Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#1

Post by icdtea » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:01 PM UTC

Hi all,

I am getting ready to start searching for a new position and am wanting to move from a hybrid position to fully remote to offer some flexibility with familial obligations but but I'm not entirely sure whether or not that's a realistic goal in this job environment.

Recently I've seeing some sentiment that suggests the job hunt process for us in tech has been improving, and that recruiters are starting to reach out more often than in the last year. If you've recently switched positions, what was your experience like and do you have any advice for those who are currently looking to change positions? For those that have gone remote, any specific insights?

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#2

Post by fidla » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:10 PM UTC

I applied to over 70 jobs at Hampshire college, UMass Amherst, Mt Holyoke College and Amherst College. All open positions, not 1 interview. I'm a white man. I finally took my race, and gender off the application and got 3 interviews right away

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#3

Post by r9295 » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:13 PM UTC

fidla wrote: post #2

I applied to over 70 jobs at Hampshire college, UMass Amherst, Mt Holyoke College and Amherst College. All open positions, not 1 interview. I'm a white man. I finally took my race, and gender off the application and got 3 interviews right away

Why did you include your race and gender in your application?

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#4

Post by hlieberman » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:13 PM UTC

fidla wrote: post #2

I applied to over 70 jobs at Hampshire college, UMass Amherst, Mt Holyoke College and Amherst College. All open positions, not 1 interview. I'm a white man. I finally took my race, and gender off the application and got 3 interviews right away

Honest question: why was race and gender even /on/ your application in the first place? Do you mean the EEO questions that they ask -- because those are absolutely not supposed to be part of the application. Or do you mean you have it on your resume? Because... why?

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#5

Post by spuzz » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:14 PM UTC

About a year ago, I sent out over a hundred resumes, got 3 callbacks, most of which weren't serious, and then there was one job I wrote a cover letter for because I matched everything they were looking for and handily got the job.

So it's both impossible and very very easy.

I think tech hiring is going to be a knife fight for a long time, because we're long past the point where only the thoroughly interested are looking for jobs in this industry, and there's so much money in the field that competition is high enough for people to take "towers of hanoi in optimized big o" interview tests seriously (probably because they cut the candidate field down to a manageable number)

>For those that have gone remote, any specific insights?

Be ready to manage your time, it's very easy to let 15 minutes off for chores turn into blowing off a whole day.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#6

Post by ldjkfkdsjnv » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:15 PM UTC

fidla wrote: post #2

I applied to over 70 jobs at Hampshire college, UMass Amherst, Mt Holyoke College and Amherst College. All open positions, not 1 interview. I'm a white man. I finally took my race, and gender off the application and got 3 interviews right away

Such is life. Not only do they not want to hire you from a dei perspective, many of the foreign engineers from India/China, also do not want to hire you. They want to hire their overseas brethren.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#7

Post by msarrel » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:15 PM UTC

There's a huge push to get everyone back into the office 5 days a week. Be prepared to be told NO remote work.

I have a similar experience to the previous comment, applied to about 50 jobs and got 2 interviews. Removed all dates from my resume and now I'm getting interviews left and right because they can't tell how "senior" I am.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#8

Post by tomwphillips » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:16 PM UTC

fidla wrote: post #2

I applied to over 70 jobs at Hampshire college, UMass Amherst, Mt Holyoke College and Amherst College. All open positions, not 1 interview. I'm a white man. I finally took my race, and gender off the application and got 3 interviews right away

Did you re-apply to the same places with and without those factors? Because if you didn’t, it’s hard to be sure what you’re implying is true.

Alternative explanation: you applied for competitive roles and didn’t hear back because there were better candidates, then you applied for less competitive roles and got interviews.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#9

Post by gosub100 » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:16 PM UTC

I got sacked at a W2 contract position at the end of December. It took me 2 full months to secure something. I have 20 years experience in C++. Lots of time-wasting overseas recruiters using scammy tactics, had 3 interviews total, and got one offer. It was scary because I couldn't tell if the slowness was due to my resume (I appear as a job hopper), normal wintertime slowdown in hiring, or a depression in the market. I took my only offer that is weaker on salary than I would like, but it seems relatively stable and I'm just thankful to have an income.

Re: Ask HN: Those who have recently undertaken a job hunt, what was your experience?

#10

Post by spuzz » Mon, Apr 15, 2024, 4:19 PM UTC

hlieberman wrote: post #4

fidla wrote: post #2

I applied to over 70 jobs at Hampshire college, UMass Amherst, Mt Holyoke College and Amherst College. All open positions, not 1 interview. I'm a white man. I finally took my race, and gender off the application and got 3 interviews right away

Honest question: why was race and gender even /on/ your application in the first place? Do you mean the EEO questions that they ask -- because those are absolutely not supposed to be part of the application. Or do you mean you have it on your resume? Because... why?

IDK about this guy, maybe just trolling, but when I was hiring I realized you can really tell from indirect information. Name and college name will give you a real strong guess.

It was weird because I was just trying to avoid h1-b applicants since I was told we weren't doing that, but I quickly realized that I was optimizing against indian people and also that taking bias out of the hiring process is a lie that HR tells itself for legal liability reasons.