her experience is in unsexy tech stacks, and she did a bootcamp. So she is fighting am uphill battle in a tough market. But I don't get the impression…

Did you read her website on your phone or your computer? It looks mostly fine on the phone (the CV page at least) but it is really bad on any larger screen.
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