Career advice for people with bad luck • Hacker News Board

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#281

Post by sifar » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:13 PM UTC

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…

Read Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius.

There are some things that are in your control, while others that are not. Concentrate on the former. How can you improve your skills, learn new ones.

Lower your expenses, stay healthy, avoid debt.

It might take longer, because of all the dead ends you have encountered, but eventually you'll get there. But more importantly, don't let those things make you bitter.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#282

Post by TurkishPoptart » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:16 PM UTC

omniscient_oce wrote: post #85

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…

You may like the Japanese phrase 一期一会 (ichi-go-ichi-e). To me it means that you should cherish each relationship and encounter, regardless of whether you know it will last a long time or not. You may never get the chance to experience that particular relationship again. I actually learnt this word firsthand from a man that it applies to, an middle-aged Japanese guy who was volunteering with kids near where I live. We…

This is philosophical gold!

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#283

Post by celestialcheese » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:16 PM UTC

TurkishPoptart wrote: post #267

blululu wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Read some philosophy. Buy a reliable used car. As the proud owner of a 2004 Toyota Corolla and a 2011 Philosophy Minor, this line made my day. Honestly it is just plain good advice.

I love my 2001 Corolla. It's got 164k miles on it (had about 140 when I bought it), and I hope to get another 100k out of it!

Same here - except 220k. Still running great, but looking for a new-to-me car because i'm tired of driving it.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#284

Post by hmart » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:17 PM UTC

I live in a 3rd world country, worked the last 20 years as systems administrator. Recently lost my job and while looking for a new remote job I have been touched by the hard reality: The world changed and I was full of self leniency, years using the same bash scripts, the same tricks day to day. Did lot of things maintenance, networking, security,databases, mail servers, anti spam. I consider myself capable of put a SMB connected and working. My job didn’t demanded me new skills an I was self indulgent, happy to have enough money for the day. Some recent job interviews showed me a depressing reality : I did the least, I know the minimum, never upgrade my knowledge, just relied on Google search. I didn’t know about CI, CD, containerization, DevOps in general. I have a B.S in Systems Engineering (Some sort of CS , without the ‘science’ part) enjoyed math and code in college, done tens of websites in WordPress, Joomla and some Drupal, I’m capable of code in Php, some bash, some ruby, some python. I’m in my mid forties a kid 4 years old and cannot afford to stay worried, I have to do something to land a remote job, I want to thrive and motivated enough to learn, but time is ticking would like to hear some advice.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#285

Post by the_af » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:18 PM UTC

michaelbrave wrote: post #248

the_af wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Sounds like having priorities that go beyond making money or having career success. Nothing wrong with that, but it may be something to make peace with.

Yes, of course. To elaborate, most people (outside the HN bubble) have these priorities, they are good priorities to have, and these people work in tech. Therefore, advice starting with "move to SV" applies only to an extremely small subset of programmers worldwide, and as such, is not very helpful.

If the career advice is "ditch everything in your life, become magically younger, live in a country you don't like, ditch friends and family, and generally live for work, and then you'll maybe succeed at having a tech job", that's... less than useful. Maybe if you're young and starting.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#286

Post by kursus » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:19 PM UTC

> The company is not your family.

Yes, and it's also not your friend. That's an easy mistake to make. You owe your company nothing more than work and loyalty.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#287

Post by mettamage » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:19 PM UTC

why_only_15 wrote: post #254

mettamage wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a Dutchie, and I can't speak about the EU market as a whole, but as any European that travels around a bit, I have the following ranking in terms of lifestyle/pay: 1. Switzerland (90k or higher + mountains if you're willing to drive a bit) 2. Luxembourg (I just remember you get paid quite a bit) 3. Berlin (alright pay, low living costs, amazing city) 4. England + Scandinavia + The Netherlands (didn't look into Sc…

The issue with geo-arbitraging is that when you work somewhere for an extended period of time, you put resources into your life there. Retiring by leaving your home and friends etc. doesn't seem nearly as sweet.

Fair point, I'd still argue it's better to send money back home, if one comes from a 3rd world country.

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#288

Post by throw4failure » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:20 PM UTC

tfigment wrote: post #101

throw4failure wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't uncommon, and as I understand it follows directly from the typical HR policy of only confirming the essentials, such as title, dates of employment and reason for leaving. Companies care more about possible litigation than they do about helping you with your next job. However, in my experience it's haphazardly enforced. If you're on good terms with a colleague or manager, it's my understanding (IANAL) that…

My company requires 3 references. Hiring manager does calls those just before offer is made and there is intent. I don't like calling references unnecessarily. There is a form which mostly is about how candidate interacted with co-workers and management and general effectiveness at job. Medical stuff does not come up generally. Personal references do not work well here in general for technical hires unless it's an in…

My guess would be that many of the references you call do in fact work for companies with a no-reference policy. This has at least been the case at all of my employers (large and small places alike, some household names), save a 5 person startup.

In my experience, although near-ubiquitous a no-reference policy mostly seems to mean "if anyone calls the company line or shows up on prem, we redirect them to HR who then tells them nothing". It doesn't mean they go out of their way to stop individual employees from giving positive references on their own time (to wit I've never seen any employer actually make any effort whatsoever to disseminate their no-reference policy to employees, it's just a CYA measure they adopt if communication happens through channels they're directly accountable for)

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#289

Post by Reedx » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

askdfjng wrote: post #251

chosenbreed37 wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Read some philosophy. Buy a reliable used car. Look inward for contentment. Try therapy if your shitty childhood and shitty parents made inward a hard place to look. I'd recommend the following: 1. Meditations - Marcus Aurelius 2. 12 Rules for Life - Jordan B Peterson 3. Letters from a self made merchant - John Graham

JBP's 12 Rules for Life is dangerous advice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtwP6AbbAUc

To dismiss as dangerous is silly. Here are the 12 rules.

Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back

Rule 2: Treat yourself like you would someone you are responsible for helping

Rule 3: Make friends with people who want the best for you

Rule 4: Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with who someone else is today

Rule 5: Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them

Rule 6: Set your house in perfect order before you criticise the world

Rule 7: Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

Rule 8: Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie

Rule 9: Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t

Rule 10: Be precise in your speech

Rule 11: Do not bother children when they are skate-boarding

Rule 12: Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street

https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/01/jo...

Re: Career advice for people with bad luck

#290

Post by bryanrasmussen » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:22 PM UTC

libria wrote: post #255

dakna wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You probably already know that, but sometimes it helps to hear it again: The world is a competitive place, and a lot of success factors are outside of your control. (timing, pre-existing resources, sheer luck) What you can control is exactly what you are already doing: Work really hard and make the best of what you have. Come up with a good long term plan and execute it. Do life decisions that help with that plan. Th…

So, why is this encouraging and helpful message being downvoted into gray? I can only assume some salty graduates are lashing out. Don't do that to yourself, i.e. living bitter and angry. Engage with those you disagree with by conversing. Correct them or be corrected and learn.

I got to say I have given up worrying about why people are downvoting what I say, I do have a suspicion that I have a couple people who when they see my name automatically downvote - oh it's that guy again - although I don't think they search me out to downvote either.

on edit: at any rate I upvoted it as you're right, seems an encouraging nice message.