[HN Gopher] Ask HN: Where Are All the Jobs At?
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Ask HN: Where Are All the Jobs At?
I've been out of work for a very long time and I'm not sure what to
do anymore. It seems that I'm effecitvely unemployable. For the
longest time, I was trying to get another remote developer job.
Nothing crazy wasn't really targeting tech companies or anything,
just remote work that would pay me well enough to keep going. It
took me too long to realize that this was going to be impossible
and why. I managed to get interviews throughout this time, but it
always ended with them selecting another candidate. Of course now,
I'm more open to in-site roles, but I'm in no position to move,
especially not to some high CoL area. Now I'm fucked. I'm
currently living off a friend, and this isn't going to last
forever. I've been applying to anything that looks like I could
remotely be considered qualified for. Retail and restaurant
companies won't ever respond to my applications, despite constantly
spamming the same jobs month after month. If the job market is
ostensibly so great, why can't I manage to find _anything_? I swear
it was easier to find a job when I didn 't have any work experience
at all than it is now. It's not just me. I had another friend, not
a tech worker, who was out of work for a long time. Most of the
interviews they got turned out to be MLMs and other sales related
Ponzi schemes. They finally found a job, but it's not paying nearly
enough for them to get back on their feet. My network has also
utterly failed me. I've had people left and right offer their help
in getting me a job, everything has fallen flat.
Author : notsurenymore
Score : 30 points
Date : 2023-09-22 20:27 UTC (2 hours ago)
| ostenning wrote:
| The markets, along with the world economy are undergoing
| substantial change.
|
| Its crunch time for lots of people in the west - and if you have
| a bog standard web development job with little specialization,
| you will be competing with huge numbers of people to get work,
| including all of those recent juniors entering the market because
| of the boot camps they did a couple of years ago when things were
| frothy in the market. These jobs still exist - but competition
| will be more fierce.
|
| There are many things you can do proactively - and its important
| to stay proactive, even if you feel defeated. Maybe getting
| another FTE job isn't for you right now, then sidestep, find a
| side-hussle, or train up another skill and diversify in yourself
| so you can build back better and not be left vulnerable next time
| this happens.
|
| I think developers generally speaking overly invest in just
| development and computer-science, but there are metric shit-
| tonnes of ways to make money in this world. If you don't know any
| other way, learn some other way. Find some other domain of
| knowledge you always wanted to learn, and learn it, then figure
| out ways to create small businesses to monetize on it.
| notsurenymore wrote:
| > If you don't know any other way, learn some other way. Find
| some other domain of knowledge you always wanted to learn, and
| learn it, then figure out ways to create small businesses to
| monetize on it.
|
| I can "learn" anything. What I cannot do is synthesize years of
| experience in some other domain. Most jobs are not like web
| development. They are not interested in outsiders or people who
| lack traditional credentials and experience in their exact
| field.
| tayo42 wrote:
| > learn some other way. Find some other domain of knowledge you
| always wanted to learn, and learn it
|
| This is a multi-year commitment. Look at how long it is to go
| to school for a degree
| jondwillis wrote:
| Tech job market is fucked because rates aren't zero and money
| isn't free for the first time in like 15 years.
|
| Middle class continued to be crushed, everyone noticed that tech
| was the only way to have a shot at upper middle class, and rushed
| for the same doors.
|
| The "extras" that weren't making the cut got let go last year and
| even harder this year.
|
| The only way to win is to stop playing the game. Make your own
| company. Get a loan from the SBA. Fuck the disgusting wanna live
| forever VC extractions class. Get out of the rat race. Stop
| rewarding the cancerous leeches that are dismantling everything
| else so they can go do cocaine in Mykonos. Stop playing their
| game.
| notsurenymore wrote:
| > The only way to win is to stop playing the game. Make your
| own company
|
| I don't have the time nor the resources to do that now. If I
| could get a job that would allow me to stabilize a bit, then I
| could start thinking about that.
| jondwillis wrote:
| SBA loan! Friends and family loan. You'll get a job, feel
| stabler and safer for awhile, and be too tired to work on
| other stuff until the next time you're in the same boat.
| Graffur wrote:
| Is it just the states that the tech market is bad? What about
| moving abroad for awhile?
| notsurenymore wrote:
| If I could move at all right now, I would, but it would be
| difficult for me to move even domestically right now.
| throwaway9_22 wrote:
| Feel similarly unemployable. Year and half ago even FAANG
| recruiters were knocking down the door to talk and not having
| worked for a period didn't make me a leper. Now can't get any
| interviews pretty much regardless of position or salary. Tech job
| market is terrible.
| meiraleal wrote:
| > If the job market is ostensibly so great, why can't I manage to
| find anything?
|
| The tech market isn't doing very well. You can check it my the
| recurring posts like yours here, many with hundreds of comments.
| It is a tough time out there. I would recommend start something
| for yourself, an app, a saas project. It can help you keep up
| with the tech asked in the job posts and also have an excuse for
| the gap in your CV.
| [deleted]
| notsurenymore wrote:
| > The tech market isn't doing very well.
|
| I get that, but why can't I find anything else.
|
| Years ago, when I was working retail jobs, they would hire
| fucking anyone. I got stuck working with stoners, alcoholics,
| and just general clowns, but suddenly these sort of places
| won't hire me?
| mac_cain13 wrote:
| Of course I have no idea how you present yourself or how
| things exactly are at your location on earth, but they could
| feel you're overqualified. If you have tech jobs on your
| resume they could easily assume they can't pay you and/or you
| get bored at the job and leave quite quickly.
|
| In my experience the best way to get in somewhere is to build
| a personal connection. Try to reach out by phone or in person
| to the other side. Make sure you understand the person and
| the company on the other side. That really helps to get to
| the top of the list, especially at smaller companies. Then
| still it can take a thousand no's to get one yes.
|
| Good luck! Hope you land a job soon!
| Hermitian909 wrote:
| Retail not hiring people like you before the downturn as
| well.
|
| Your resume now signals "white collar upper-middle class" and
| retail will assume:
|
| - You'll still be looking for work when you join
|
| - You can't/won't work hard
|
| All my friends with PhDs in non-marketable specialties have
| faced this problem for a decade.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| Have you tried a remote government job?
|
| https://www.usds.gov/apply
|
| https://18f.gsa.gov/join/
|
| https://www.usajobs.gov/help/faq/job-announcement/remote/
| notsurenymore wrote:
| Yep, screened out of most I've applied to. I don't tend to get
| past the very rigid bureaucratic checklist they do. Local
| government too, can't be exactly sure why, but I assume it's
| the lack of a degree.
| bubbaharvey wrote:
| [dead]
| mikhael28 wrote:
| Take out student loans and go to university to either get your
| undergrad or graduate degree. Take time to reskill, and Uncle Sam
| will give you loans to live full-time as a student - not just for
| tuition, but for your living expenses. It will give you 2-4 years
| to recalibrate and future proof your career.
| notsurenymore wrote:
| I'd love to, but I don't think I'll be getting any aid. When I
| tried some years back, I was offered nothing. I wasn't making
| crazy money, middle class income for sure, but a fraction of
| what's considered "good" tech money and I was denied aid.
| mikhael28 wrote:
| I'm not saying get student aid, I'm just saying get student
| loans. Pay the retail amount, if you have to.
| https://lendedu.com/blog/loans-for-college-living-costs
| mikhael28 wrote:
| Fed offers guaranteed student loans, to my understanding.
| jstarfish wrote:
| You're currently unemployed and made nothing for a very long
| time. Your experience from a few years ago is no longer
| applicable.
|
| Unless there's something you're not disclosing like a drug
| conviction or being a dependent of your parents, you should
| be eligible for Pell grants and other offers. If you're a
| California resident, vocational school should be near-free
| for you. There are no criteria for student loans besides a
| pulse.
|
| Stay on your friend's good side and throw a few bucks his
| way. Getting an apartment with student loans as your only
| source of income can be tricky (in this market, I'd expect it
| impossible). You may be aged-out of dorms and they kick you
| out every summer anyway.
| notsurenymore wrote:
| > You're currently unemployed and made nothing for a very
| long time.
|
| Thats true, but iirc, when filling out the forms, they ask
| for tax information, from two years prior to the year
| you're applying.
|
| > Stay on your friend's good side and throw a few bucks his
| way.
|
| Unfortunately, they're probably moving out of state early
| next year, which is why I'm particularly. worried.
| Zetobal wrote:
| This. It's not the market per se...
| arbuge wrote:
| > Of course now, I'm more open to in-site roles, but I'm in no
| position to move, especially not to some high CoL area.
|
| So, still not really open to on-site then, unless it happens to
| be in your area?
| Invictus0 wrote:
| You can't squeeze juice from a stone. There are no jobs. Figure
| out something else to do.
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(page generated 2023-09-22 23:01 UTC)