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How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

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Re: How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

#41

Post by freedomben »

loloquwowndueo wrote: post #37
ogou wrote: post #29

We were told the quality of paper mattered and that the envelope should have the same high-end watermark that the resume sheet had. Inkjet printed resumes were discouraged because the quality back then was low and the resolution made anti-aliasing on the type come out weird. Laser printed only, please.

Laser printers were expensive AF for poor guys just out of college looking for a job. My BJ200 ca. 1993 had awesome print quality, comparable to a Laserjet II, if you used slightly glossy paper (so the ink wouldn’t bleed) and you waited a bit for the ink to dry on each sheet.

Indeed, I remember being told to go to kinkos and have it printed there since I didn't have a laser printer

Re: How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

#42

Post by jimt1234 »

rzzzt wrote: post #5

Looking straight into the eyes, strong handshake, exuding confidence?

> ... strong handshake ...

Years ago I had an important job interview. Unfortunately, 2 days prior I broke a bone in my right hand during a bicycle wreck. I didn't wanna show up to the interview with a cast on my hand/arm ("this guy is reckless."), so I cut it off. I interviewed with about 10 dudes that day, and they all wanted to give me a "strong handshake". It hurt like hell, but I had to maintain composure. I got the job. And I've been here for almost 25 years. :)

Re: How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

#43

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

Aurornis wrote: post #21
tayo42 wrote: post #12

Idk if it's true but it seems like life was simpler before the Internet took off. Now that guy is probably competing with tons of people more talented willing to work for less

> Now that guy is probably competing with tons of people more talented willing to work for less This strikes at the core of it. Life was simpler for those in the know about how the world worked. If you were lucky enough to grow up with the right parents, friends, family members, and class mates to help guide you through how the world worked it was easy. You could count on less competition by knowing where to look, ho…

I once went through a recruiter to secure an interview for an engineering position. He insisted that I "suit up" so I did despite knowing it was out of touch with reality. I showed up to a non air conditioned building where the head of engineering was wearing ragged cutoff shorts. Last time I ever bothered with a recruiter.

Re: How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

#44

Post by hdgvhicv »

jimt1234 wrote: post #42
rzzzt wrote: post #5

Looking straight into the eyes, strong handshake, exuding confidence?

> ... strong handshake ... Years ago I had an important job interview. Unfortunately, 2 days prior I broke a bone in my right hand during a bicycle wreck. I didn't wanna show up to the interview with a cast on my hand/arm ("this guy is reckless."), so I cut it off. I interviewed with about 10 dudes that day, and they all wanted to give me a "strong handshake". It hurt like hell, but I had to maintain composure. I got…

You cut off your hand?!

Re: How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

#45

Post by busterarm »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #18
busterarm wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brokers still gatekeep the best inventory in NYC for the most part. Every craigslist apartment I ever found was sketchy as hell.

Every Craigslist apartment listing I've ever seen turned out to be through a broker as well.

They have/had broker/no-broker categories and I never had the budget for broker.

The broker ones are kinda big scammers though, from what I remember.

Re: How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

#46

Post by asdff »

decimalenough wrote: post #38
tayo42 wrote: post #12

Idk if it's true but it seems like life was simpler before the Internet took off. Now that guy is probably competing with tons of people more talented willing to work for less

Back in the day, the 4x5 (medium format film) experience requirement would have filtered out a lot of candidates. It was arty, weird and required expensive gear (Hasselblad or equivalent) and even more expensive film (around $1/exposure). These days everybody can shoot unlimited high-res imagery for free with the phone in their pocket.

Your phone in your pocket is not sniffing medium format film resolution. It also lacks the latitude of really any negative film stock. Color wise slide film is still supreme to this day.

Re: How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

#47

Post by mustafak99 »

imo the job process is totally broken its an AI arms race. You have people doing mass ai apply with slop CVs and then recruitment just doing the inverse with AI ATS. Working on something I think could help solve the issue just need to find recruiters to talk to see if it's any good.

Re: How we used to get jobs: A newspaper classifieds story

#50

Post by throwway120385 »

freedomben wrote: post #40
andyjohnson0 wrote: post #25

You still had to do a coding test -- but it was pointing to the bug in the C++ linked-list implementation on a single sheet of line printer paper. Because nobody was going to carry a Sun workstation down to the meeting room just for your interview.

I remember a Java job interview like that. "Tell us what you would do to improve this code" with a couple pages of code printed out :-D

I still do that because 75% of the work I oversee involves reading other peoples' code and spotting problems with it.
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