Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

341–350 of 875 posts

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#341

Post by ipiz0618 »

kryogen1c wrote: post #81
klyrs wrote: post #42

Brutally candid advice? You sound like a creep. Am I reading it right here, you spoofed your number to talk to executives? In the best case, they'll assume you're a pen-tester; but more likely, you're blacklisted from those companies now. I wish there was, like, short and simple advice that I could give you to not be a creep. I just tried to google that, and I'm not finding a good clear resource. Like most social ski…

[flagged]

It's impossible to tell if OP's on the spectrum. I used to think I could do that until I got close with a Clinical Psychologist. Sometimes it can't be confirmed even after a few in-person sessions with professionals, so it's certainly dangerous to "guess" it from a few internet comments.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#342

Post by pcthrowaway »

snakedoctor wrote: post #210
pcthrowaway wrote: post #134

If you're not currently working, I'd recommend a staffing agency, Uber Eats, Taskrabbit, Instacart, etc. There are ways to start making money right now that might keep you from being homeless. And being homeless is going to set you back. Don't put any of the above on your resume. What are you looking for? You haven't really elaborated on what your skills are except for alluding to a possible penchant for security res…

I saw some people in Austin who did gig work like uber etc. I've thought about it. I'm a very anxious driver though. I've though about working in a Amazon warehouse. There's one near me. But they don't get health benefits for 3+ months. Have to do intense manual labor etc. EA QA was the most toxic place I ever worked at. Belittling people, thinking that all testers are incompetent etc. I have back pain, and dental is…

Also, forgot to mention, I was recently working "QA" for 5 years. Transitioned into that from full-stack webdev and am back in webdev again. QA in my case was actually very technical, required deep knowledge of web application deployment mechanisms, occasional debugging of web app code, a variety of languages, and writing tons of bash and CI configuration, some tests, and automating cloud things.

I won't lie and say it was as fun as traditional programming. But QA means a lot of different things, and just because you had a really bad experience with it (and I've heard terrible things about EA in general, not just their QA department), you should definitely be looking at QA for job opportunities that will meet your needs. Realistically you're going to be better suited to a lot of QA jobs right now, and employers are going to be more open to taking a chance on you given your history.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#343

Post by _6pvr »

deanak wrote: post #311
snakedoctor wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried asking companies for feedback. Some respond, and some don't. I think that most don't due to legal reasons. I did move to Austin when I received a lump sum of money, and hanged with some people IRL. Some would ratify that I'm awkward lol. But there was a lot of good vibes while I was in Austin. Now that I'm back where I grew up I find that I'm more depressed, and surly. State goverment here is more Laissez-…

I would not listen to any advice on HN. I have a pretty solid hiring strategy, but it got downvoted to hell because HN skews to people without much real world experience. They can only think of tech products to sell to other tech companies. (I'm a CTO, and I've raised seed money for two different products. Our market is small -- under 200MM ARR -- but our nearest competitor starts at $30k per year and their product i…

> I would not listen to any advice on HN. I have a pretty solid hiring strategy, but it got downvoted to hell because HN skews to people without much real world experience. They can only think of tech products to sell to other tech companies.

This part doesn't really seem worthwhile to post.

> Focus on smaller companies that need help solving actual business problems with automation. Offer to do a project for $20 an hour. Get a job doing straight up IT stuff until you earn their trust, and then show them what you can do software wise. There is a lot of room for competent IT people, but you need to be way more realistic about who is going to hire you.

Excellent advice.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#345

Post by 8128js8121 »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #336
ALittleLight wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A teenage boy asked the master "How do I compose a symphony?" The master said "You're too young, you need to start with more modest projects." "But master" said the boy "you first composed a symphony when you were half my age!" "Yes, but I didn't ask anyone how." --- What I mean by this is that "hustling" is something of a unique, rare, or hacking like thing. You can't ask people how to do it, because if they could t…

> You can't ask people how to do it, because if they could tell you then everyone would do it and it wouldn't work Coding-camps?

saps, paying to learn shit from stack overflow.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#346

Post by WalterBright »

snakedoctor wrote: post #121
honkycat wrote: post #88

Your writing is not strong, i can tell you did not attend college. Written communication is important in tech. Your applying to those companies with 0 experience or college degree is unrealistic. The entry level is extremely competitive and you have nothing to make you interesting to hire. They get thousands of applications for those jobs. You are still young, plenty of time to learn, but I recommend taking a step ba…

Not to be argumentative. But yes, I did attend college. Send me a email, and I'll send you an email from my college email address (Hasn't been deactivited yet). I can send you my college transcript if that helps.. Well, I did get hired by IBM as a programmer so... I've contributed to a GNU open source project.. So I feel that I am qualifed for a entry level developer/SecEng/Security Analyst role. I went above my boss…

Gentle tip: writing "shouldn't of" instead "shouldn't have" is one of those critical writing misteaks one should never make when communicating with educated people. Some others worth special effort to do correctly:

1. their there they're

2. its it's

3. your you're

A couple other writing tips:

1. don't terminate sentences with .. or ...

2. "bosses" is plural, I think you meant "boss's" for the possessive

I know it sounds elitist, and it is, but with these kinds of mistakes their going to relegate you to the "not one of us" bin when looking for a well paying job.

It's well worth the effort to purge them from you're writing.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#347

Post by user5994461 »

_6pvr wrote: post #148
snakedoctor wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried asking companies for feedback. Some respond, and some don't. I think that most don't due to legal reasons. I did move to Austin when I received a lump sum of money, and hanged with some people IRL. Some would ratify that I'm awkward lol. But there was a lot of good vibes while I was in Austin. Now that I'm back where I grew up I find that I'm more depressed, and surly. State goverment here is more Laissez-…

I'm not challenging you on whether or not you're smart. I'm commenting on the fact that you're unable to find employment, which means either you're carrying yourself incorrectly or you're unable to perform the tasks required of an entry-level applicant. You're bringing up this resume, these achievements, which can verify that you're intelligent and capable of critical thinking, so the greatest culprit would be that y…

>>> which means either you're carrying yourself incorrectly or you're unable to perform the tasks required of an entry-level applicant.

That's reading too far IMO. I see no mention of a degree at a reputable college. I see experience in support/QA, that has no relevance to the work of a developer (and it didn't go well apparently).

I don't expect that sort of profile to be invited to job interviews. The job market is brutal.

Re: Ask HN: How can a unhireable person get a job?

#348

Post by 8128js8121 »

So far all I am seeing is that you want want a high paying job at a reputable company without actually working for it.

Your experience is lacking and jack of all trades master of none.

Start at a small company and work on a skill set. Since you drop out of everything you do. get refs and go from there.

Post reply on HN