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Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

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Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#151

Post by UK-AL »

donw wrote: post #102

Freelancing is not about having top-tier CS skills or being an amazing designer. Those help , but they aren't what gets you hired. Companies will hire you because You Are A Likeable Person That Gets Shit Done. Both of those things matter. If you have zero people skills, you will not close deals. And if you can't Get Shit Done, you will quickly poison your network, which is where the best jobs come from.

I hate the focus on "Get Shit Done", I think the focus should "Get Shit Done, Right in reasonable time".

Nothing that slows me down more than being dumped in a awful code base, because the focus was "Get shit done"

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#153

Post by whiskyant »

coned88 wrote: post #18
evo_9 wrote: post #14

So my guess is this is the first time you've been let go, or this is the first time as an adult (post-college) during your profession that you've been let go. Relax, it happens. This doesn't mean you aren't a terrific developer and person to work with. Take a little time to think about what you've worked on, what you've accomplished in the past 6-12 months I think you'll see what a great position you really are in. A…

What's the benefit of a startup? Seems like more hours for less pay while always needing to get things done. I fail to see the appeal. They just have lunches and dinners which appeal to people.

There are a wide range of stages for startups. Many post-series A startups pay very competitively in SF (~120-200k). Early stage startups won't usually pay as well or offer as great benefits, so your main draw for working there would be if you really believe in the product and want the equity.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#154

Post by whiskyant »

donw wrote: post #102

Freelancing is not about having top-tier CS skills or being an amazing designer. Those help , but they aren't what gets you hired. Companies will hire you because You Are A Likeable Person That Gets Shit Done. Both of those things matter. If you have zero people skills, you will not close deals. And if you can't Get Shit Done, you will quickly poison your network, which is where the best jobs come from.

From my experience, having top-tier CS skills is definitely a harder requisite than being a "likeable person" in the hiring process. Yes, companies are looking for culture-fit and making sure you're not a total weirdo, but hard skills will always trump how sociable you are.

Additionally, "getting shit done" is very hard to measure unless the company is asking for contract work before extending an offer (which is rare) - so it again comes down to lots of technical questions which test your CS and language-specific skills.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#155

Post by UK-AL »

coned88 wrote: post #18
evo_9 wrote: post #14

So my guess is this is the first time you've been let go, or this is the first time as an adult (post-college) during your profession that you've been let go. Relax, it happens. This doesn't mean you aren't a terrific developer and person to work with. Take a little time to think about what you've worked on, what you've accomplished in the past 6-12 months I think you'll see what a great position you really are in. A…

What's the benefit of a startup? Seems like more hours for less pay while always needing to get things done. I fail to see the appeal. They just have lunches and dinners which appeal to people.

I personally would not do a startup, unless I was one of the founders. Or they provided me with a non-nedglible equity stake or the best salary I could get.

Most developers get tiny, tiny amounts of equity at startups which don't pay off in the end.

And the appeal of "interesting work", soon dissipates when your up against deadlines, and the focus is speed not quality code. As is in most startups.

Just working at a successful startup won't automatically bring success, you have to be in a position to capture that success. The easiest way to do that, is be a founder.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#157

Post by daxfohl »

golgappi wrote: post #97
markerz wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retiring in your 30's? What an age we live in. What an industry we work in.

I work at a startup and I am 25. I have saved up some money and seriously considering retirement by the time I am 30. Not that I have a lot of money saved up. I just have a couple of thousand bucks. Nothing fancy. But to me it is a seed money to try out new things, at an age where making huge mistakes wouldn't result in me being 70 and penniless. There will still be enough time to return back to IT once (if) I fail m…

Ahh, to be 25 and single again. Trust me by the time you're 35 and have kids you'll have a different sense of what's important. Your kids will be your sunshine but also your responsibility. Early retirement, living on a couple thousand dollars a year, will seem like the dumbest idea ever.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#158

Post by dsuth »

coned88 wrote: post #18
evo_9 wrote: post #14

So my guess is this is the first time you've been let go, or this is the first time as an adult (post-college) during your profession that you've been let go. Relax, it happens. This doesn't mean you aren't a terrific developer and person to work with. Take a little time to think about what you've worked on, what you've accomplished in the past 6-12 months I think you'll see what a great position you really are in. A…

What's the benefit of a startup? Seems like more hours for less pay while always needing to get things done. I fail to see the appeal. They just have lunches and dinners which appeal to people.

Risk vs reward. When you are young, it makes a lot of sense to take risky ventures with potentially huge payoffs, as you tend to have less responsibilities. As you get older, you tend to become naturally more risk averse, and look for more reliable income streams to keep your responsibilities filled.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#159

Post by hnnewguy »

golgappi wrote: post #97
markerz wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retiring in your 30's? What an age we live in. What an industry we work in.

I work at a startup and I am 25. I have saved up some money and seriously considering retirement by the time I am 30. Not that I have a lot of money saved up. I just have a couple of thousand bucks. Nothing fancy. But to me it is a seed money to try out new things, at an age where making huge mistakes wouldn't result in me being 70 and penniless. There will still be enough time to return back to IT once (if) I fail m…

>So yes, I support people who think about retiring early. If youth is the best time of one's life, it shouldn't be wasted on the desk

It's funny, the different perspectives people have on retirement.

I don't plan on ever retiring. What would I do? Very much the same things I'm already doing. I've tried to organize my life that way.

Re: Ask HN: I got let go this morning. What should I do next?

#160

Post by oofabz »

johnnyg wrote: post #88
jacquesm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Props to you for reaching out, but would you still apply a fizzbuzz test to someone that has just been the major driver behind building an angular app?

Yes. While I mean no disrespect the pass to fail ratio on them is 5:1 or worse. I've got to check so that when I pay for an hour of work I get an hour of value. I read blog posts to the contrary. They say how awful it is that these "dumb HR people" ask these basic things. Well, I've probably done 200 technical interviews, mostly from HN, and unfortunately this is my experience. If I must choose between unpopular and…

I also say bring on the fizzbuzz. If I were looking for a job, I would welcome any opportunity to demonstrate my skills and set myself apart from the competition.
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