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I automated my job application process

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Re: I automated my job application process

#611

Post by throwaway2037 »

ramon156 wrote: post #237

Hate how this has become the job market. I finished my degree in July but was only able to find a job in November. Might not sound like a lot but it took almost 50 manual job applications, all with varying experiences. I couldn't imagine being a manager having to sift through so much garbage just to find a candidate that's worth their salt.

I graduated from a second tier uni in 2001. It was hell finding my first real job (more than two years). I had to move across the country to find it. After that, no one ever cared about my shit uni again!

Re: I automated my job application process

#612

Post by throwaway2037 »

pknomad wrote: post #525
throwaway2037 wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is a "Platform Engineer"? I never heard that term before today.

Platform Engineers are operationally focused software engineers who focus on enablement of other software engineering groups through building self-service tooling and create unified platform for app deployment. The cultural focus is placed on enablement of teams through self service, whereas DevOps is more about reducing silos and SRE is more about doing infra through the software engineering lens with metrics (SLO/S…

TL;DR: Internal tool builder

Re: I automated my job application process

#613

Post by bb88 »

margalabargala wrote: post #448
fijiaarone wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LLMs can’t write unit tests. They can’t even tell what you intend. If your code is already correct, you don’t need the unit test, if it’s not, the LLM can’t write the unit test. If you thing an LLM can write tests for you, you can be replaced by an LLM.

> If your code is already correct, you don’t need the unit test. I don't know where you work where code is written once and is never changed again, but enjoy it while it lasts...

Worse is when a protocol or shared state condition is modified.

E.g. suddenly some fresh out of college know-it-all sent crap into your function that you weren't expecting. Then he went to management to blame you for writing such shitty code.

Thing is you wrote unit tests around that code and the shitty know-it-all deleted them rather than changing them when he modified the code

This is why management needs to understand code.

Re: I automated my job application process

#615

Post by captainmuon »

xyst wrote: post #429

> Submit resume + cover letter Does anybody here actually read _cover letters_? I almost never submit them, unless required. I feel it's a remnant of pre-digital age where you would apply _in-person_ and the cover letter makes it _feel_ personal.

Yes, I absolutely read cover letters. But I work in Germany which has different customs around applications, so maybe that's the reason.

We get a lot of low effort applications so I look for something why the candidate wants to work at our place. Did they research the position at least a bit before applying? Do they have an idea about the work, and does it mention how they can contribute?

If it looks like copy-paste or completely AI generated, there is a big chance that it goes to the round storage bin.

Re: I automated my job application process

#616

Post by XenophileJKO »

margalabargala wrote: post #450
XenophileJKO wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kind of feel like it is the inverse in many ways. As an experienced engineer, I know how to describe what I want which is 90% of getting the right implementation. Secondly, because I know what I want and how it should work, I tend to know it when I see it. Often it only takes a nudge to get to a solution similar to what I already would have done. Usually it is just a quick comment like: "Do it in a functional style…

I'm not making numbers up here; the controlled studies that have been done agree with me. See here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4945566 Worse/less experienced developers see a much greater increase in output, and better and more experienced developers see much less improvement. AI are great at generating junior level work en masse, but their output generally is not up to quality and functional…

So I often use Github Copilot at work usually with o1-preview as the LLM. This often isn't "autocomplete" which generally uses a lower end model, I almost exclusively use the inline chat. That being said.. I do also use the auto-complete a lot when editing. I might create a comment on what I want to do and have it auto-complete, that is usually pretty accurate, and also works well with me since I liked Code Complete comment then implement method.

For example I needed to create a starting point for 4 langchain tools that would use different prompts. They are initially similar but, I'll be deverging them. I would do something like copy the file of one. select all then use the inline chat to ask o1 to rename the file, rip out some stuff and make sure the naming was internally consistent. Then I might attach additional output schema file and the maybe something else I want it to integrate with and tell it to go to town. About 90% of the work is done right.. then I just have to touch up. (This specific use case is not typical, but it is an example where it saved me time, I have them scafolded out and functional while listening to a keynote and in-between meetings.. then in the laster day I validated it. There were a handful of misses that I needed to clean up.)

Re: I automated my job application process

#617

Post by captainmuon »

When I see posts like this, I think either I'm doing something wrong or they're doing something wrong. I never wrote hundreds of applications. When I'm looking for a job, I investigate a couple of companies where I'd like to work, write a handful of thought-out applications, and generally get at least a response, in most cases an invitation for an interview. Granted, I have a university degree but I guess many people here have one, too. I also live in a medium-sized German town, but if anything that should make it harder to find a job, not easier.

Isn't there right now a shortage of skilled tech workers? I feel like right now the hiring criteria in many places is "whoever comes through the door". I know we'd probably hire anybody who knows how to code, is reliable, and can work in a team.

Re: I automated my job application process

#618

Post by casenmgreen »

captainmuon wrote: post #617

When I see posts like this, I think either I'm doing something wrong or they're doing something wrong. I never wrote hundreds of applications. When I'm looking for a job, I investigate a couple of companies where I'd like to work, write a handful of thought-out applications, and generally get at least a response, in most cases an invitation for an interview. Granted, I have a university degree but I guess many people…

I suspect Germany is different. I see here work is much more word-of-mouth, and so I think LLM spam hasn't taken off, because most jobs are not much advertised as they are in the UK/USA. People are like "I know someone who can do that" and then a friend let's you know there's some work you could do.

Re: I automated my job application process

#619

Post by pjmlp »

captainmuon wrote: post #617

When I see posts like this, I think either I'm doing something wrong or they're doing something wrong. I never wrote hundreds of applications. When I'm looking for a job, I investigate a couple of companies where I'd like to work, write a handful of thought-out applications, and generally get at least a response, in most cases an invitation for an interview. Granted, I have a university degree but I guess many people…

I also live in Germany, and my experience is that while there might be a shortage, unless the CV experience from the last year reflects what HR is asking about, it doesn't matter, even you happened to do that lets say five years ago.

Oh, and better have those recommendation letters free of any negative stuff disguised as positive feedback.

Re: I automated my job application process

#620

Post by randomNumber7 »

jagged-chisel wrote: post #485
ericjmorey wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't seem like your resume or approach in applying to open positions is your problem. It seems like you're not connecting well with the interviewers in some way.

And how does one know how to connect with interviewers when every individual is different, and when there is no feedback from the interviewer’s side?

Some people are able to do that subconsciously. If your not one of them you should probably learn some basics in how to read body language.

Then you should also apply some mirroring. I wouldnt overdo it with body language, but mirroring with spoken language can be quite powerful (and is more stealthy). Normally there are many different ways in our language to express an idea. Try to do it in a way that is natural to your counterpart.

Look at what you can infer from the appearance of the interviewer. Maybe you can also find out more about him before the interview. What generation does he belong to? Is he conservative/progressive/whatever? What programming languages is he familiar with? ...

Does he look rather old and conservative? - Maybe dont talk about your love for the newest tech hype. Put an emphasis on your good cs fundamentals.

Is he a Java programmer? - use the word interface

Is he a Haskell programmer? - use the word typeclass

Is he a nice guy? - try to be nice

Is he not a nice guy? - dont be too nice

etc...

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