> Every time I’ve outsourced my thinking for a job change (n=2)
I love the n = 2 aside. I really like OP's sense of humor.
Career advice for people with bad luck
221–230 of 511 posts
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#222Earlier 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…
Ouch. Bad luck combined with an already risky venture... > Even though their pizza isn't really as good as the fancy pizza place at the mall They opened the "not best pizza option" and "nTH restaurant option". Opening a restaurant is a good example of what to avoid if you want to be resilient in the face of bad luck. It's a fragile and brutal business even in the best of times.
Opening a restaurant is difficult even for professionals. I had a neighbor who was managing one of the more successful restaurants at the Mall of America, who decided he wanted to do his own thing. He bought a restaurant in the downtown of our small suburb and spent months renovating it. I don't think it was open more than 3 months before he threw in the towel and declared personal bankruptcy.
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#223I 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…
To paraphrase you are asking what should people who are not achieving their goals do?
I have read that the meaning of life is love and freedom and doing what you enjoy. What that means is different for everyone, but you have to ask yourself what that means to you. If that means have millions of dollars in just a few years, great. Read "think and grow rich" to see who you need to become. Otherwise don't waste you time following what others think success looks like.
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#224I 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…
This is not bad luck. This is the normal state of life. It may be depressing (non-clinical), it might be disappointing, it might be discouraging, but it is 100% bog-standard ordinary.
The feeling that you are suffering more than other people is the true harm caused.
Your points:
* Graduated at the wrong time: How many thousands of people graduated between 2008 and 2010? That is by definition ordinary. * Never met that magical person to makes your life magical: You said it yourself. Do you think most people meet magical people? * Resilient financial safety net: You've read the statistics, right? Most people don't have a month's income saved for difficult times. * Mental safety net/health issues: OK, there's some randomness here. But many people struggle with some form of this. * Having dependents: Well, blended choice and randomness, to some extent. But controllable usually, if you mean offspring. Adult dependents (parents) are harder, but far less common. * Large company rips off/Some exec derails your project: Normal and ordinary. This is how things work. Disappointing, but don't let it be discouraging. That part is your choice.
I think you're conflating "lack of unusual good luck" with "bad luck". They are not the same. Don't imagine that the lucky individuals for whom the stars aligned are in any way normal. They just get all the press.
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#225This 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…
Just wanted to chime in and say, 6 months is actually not a big deal at all. Listening to people who say it is will only serve to add stress to your job search. I took a year and a half off to travel when I was 26 and nobody cared. You can explain it in any way you want to but I certainly wouldn't mention getting fired or specifics about your personal medical history. Good luck.
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Yes, even minimal differences bother people.
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
> Any reasonably good programmer can get a job at a FANG company with three months of serious study Do we seriously believe there are so many FAANG jobs available that "any reasonably good programmer" who wants one can have one, just for the price of a bit of "serious study"? I don't think so. Google et al may be big, but they're not that big or growing that fast. A great deal of the demand for engineers does not com…
This.
For every junior FAANG engineer, there are legions of senior or staff level equivalent engineers at companies outside of the Silicon Valley style tech/software sector who will retire with their TC topping out at maybe around what a lower-mid level engineer at a mid-top tech company would make.
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#228Step 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 reminds me of one of my favorites from the Onion:
According to a Gallup report published Tuesday, over 95 percent of the nation’s grandfathers began their careers by walking straight into a place of business, saying “I’m the man for the job,” and receiving a position right there on the spot.
https://www.theonion.com/report-95-of-grandfathers-got-job-b...
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#229> 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…
This one is hard. Once you leave the company that's it; you'll probably never hear from them again. Can they still be considered friends if you're on their contacts list, but you haven't spoken/messaged them in years?
Re: Career advice for people with bad luck
#230I 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…
I can speak to one of your points! I got dealt a bad hand in terms of health issues. However, a few years before I developed my health issues, I happened to have a long talk with a guy who had advanced MS. He told me that after his diagnosis, he tried to sock away as much money as possible and go for higher-paying jobs, as he knew that one day he'd become fully disabled and have to live on disability. Also, disability is pegged to your latest or average salary, so that's important to consider!
(SS is an average, LTD is your most recent)
During my 10 years of illness leading up to my eventual disability, I tried (with varying success) to do the following things:
- Looked for jobs with slightly under full-time work loads to allow me time to rest (found only one for 2 years, but the extra rest helped me slow down disease progression a lot)
- Looked for jobs with full benefit packages, including Short Term / Long Term Disability. If the job didn't offer it I signed up on my own
- Maxed out HSA every year
- Reduced my fixed costs as much as possible to prepare for living on a fixed income; moved to a LCOL area
- Moved to a climate that was better for my health
- Didn't have kids because I knew I wouldn't be healthy enough to bear them / raise them :-(
- Researched how long term disability / social security disability worked (this site is really good: https://howtogeton.wordpress.com/social-security-disability/ )
- Tried to do excellent work so my employers would still like me even with all my sick days