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Career advice for people with bad luck

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Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#121

Post by mettamage »

okt wrote: post #37
mettamage wrote: post #15

Finally, a post that isn't all hunky dory. I'm at the bottom quartile at the moment, so I'm happy to take any reasonable advice that doesn't sound like: study algorithms and get into Google. Ok, I studied algorithms, got rejected at the paper round. Now what? The tough part isn't passing the interview, it's getting a chance in the first place. This advice is better. Some points that really stood out to me and that I'…

my 2 cents: there is rarely a shortcut available and is hardly a 6 months course work designed to get into google or the alike unless you have a friend or family member who guides you through the whole process and points you to the right direction, not least giving hope and motivation. you have to develop a sustainable long term learning habit to hone your skills without being getting burned out and without hoping a…

> some proof of your skills in form of personal projects which many others like you dont have.

I have quite a bit of personal projects, actually.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#122

Post by neltnerb »

syshum wrote: post #110
neltnerb wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but I think there's a lot of variation in what people want out of work-friends. My parents are super social to the point of inviting over colleagues for dinner regularly, but I think they're also so social (and worked for nonprofits that are more like family) that they simply have so many options that the ones they pick are much closer work-friends that often last decades. Other people really do just want to go…

as an introvert I am one to just " want to go home and do their own thing.", I have rarely kept in touch with former co-workers, sometimes I regret that but I was not born with a drive to be social. One draw back of that is my professional network is limited as well, in times of economic decline a robust professional network is often the key between employment and not

I agree. If you want a possible compromise solution, consider sending cards to ex-coworkers on birthdays or holidays. It's pretty easy if you use an online service to print and mail them and boy would that make an impression that you value their long term acquaintance. My aunt runs an engineering firm and does this with so many people, I remember driving with her to deliver birthday flowers and stuff.

That's all professional relationship building though, I truly don't think those people are ones she'd invite to a movie or over for dinner. Maintaining professional relationships does take constant low key attention though, if they only hear from you when you need something it's not a good look.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#123

Post by karamazov »

ghaff wrote: post #103
username90 wrote: post #90

Step 1: Get a well paying job at a big tech company. There is very little luck involved in this, just get really good at algorithms. No need for a famous school, specific degree etc. It requires intelligence, if you don't have that then you need luck. Step 2: Save more than two thirds of your take home salary, you can still live way better than the people sweeping the office floor. Step 3: You now have a ton of money…

Do you seriously believe that anyone who is reasonably intelligent can just waltz into a high paying job at Apple or Google by sending them a resume? If so, I'd respectfully suggest that is... probably not the case. (Not that I have firsthand experience. I've never applied to nor been interested in those big tech firms.) ADDED: I'm sorry, but the people on this thread who are arguing that if you can't get a $200K+ jo…

Yes. Any reasonably good programmer can get a job at a FANG company with three months of serious study; any reasonably intelligent person can become a good entry-level programmer with 1-2 years of serious study. The demand for engineers far outstrips supply.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#124

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

moneywoes wrote: post #8
ashtonkem wrote: post #2

> The company is not your family. Some of the people in the company are your friends in the current context. It’s like your dorm in college. Hopefully some of them will still be your friends after. But don’t stay because you’re comfortable. This one hit hard. It’s amazing how many of the close work friends I had over the years were only close because of the shitty circumstances we endured together. Once that was gone…

Been working 3 months at my first job and this realization hit me. I enjoy spending time with my coworkers but is it all in vain?

If you want to be pragmatic with these relationships - these are now connections. If you're in your early career and so are they, the odds of you all staying at this job are very low. Even if the friendships don't last, this is the start of a network that can possibly help get you in the next door when you're looking for a change.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#125

Post by username90 »

ghaff wrote: post #103
username90 wrote: post #90

Step 1: Get a well paying job at a big tech company. There is very little luck involved in this, just get really good at algorithms. No need for a famous school, specific degree etc. It requires intelligence, if you don't have that then you need luck. Step 2: Save more than two thirds of your take home salary, you can still live way better than the people sweeping the office floor. Step 3: You now have a ton of money…

Do you seriously believe that anyone who is reasonably intelligent can just waltz into a high paying job at Apple or Google by sending them a resume? If so, I'd respectfully suggest that is... probably not the case. (Not that I have firsthand experience. I've never applied to nor been interested in those big tech firms.) ADDED: I'm sorry, but the people on this thread who are arguing that if you can't get a $200K+ jo…

Yes I do believe that, other less prestigious companies didn't even respond since I had holes in my resume but Google did. Getting an interview there is not harder than any other place, often times it is easier.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#126

Post by TeMPOraL »

username90 wrote: post #90

Step 1: Get a well paying job at a big tech company. There is very little luck involved in this, just get really good at algorithms. No need for a famous school, specific degree etc. It requires intelligence, if you don't have that then you need luck. Step 2: Save more than two thirds of your take home salary, you can still live way better than the people sweeping the office floor. Step 3: You now have a ton of money…

> Step 1: Get a well paying job at a big tech company.

You mean, a remote job in a place with low costs of living. Otherwise, this algorithm doesn't work for people with families. I've been on the job market just before COVID-19 hit. The costs of living in tech hubs are absolutely ridiculous. If it's not housing, then it's something else. For instance, you could afford staying in London with a spouse on a tech salary (the other salary would go straight into savings). But not with daycare, which quite literally costs more than housing.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#127

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

username90 wrote: post #119
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Step 1: Get a well paying job at a big tech company. There is very little luck involved in this, just get really good at algorithms. Let me stop you right there. Maybe that works in SV but in most of Europe(the world?) you aint getting in to any well paying job at a big tech company without a degree from a prestigious university or previous experience at equally big and famous companies. Companies here don't have th…

> Let me stop you right there. Maybe that works in SV but in most of Europe(the world?) you aint getting in to any well paying job at a big tech company without a degree from a prestigious university or previous experience at equally big and famous companies. I did exactly that though, I joined Google in Europe a few years ago.

Google Europe in which city?

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#128

Post by gwbas1c »

throw4failure wrote: post #29

This seems like a good thread in which to try to solicit some advice, since it's at least tangentially related. I was terminated from my last job. In my opinion it was due to my chronic and major depression that I have since been seeking extensive treatment (medication, several months rent in therapy) for. I say "in my opinion" because I really can't rule out that I'm just a lazy, crappy developer who is trying to us…

Everyone looks at resumes differently. A resume that's perfect for one person screening resumes won't pass someone else.

In my case, if I see a gap on a resume I just assume that someone took time off to raise a young child, had some savings and traveled, ect. I wouldn't even ask about the gap, but if it did come up, even a vague "I just needed a break" would be fine. The whole point, if I were to ask, is just to make sure you can partition your personal life from your professional life. (I don't expect you to be perfect. I'm not perfect either.)

Now, hindsight is 20/20, but you could dedicate some free time to an open-source project, a "business," ect. Just enough to put something on your resume to fill the gap. When I worked with someone else at starting a business, my partner spent a lot of time (and money) going to a therapist. I had no problem with it.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#129

Post by ghaff »

paulcole wrote: post #109
ghaff wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you seriously believe that anyone who is reasonably intelligent can just waltz into a high paying job at Apple or Google by sending them a resume? If so, I'd respectfully suggest that is... probably not the case. (Not that I have firsthand experience. I've never applied to nor been interested in those big tech firms.) ADDED: I'm sorry, but the people on this thread who are arguing that if you can't get a $200K+ jo…

> Do you seriously believe that anyone who is reasonably intelligent can just waltz into a high paying job at Apple or Google by sending them a resume People who have waltzed into a high paying job at Apple or Google by sending them a resume believe exactly this. It’s one of the many problems with any sort of unsolicited financial/job seeking advice. Actually the problem with advice of any sort. It’s almost 100% wron…

I'm just very aware of how lucky I've been on a couple of different occasions (ADDED: Specifically from an employment perspective).

During the dot-com bubble bursting, my company was having big layoffs and I landed a new job based on an informal lunch meeting with someone I knew that I had literally a couple of days after being laid off. (Some other leads I was investigating in parallel prior to getting an offer produced not so much as a nibble.)

Then, probably only a month of so before that employer shut down (somewhat after but somewhat related to the 2008 downturn), I contacted someone I knew at another company--which resulted in an offer and I'm still there.

But none of that provides much in the way of insights for someone else beyond a generic "have a network that knows you do good work and is in a position to hire you."

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#130

Post by marcus_holmes »

karamazov wrote: post #123
ghaff wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you seriously believe that anyone who is reasonably intelligent can just waltz into a high paying job at Apple or Google by sending them a resume? If so, I'd respectfully suggest that is... probably not the case. (Not that I have firsthand experience. I've never applied to nor been interested in those big tech firms.) ADDED: I'm sorry, but the people on this thread who are arguing that if you can't get a $200K+ jo…

Yes. Any reasonably good programmer can get a job at a FANG company with three months of serious study; any reasonably intelligent person can become a good entry-level programmer with 1-2 years of serious study. The demand for engineers far outstrips supply.

I'm over 50 and been working in the industry for >25 years... what are my odds?
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