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Panic at the Job Market

matt.sh

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Re: Panic at the Job Market

#621

Post by vhcr »

Terr_ wrote: post #476
rafaelmn wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As in, a person who has used and learned a dozen plus languages but only tacitly used C++ suddenly will be a complete invalid when trying to write in C++? I've switched at least 5 languages professionally and used probably 5 more for extended periods of time and wrote a decent chunk of C++ "back in the day". I'd say C++ is the least suitable for "learn on the job" approach out of any language I can think of (I'm lu…

> I'd say C++ is the least suitable for "learn on the job" approach out of any language I can think of Anecdote: I've got a couple languages and decades under my belt, and a very simple C/C++ Arduino project is making me doubt my sanity. Ex: Serial.printf("%s", String("Hello world...")); // Emits 4 nonsense bytes... But shorter literals work fine. ________________________ EDIT: To save readers some time--I didn't int…

Random 4 bytes sounds like reading a pointer as something else, shouldn't be too hard to debug.

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#622

Post by mortenjorck »

janalsncm wrote: post #501
abvdasker wrote: post #444

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've thought about this a bit and have decided the main barrier to realizing a software development worker co-op is getting together the sufficient startup capital. A handful of regular tech workers probably lack the liquid capital to self-fund a company. And good luck convincing a VC to invest in a worker coop. The easiest business to build like this would be a software consultancy since it doesn't actually require…

The H1B visa is one reason. Unions function by constraining the supply of labor. If companies can simply import labor, you can’t constrain supply. Bonus points if you can underpay the immigrants. H1B should be much more heavily scrutinized. And for those who are granted visas, their compensation needs to be exceptional, so that it doesn’t compete with American workers.

It’ll never happen, but I’d vote for any politician campaigning on requiring, across the board, that H-1Bs be in the top 10% of industry comp for the role.

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#623

Post by simoncion »

mr90210 wrote: post #572
xyzniels wrote: post #506

The easy answer is stop being such a 'servant' and work on per project basis. I'm yet to understand why people are so prone to being slaves of corporations. It's the most degrading experience with zero motivation on the job. Just retake your dignity.

Apologies for the following assumption: You must be based in Europe. I assumed that because in certain countries in the EU, such as Germany, Belgium, Poland, Ireland, companies are quite used to working with independent contractors. I am not sure that’s the case in the US.

It's also a lot easier to make contract work work when you live somewhere where your taxes pay for your routine (and not-so-routine) healthcare and your education.

In places that don't have that sort of system, it's rough as fuck to create the safety net required to catch you when you work dries up, and at least as rough to watch the net burn as it was to create it.

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#624

Post by twodave »

In my area at least, hiring isn’t slowing so much, but the quality of the average candidate has cratered in the last 5-10 years. My opinion personally on this is that if you can’t find a job building software, you are suffering from some combination of these factors:

* Titles be damned, you aren’t actually a very talented engineer. Maybe this isn’t the right job for you.

* You’re coming off as a jerk. Ask your friends to be honest with you. Often we are the last ones to recognize our own faults. Either way, somehow you have managed to become a talented software engineer and haven’t made any meaningful connections along the way. Why not?

* You don’t speak fluent English. This one isn’t any kind of cultural bias, but if I have to work with you we need to be able to communicate easily.

I know I am being a bit over-broad, but I do think much of the current state of our industry is predicated on the fact that there are even more folks faking it than normal. And it’s also probably true that this flooding of the market with noise is detrimental to the people who have the skill and just lack the personal connections to find work.

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#625

Post by simoncion »

beginnings wrote: post #591

ive been coding for about 8 years and never applied for a job, was always working towards building my own thing, the thought of going through the application process is depressing, and my profile is practically unemployable in any case over the last few years it was annoying seeing noobs getting 6 figures for easy work while I never got a penny for my near decade of effort, but looking at how it has flipped recently,…

I dunno. More money buys more financial security, and more financial security tends to bring more contentment.

Also, there's nothing that says you can't go be a code money for many peanuts, quit when you get tired of it and go back to welding for few peanuts, and repeat when you're ready for another swing in the code mines.

Additionally, if you're in the US, and want to program, try applying for defense contracting jobs. Some of the best jobs I've ever had were at places like that.

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#626

Post by oblio »

oldpersonintx wrote: post #229
jldugger wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have many friends (in Europe) EU kind of in a recession though. And there's a well known link between interest rates and unemployment. So it's really not surprising to hear that employment in the EU is harder after the ECB raised rates. And good news: they're lowering them now. What really needs explaining is why, despite the unusually strong general US job market[1] for several years now, the US tech market spec…

tech companies are in a long-term process of moving most roles (not all) to lower-comp that often means relocating the job or just low-balling people here there will always be an elite who are very well paid, but we are now seeing the long-term reformat of the rank-and-file step 1 is to freeze hiring and let attrition move the numbers down...this builds up a body of desperate job-seekers who will work for less

Exactly. It's also an employee refresh. Plus they're pushing down any optional payment like bonuses, RSUs.

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#627

Post by zifpanachr23 »

Anecdotally (starting a new job soon), it's the web space (loosely defined) that seems to have an abysmal market at the moment.

Non start up companies doing non-flashy non-web stuff are still looking for talent. It just won't pay what HN posters expect and won't be something you can talk about at Silicon Valley cocktail parties.

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#628

Post by euvin »

PheonixPharts wrote: post #134
kredd wrote: post #64

It really sucks right now, but recent grads and juniors are suffering the most right now, to my understanding. There's an over-production of CS grads, as the industry looked very lucrative, so a lot of people decided to go software engineering route. It's hard to make a case for start ups to bet on inexperienced people. For mature companies, why pay for 2 juniors, when you can get a senior for 1.5 price, who might do…

> It really sucks right now For me, it's been the opposite: the last 2 years have been the best time I've had working in tech since the early 2010s. Around 2019 I was seriously considering leaving the field (if it didn't pay so much) as the entire industry had turned into a bunch of leet code grinding, TC chasing, mediocre drones. It was incredibly hard to find people working on actual problems let alone challenging/…

Where did you find your team, or all these small teams? I don't suppose it's through regular job boards, is it through more intimate channels like irl events, connections?

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#629

Post by simoncion »

theredsix wrote: post #448

The author's tone is condescending, angry and entitled. If everyday interactions with him followed the same tone, I would argue that he is the exact type of person behavioral interviews are meant to screen out (technically competent but a nightmare to work with).

If this guy has reasonable technical chops, he seems like someone who would be great to work with.

It's always, always good to have people in your group who are willing to call a steaming shitpile a steaming shitpile. It's also always good to have people in your group who can fairly rapidly turn a steaming shitpile into something that's fit for purpose and reasonably maintainable.

Re: Panic at the Job Market

#630

Post by sundalia »

There's good points the author makes about problems in interviews + some economical facts but pieces like:

> Sorry, you’re not qualified to be a professional software developer because you wore the wrong color shirt to the interview. You should know the color buleruplange is triggering to generation delta

Just make me feel like I wouldn't like to work with this person.

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