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Ask HN: I actually need a job now

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask HN: I actually need a job now

#21

Post by ansimionescu »

swalkergibson wrote: post #9

Who cares about what languages HN likes or doesn't like? If you have bills to pay, get a job and let go of the need to "please" some random people on the Internet, whatever that means. Imperative, object-oriented languages are all very similar, so just go get a job doing that. All you have to do is make clear to the interviewer that you may not have the precise pedigree in $FOO_LANGUAGE, but are willing to learn.

Since you seem to be based in England, I can recommend Red Gate, a small-ish (200+ people) software shop based in Cambridge. I interned with them this summer and they're simply an amazing place to work for.

http://www.red-gate.com/

Re: Ask HN: I actually need a job now

#22

Post by JonFish85 »

Question, and I realize that you said you want a "job for a developer"... Have you considered interviewing for a job a level above that? I imagine with a few years' of experience at startups, you've learned a lot at a "design" level rather than simply an implementation level (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Consider interviewing for a developer management position. Instead of focusing on specific languages & technologies, maybe take a step back and figure out how to apply other things you've learned: how to direct a project, how to take higher-level ideas and turn them into realities. Those types of jobs tend to be more marketable than "I use X, Y, Z technologies".

If not management, I'd still say try to get a little more "meta" than just "I know Rails, Node..." Market yourself at a business-level, if that makes sense. In my opinion, the tools you use to solve a problem aren't as interesting as how you approach a problem and solve it.

Just some thoughts, good luck!

Re: Ask HN: I actually need a job now

#24

Post by zalew »

berrypicker wrote: post #10
workaholic wrote: post #3

Would that I could offer you a job, but I'm curious, how did you "fail?" Did you just have trouble finding another job in London to keep you afloat?

Well the startups weren't doing too well (two failed) and I was getting paid a relatively low salary... I could probably have found another job but I didn't wanna burn up the little money I had saved up just being 'between jobs' in a really expensive city.

Out of curiosity: Why didn't you try to get hired by a bigco in London? Wouldn't it compensate for months of shitty pay at startups?

Re: Ask HN: I actually need a job now

#25

Post by gremlinsinc »

segmondy wrote: post #4

You can brush up PHP in a week or less. Don't go the waiter/shop assistant route. Just start interviewing for every and any position you see until you get one. Unless you are absolutely broke with zero money. Then take the first job you can, but make sure you take something that allows you time to be able to go for interviews.

Also if you're gonna go w/ PHP give Laravel a shot it's syntactically VERY close to rails, and just makes PHP beautiful.

Re: Ask HN: I actually need a job now

#27

Post by KiwiCoder »

Keep in mind that most of the jobs you will see on job boards are posted by recruiting agents on behalf of typical large companies, hence Java and .NET.

If you don't want to join a MegaCorp then you need to look elsewhere - the 'who's hiring' thread for Nov is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6653437

You could apply speculatively to companies close to you (where are you based?) but this is a hard road to travel alone.

I'm kind of in the recruitment business so hit me up if you want a second opinion at any point. My contact details are in my profile.

Re: Ask HN: I actually need a job now

#28

Post by brey »

ansimionescu wrote: post #21
swalkergibson wrote: post #9

Who cares about what languages HN likes or doesn't like? If you have bills to pay, get a job and let go of the need to "please" some random people on the Internet, whatever that means. Imperative, object-oriented languages are all very similar, so just go get a job doing that. All you have to do is make clear to the interviewer that you may not have the precise pedigree in $FOO_LANGUAGE, but are willing to learn.

Since you seem to be based in England, I can recommend Red Gate, a small-ish (200+ people) software shop based in Cambridge. I interned with them this summer and they're simply an amazing place to work for. http://www.red-gate.com/

they're a windows-only shop, bear in mind - or at least they were when I last checked. not necessarily a problem, but may be an issue for some.

Re: Ask HN: I actually need a job now

#29

Post by paf31 »

ansimionescu wrote: post #21
swalkergibson wrote: post #9

Who cares about what languages HN likes or doesn't like? If you have bills to pay, get a job and let go of the need to "please" some random people on the Internet, whatever that means. Imperative, object-oriented languages are all very similar, so just go get a job doing that. All you have to do is make clear to the interviewer that you may not have the precise pedigree in $FOO_LANGUAGE, but are willing to learn.

Since you seem to be based in England, I can recommend Red Gate, a small-ish (200+ people) software shop based in Cambridge. I interned with them this summer and they're simply an amazing place to work for. http://www.red-gate.com/

Plus Cambridge is a pretty awesome place to live.

Re: Ask HN: I actually need a job now

#30

Post by jsun »

Bunch of YC companies in the U.K. maybe reach out to one of them. I know GoCardless from S11 is there. I think there was one more from my batch at a minimum.

How good are you? We might be open to doing the paperwork for you if you want to move to Chicago:)

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