Couple years back I walked away from a company that IPO’ed, cashed out enough to not worry about rent or food for the next 20–30 years. I swore off jobs, told myself I’d build something of my own. But I haven’t built anything. Haven’t even tried applying anywhere, too stubborn for that. Most days I just circle around ideas, start, stop, drop. Repeat. Money isn’t the problem—it’s this gnawing restlessness, this sense that I’m wasting what could have been momentum. I don’t know what I’m building, and that not-knowing is eating me more than anything else.
Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
361–370 of 602 posts
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#362Earlier quoted context omitted.
Watching some of the Netflix docs like the Formula 1 one or the Tour de France one is a good gateway drug into "sports watching". It turns out it's all just for the stories, and a bit for the game.
If you're talking about Drive To Survive, keep in mind it's specifically backstage F1 drama and doesn't really capture the sport itself. As for me, and most motorsport fans I know, it's very much about the sport and skill involved. Sure, there's other aspects to it (people like their drivers/teams/etc) but I would say it's primarily for the sport, not the stories. I can't really speak to any other sports though.
Sports is drama, it follows rules but the details are unscripted. It's never entirely predictable like most other entertainment can be. At the top levels it's also a demonstration of incredible physical skill (perhaps not appreciated if you haven't tried it, or haven't watched a lot).
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#363Earlier quoted context omitted.
And this is how corrupt abusive companies can keep thriving. People will tell you "vote with your feet" from their high horse but it just doesn't work. These companies will always find somebody else to fill that role. The person needs the job more than the company does. EDIT: Oh, wow, so much disagreement. 30 minutes, 3 downvotes, 0 comments. So tell me _where_ I am wrong.
I don't think anybody needs a job at Microsoft. The compensation is well above the US median income. If you believe Microsoft to be corrupt and abusive (I personally don't but reasonable people can disagree) there are many other opportunities to work for more virtuous organizations if you're willing to accept lower compensation.
I see this sentiment (that if someone can get a FANG job then they can get a startup job easily) on here all the time, and it is a belief that needs to die.
When I took an offer at Google I had literally been searching for months and had no other offers.
Years later, after a couple years career break I had been searching for months and could hardly get startups to talk to me, but X and Meta seemed very interested (I was not interested in them).
I know it sounds intuitive that if someone can land a gig at one of the large companies then they can easily get a job at someplace that's doing "good work" but this is often not the case.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#364Earlier quoted context omitted.
You live in the country with zero LinkedIn connections. Do you even want a tech job?
No need to be snarky, dude is going through a rough time, can use some empathy
Everyone thinks they know better, that's just the nature of people on internet forums. That's why I stopped asking for CV reviews - as soon as people know I'm struggling they come up with pointless edits. His point boils down to "you have no network, physical or digital" which might sound accurate with the information he's got, but isn't in reality because there's obviously more context than what I've shared here. I didn't just sit around brainlessly applying to jobs for two years. I've tried shit.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#365For those who've been unemployed for over a year, how do you manage financially?
lived extremely frugally my entire life and continued to do so while unemployed, combined with being very fortunate with high rates of return in my 401k for the past 15 years
Is it possible to draw on a 401k without tax penalties if it's due to unemployment? Otherwise I thought you had to be of retirement age?
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#366Earlier quoted context omitted.
How else would someone know about me and how would I connect with them? I can change my status to “Open to Work” and have 1200 people see it My specific niche is strategy consulting along with hands on keyboard work for smaller projects and before that, I was hired at 3 separate companies by a new to the company director/CTO to lead initiatives. At that level it’s all about knowing how to “influence” and communicate.…
> My specific niche is strategy consulting I think that's the key difference. For strategy folks, it makes sense to demonstrate this kind of work through that kind of channel. But LinkedIn posts aren't relevant for non-networking roles.
All roles are networking roles
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#367I quit my last job. I found myself thinking that the easy way out was really attractive, and I was seeing fewer and fewer downsides. Then I thought, I might as well quit, enjoy as much as I could, then take the easy way out when my account ran down to zero. Then, as it was approaching zero, I found out I could start withdrawing pension from my old job, with a heavy penalty for doing so early. Fuck it. I did that. Now I'm limping by on about $1500 a month. It's working for now, but I can imagine the end not too far away. But that eternal darkness is more attractive than dealing with the day to day bullshit of working while my country falls quickly into fascism, in addition to the normal fucked up capitalist morality and thinking.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#368Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seconding. These days I will rarely talk to anyone without a verified LinkedIn or other presence like a clearly inhabited GitHub (and I’m not looking for hyperactivity by any means)
But why? Those things are easy to game, and speaking personally, I don't have an online software development presence like Github because I don't spend my off time working on anything I feel is worth sharing.
Numbers. I’ve read thousands of resumes over the past few months, screened dozens of applicants, and experienced a wide variety of weirdness and fakes both in resumes and on screen calls. Please note that I’m talking about raw “application box resumes”. Referrals and other semi-vetted sources don’t get this level of scrutiny.
I gave two examples of secondary sources, but what I’m really getting at here is that the numbers and noise are so, so high now (not to mention staffing firm fronts and foreign actors) that I usually need more signal than a solid-looking resume before investing even 30’ in a screening call.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#369I think I'd rather die. Go get a shitty job, temp job, remind yourself what life is actually like for everyone else.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years?
#370I've been unemployed for about 1 year now. I was in SF working in tech for about 7 years, and decided I don't want to do that anymore, so I quit. It's been tough. The hardest part about being unemployed is it is very hard to structure your days because work is no longer the thing that is forcing you to get up, get out, go to bed on time, etc. It's also a strange feeling having to spend from your savings/emergency fun…
I was in tech for over 20 years, and went from being good at my job/successful to being permanently disabled. My entire life was wired around providing for my family and supporting everyone around me both financially, and via my success. I've lost that identity, and despite extensive therapy, meds, etc. I still haven't found myself yet. I know I'll be okay, however. Stay frosty. Things will work out. Cheers!
What happened, if I can ask? Re permanently disabled