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Career advice for people with bad luck

chiefofstuff.substack.com

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Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#161

Post by caymanjim »

mywittyname wrote: post #144
caymanjim wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never admit that you were fired. Your prior employer isn't going to tell anyone, if they know what's good for them. Small, inexperienced companies with no lawyers might, but no real business is going to risk a lawsuit by saying anything bad about you whatsoever. They'll confirm that you worked there and that's about it. Six months is not a big deal. You've been told all your life that gaps in your resume are a proble…

> but hardly anyone speaks to references. I'd be surprised if this were universal. I've been the reference for several people and had references checked for every job that I've had. I can totally understand why a company wouldn't check references (bias, mainly), but HR is full of a lot of cargo cult superstitions.

I'm probably biased here due to the length of my career; at this point, my resume is extensive and speaks for itself. References may be more important if you've got less experience.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#162

Post by vikramkr »

the_af wrote: post #146
0xfaded wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Step 1: Move to SV. I'm sorry, I'm Australian and studied and worked in Australia. I spent 4 years in SV, and now founded a startup in Europe. Even after the Covid issue has played out, I'm convinced SV will still be where a passionate technologist can optimize their impact and lifetime earnings. There's just nothing that can compare to being surrounded by so many smart people who share your interests. I've heard sto…

> Step 1: Move to SV. What about... - I don't want to move to SV, I'm not that young anymore. - I don't want to move outside my country, or - specifically to the US and SV, which are not a particularly good place to live in anyway, or - even if I wanted it, entry to the US is stressful and not that easy, or - I have friends/family ties where I live, and those are important to me There's plenty of reasons why your ste…

No pain no gain. If the US and SV opportunities aren't a type of gain that's compelling to you then of course you dont need to worry about it. But if they are, then you need to make your own luck by making those sacrifices. Things about family ties and wants and stress are all part of the work you put in to make your own luck.

Being American is a pretty great gig, for all the stuff you keep hearing on the news. There's a reason silicon valley is silicon valley, New York is New York, and so on. Theres a lot of luck that comes from being here. My parents left behind their entire support network in india to set out on their own, navigated the complex immigration process (granted, easier 20-30 years ago than now), and made those sacrifices, and it more than paid off. And I got lucky by just getting to be born here. Things like "you dont want to move outside your country " are completely valid, and part of why american immigration works is because immigration is such a hard thing for people to do (leaving everything behind) that it self selects for the people willing to make those sacrifices.

The one valid one you mention is the difficulty of immigrating. That can be a straight up barrier in the way of a motivated person that would be a useful addition to this country and should be removed. This is the country of immigrants. We should keep that part of our culture alive.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#163

Post by crystalmeph »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #108
mdorazio wrote: post #67

I really want to see more articles like this on HN. However, this is really "career advice for people at struggling companies." The luck part doesn't get discussed in the way I expected. To me, bad luck is things like: - You're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ex. you graduated in 2008-2010/now or your business sector got wiped out by COVID - Despite your best efforts at networking, you simply never meet that ma…

>- You're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ex. you graduated in 2008-2010/now or your business sector got wiped out by COVID I feel bad for the higher class pizza restaurant that opened down the street from our house at the end of January after a long time of renovating the building. Even though their pizza isn't really as good as the fancy pizza place at the mall (it's a mall in a rich area) down by the nearby…

Tangenting a bit. It saddens me to no end that this happens just after the unemployment rate for African Americans hit record lows. I'm not a SJW by any means, but it's so frustrating to see a whole class of historically mistreated people get punched in the gut the minute they start to get a good toehold.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#164

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

bad_luck_tw wrote: post #137
bryanrasmussen wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>- You're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ex. you graduated in 2008-2010/now or your business sector got wiped out by COVID I feel bad for the higher class pizza restaurant that opened down the street from our house at the end of January after a long time of renovating the building. Even though their pizza isn't really as good as the fancy pizza place at the mall (it's a mall in a rich area) down by the nearby…

Something similar happened to me during this outbreak. Got my CS degree from a no-name university in a third world country a few years back, got a job in one of those software sweatshops getting paid peanuts, moved to a new one an year later where I worked my ass off to learn things and generally be a good developer, but here too I was paid a pittance, mostly due to my education and previous job. I hated working here…

In wich country did you decide to move? Some have more troubles than others during this period depending on sector.

For example, most companies in Germany/Europe working in the automotive sector froze hiring since nobody is buying cars anymore.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#165

Post by bad_luck_tw »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #157
bad_luck_tw wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something similar happened to me during this outbreak. Got my CS degree from a no-name university in a third world country a few years back, got a job in one of those software sweatshops getting paid peanuts, moved to a new one an year later where I worked my ass off to learn things and generally be a good developer, but here too I was paid a pittance, mostly due to my education and previous job. I hated working here…

comment looks fine to me?

It was dead for about 10 minutes after I posted it, I think it tripped up some spam/troll filter for new accounts. It's fine now though, but I can't edit the original comment and remove the last line.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#166

Post by chrisabrams »

pjc50 wrote: post #96
collyw wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a nicer less open plan office, Impressive.

To be clear, this wasn't the retention offer, this was the new job! And it's still technically open, but nicely spaced with sound-absorbing partitions. The dysfunctional place had a pingpong table within earshot.

This was not clear :O Would be good to clarify in your original post.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#167

Post by bad_luck_tw »

tlear wrote: post #153
bad_luck_tw wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something similar happened to me during this outbreak. Got my CS degree from a no-name university in a third world country a few years back, got a job in one of those software sweatshops getting paid peanuts, moved to a new one an year later where I worked my ass off to learn things and generally be a good developer, but here too I was paid a pittance, mostly due to my education and previous job. I hated working here…

Hiring is still going on in most of North America. Hedge your bets look at other companies and interview. Preparation for one interview is preparation for lots of them

Unfortunately US work visa for people from my country is not so easy. Though I've been applying at companies in EU, the visa process is much simpler.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#168

Post by sct202 »

hu3 wrote: post #45
kamaal wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unacknowledged fact. Due to Stack Ranking and modern day Machivellian work culture, colleagues are competitors. Most relationships end up the same way. If there is some kind of comparative ranking/selection, even if it is just fame or some recognition. Even sibling rivalry roots in this.

I and some work friends made the mistake of disclosing our salary between us. Me being the one that earns more. Our friendship and even work relationship was never the same again. I would never tell how much I earn if I had the choice to go back. I do believe they should know. But it hurts our work relationship on a daily basis.

I had that happen too but the difference was trivial like a couple hundred but still bothered one of the people. I think the only way to share now is just post on glassdoors.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#169

Post by Balgair »

username90 wrote: post #133
TeMPOraL wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Kids are not luck though, people have all the power to decide not to have kids until their finances are better.

Through true, that's a bit of a coarse statement.

Should children wreck your finances? A lot of countries are spending a lot of money to reverse that sentiment right now. Yes, they are currently expensive, but blaming people for having children isn't going to fix anything.

What about health aspects? One should never overestimate their fertility. Rates of birth defects rise as humans age (not just women, men too). Complications at birth also rise. Older grandparents have less time to enjoy their progeny. Older parents have health issues that prevent them from spending as much time with new grandchildren.

Each family chooses when it is right for them to add a new member. Finances play into that, of course, but they should not dominate the decision like they do today. Top Tier economies are seeing the results of this myopia.

Many European countries are schilling out big bucks to bump their birthrates and help with these financial concerns. Places like Switerland have had their fertility rates under replacement since the 1970's. Data is a bit wonky, but it seems these policies have helped the problem from a continued backslide, though not ended it.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#170

Post by Ididntdothis »

2sk21 wrote: post #6

Having worked for a dying tech startup at one point in the early 2000s - I spent time agonizing over the fact that if I quit, the company would become unviable - I was one of the key technical people and was the only person with a good understanding of our entire product. After much dithering, I did ultimately leave and the company did fold shortly thereafter. I did feel bad at the time but in retrospect, I have come…

“if I quit, the company would become unviable“

I was in such a situation but after asking for more money I quickly realized that I wasn’t important enough to be paid a little more.

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