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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

#131

Post by CuriouslyC »

froindt wrote: post #101
bluedino wrote: post #22

You'd mail your resume in (it was a 'hack' back then to hand-deliver it), then get a call in a couple days or weeks. Then someone who was home during the day (if you already had a job) would answer the phone and take the message from the HR person (or they'd leave one on your answering machine), you'd then have an appointment to go in or return a call to set one up...

A friend is searching for a job right now and was surprised to encounter an online job posting requesting mailed in resumes. Next we need a service that will tailor resumes to job descriptions using LLM's (already easily available) while also having an integrated "mail this resume" function. First class postage on printer paper will be the default, but you can pay more for cardstock, pink paper, and a scent to give i…

No need for a service, agents with a resume can retool it to match it a target just fine already (talk to a hiring manager to see how much this is already going on) and there are already physical printing + delivery services the agent can pay to complete the application for you.

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

#132

Post by red-iron-pine »

eloisant wrote: post #114
SL61 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, and maybe surprisingly, moving long-distance is less common than it was in the past. The total number of movers has decreased [1] while the percentage of those moves that are inter-state has stayed constant [2]. Another analysis from 2018 [3] looked specifically at people who move for jobs and found a huge drop since the 1980s. In the really old days you would move somewhere (often because you heard th…

I wonder how it relates with housing. Today you couldn't move without a job at your destination, because buying a house is expensive and renting requires a stable job.

jobs back then also offered relocation bonuses or covered moving fees and similar

my old man used to work for Big Oil back in the day, both in the US and internationally, and in basically all cases it wasn't even really a discussion -- "here's the cash to cover the move, how soon can you be here?"

for international, esp. in places like Kenya or Australia, they had apartments or condos for short term workers that they'd put you in until you found something more permanent. after my folks had me + my siblings, they even had listings of nannies and maids pre-sourced so you could find reliable help once you landed.

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

#133

Post by CuriouslyC »

warkdarrior wrote: post #64
beepbopboopp wrote: post #62

Unpopular take: This was significantly better for employers and employees. It worked as both an effort and presentation filter which both reduced the overload of candidates, allowing for more attention, higher variation of skills that didnt often show like traditional resume bonafides and mad companies more likely to invest more in employees as it was a pain to go do again. For employees it was great too. Much like t…

Second unpopular take: This was better for all involved, but it constrained the job market to geographical boundaries. People did not apply to jobs in other states/countries/continents because they did not see the job postings for other states/countries/continents.

I don't if it was exactly better, it was less "liquid."

Given the reduced competition, you couldn't find primo jobs unless you moved to a hub (which is why most people are in NYC/SF/LA), but when you found a job it was more stable.

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

#134

Post by xtracto »

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.

My first full time programmer job I got in early 2003. I had only 1 year left in University and a friend of mine was working in this "hotel reservation website" company owned by some gringos (this was in La Paz, BCS back in the day).

My friend told me he will talk with the boss there and see if they wanted to have me. They were a "Microsoft" shop, mainly doing Visual Basic. This was early .NET days. Because I was a student with all time in my hands, I taught myself C#.

Anyways, they invited me to the small office, I arrived, my friend introduced me to the "boss" (a guy who had got out of University maybe 4 years before) and he gave me a programming challenge. Basically to implement a CRUD in C# for some random domain that I have forgotten. This was in a PC that they lent me (Laptops were not common in Mexico in those days)

It took me about an hour to finish it and handle it in. They then thanked me and told me they will be in touch later.

Apparently, they had scheduled around 4 or 5 hours for the problem and I blazed through it (humble bragging I know hehe). After a couple of days, I asked my friend about the job, and he told me to call to the boss, as it will show interest. I called later that week, apparently exactly at the moment they were having a meeting about me and the position. They basically told my friend I will be his "protege", so he would be my boss.

In hindsight it was a nice place. We were like 8 people max in the team (including devs and designers, doing Flash, and the accountant lady that also sold us Burritos for breakfast). Golden years now that I think of it (the office was just by the broadwalk, so we would go out to the beach).

But yeah, the interview process was completely personal and down to earth. Not the crazy stuff that you see nowadays. It marked me, as every time I have to hire people I try to replicate the feeling I had at that time. I was hell nervous, but excited to show what I knew.

Sorry for the long Abe Simpson story-rant, it's cool to remember.

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

#135

Post by red-iron-pine »

alephnerd wrote: post #75
reactordev wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fourth unpopular take: without it Silicon Valley wouldn’t exist.

SV exists thanks to CA's lack of non-competes and the Stanford and UC Berkeley innovation ecosystem. Otherwise, Boston, NYC, DMV, Seattle, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, and others all could have become the next Silicon Valley.

> and the Stanford and UC Berkeley innovation ecosystem

which is geographic...

and let's also not forget the vast, heavy investments from the Navy and government during WW2. the SV wasn't just a couple of fancy colleges, San Fran is a major city that got a ton of investment.

the DMV arguably is the east coast SV

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

#136

Post by QuercusMax »

0cf8612b2e1e wrote: post #99
QuercusMax wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took a paper coding test in 2004 when I was job hunting. It was pretty hilarious to me, really, since it was so incredibly easy (multiple choice data-structures type questions) for anybody who had any skills at all. They finally offered me a job 3 months later after I already had started working somewhere else.

Three months! Do you know if that was their standard process or the original candidate fell through?

Wasn't the only company I heard from after that long a time. I assume their hiring process was just very broken and slow.

Even Google in 2015 took their sweet time getting back to me after my interviews. At one point the recruiter told me that my offer letter took a week going thru interoffice mail waiting for a signature, and then it took 2 more weeks before they actually sent me the offer.

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

#137

Post by slopinthebag »

footydude wrote: post #120
slopinthebag wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The older I get the more I think the internet is a massive net negative due to effects like this. Another example is used car sales. Before the internet it was local and required work to find cars for sale. Now thanks to the internet we have "hustlers" who scour FB marketplace and craigslist and buy up all the deals to flip for profit.

> Another example is used car sales. Before the internet it was local and required work to find cars for sale. Certainly in the UK there were plenty of established options pre 'internet' to make finding cars easier. Physical weekly magazines like Autotrader existed prior to the internet which had a small photo of the car a brief description and key details and asking price. People also used magazines like Parkers Gui…

Except now the modern car flippers have so much data on prices thanks to the internet that they know exactly what cars to buy and how much profit they could make. So it becomes much easier to do, making it more prevalent, and causing prices to rise.

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

#138

Post by bigbuppo »

thn-gap wrote: post #104
bigbuppo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I showed up to a job interview wearing the exact same shirt and tie as the CEO who interviewed me. I got the job.

was this intentional somehow, or just coincidence?

It was coincidence.

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

#139

Post by DrewADesign »

ButlerianJihad wrote: post #124
DrewADesign wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think most people under 40 can wrap their head around what it was like to need to be home or at work for someone to reach you, which required a phone call. And you couldn’t make a phone call unless you were at home or work, or stopped at a pay phone. And what if you called someone that wasn’t home? Or were on the can and couldn’t pick up in a few rings? Sure you could leave a message but they probably had no…

You know, it's very strange; during a normal week I may go "out and about" a lot during the day, even though I'm not employed, and I just go do errands or shopping. And I'm out in public carrying my phone. Now I may be 100% available to answer phone calls, whether I'm sitting on the bus, walking down the sidewalk, sitting in a clinic waiting room or a restaurant. But I am definitely not 100% available to talk to you…

Someone I used to work with left to start a business selling “phone booths“ for private mobile phone conversations in public. I believe they’re called Private Talking Spaces. Not sure if he’s still doing it. I thought it was a good idea but obviously there’s no financial incentive like there was with a phone booth, so they had to be purchased and installed by whoever owned the space.
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