[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How can I effectively restart my dev career?
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Ask HN: How can I effectively restart my dev career?
Hi, HN. I wanted to share my unique experience with you all and
hopefully get some good advice on what I should do next in my
career. I was laid off from my most recent position in 2022. I had
originally been hired in 2018 as a software dev but quickly
transitioned into more of a leadership role, and then finally into
digital transformation. I knew the transition was a risk and I was
counting on being in that role for several years, or even the rest
of my career. Sadly, things didn't work out that way. I haven't
written code for a business in several years now, although I do
have more recent contributions to open-source, especially my hobby
game engine, and I have many years of experience in programming,
architecture, DevSecOps, and leadership. After being laid off, I
went through some personal life issues that prevented me from
working, including taking care of a parent with dementia. Through
this unique set of circumstances I am finding it difficult to find
work. Even though I have 20+ years of software development
experience and am completely self-taught, employers only seem to
take a "what have you done lately?" approach during hiring. I've
found it difficult to communicate my unique experiences to them in
interviews, which I've found to be heavily scripted and impersonal
to a fault. Essentially, there doesn't seem to be much empathy in
hiring. I feel like I'm being "Pareto principled," so-to-speak.
Does someone with my experience really have to grind leetcode and
memorize algorithms to prove his capability? Is it realistic for me
to expect to be able to work on a software team again after having
transitioned away from software development? I'd be interested in
management, but in my experience managers and directors either
already have experience or transition into those roles from within
a company rather than between jobs. Basically, _I_ know I 'm fully
capable but I've found it difficult to prove that to ornery
employers employing what I see as broken hiring practices. I've
been involved myself in hiring for several years and I always made
an effort to take an empathetic approach with people I interviewed.
Sadly, I seem to be one of few who take that approach. I've
considered interviewing for more junior positions but I'm concerned
that I'll be seen as overqualified. I'm frustrated and, to be
quite honest, worried that I've lost my career after this
confluence of unfortunate events. What does HN think I should do in
my position? There is a lot more to the story than I feel
comfortable posting here, so anyone who wants to reach out to me
directly can find my contact information in my HN profile. My
LinkedIn profile URL is also available in my HN profile.
Author : nathanaldensr
Score : 13 points
Date : 2024-06-16 19:55 UTC (3 hours ago)
| Eggs-n-Jakey wrote:
| Maybe do some contracting to get your recent xp up
| nathanaldensr wrote:
| So far, in my experience with interviews, it hasn't mattered
| much whether the position was full-time or contract. Perhaps
| I've simply gotten unlucky with the companies I've interviewed
| with; it's hard for me to say. I'd love to find a short-term
| contract, especially if it were something like .NET, in which I
| have nearly 20 years of experience.
| nathanaldensr wrote:
| A tangential question to my post: the use of recruiters. Would I
| benefit from using a recruiter? Would they have additional
| capabilities to filter employers to only those amenable to my
| situation?
| dustingetz wrote:
| 1. resumeraiders.com
|
| 2. bear labor market means it can take 50+ applications (easy
| apply doesn't count)
|
| 3. get a coach, they can help optimize your answers for
| nontechnical interviews while you work on your technical strategy
|
| 4. try crufty industries - government, defense, healthcare
| nathanaldensr wrote:
| I'm curious why Easy Apply doesn't count.
| brudgers wrote:
| Have you reached out to everyone you have ever worked under,
| worked over, and worked beside?
|
| With twenty years experience, "why isn't this person working with
| someone they know?" is a reasonable question an interviewer might
| ask themselves. Even if only subconsciously.
|
| It makes sense to assume that's the case. And it makes sense to
| ask yourself why that isn't the case. As a person becomes more
| senior, what it is like to work with them is more constant and
| how it would be to work with them is a bigger factor. Good luck.
| blacksoil wrote:
| Meanwhile applying, how about working on a project that you can
| showcase? Use the latest popular technologies in terms of
| maximizing chance of getting hired.
|
| I think it's pretty normal for hiring team to be worried to hire
| somebody who hasn't coded significantly for the past 3 years to
| do coding role.
| kagakuninja wrote:
| Good luck, I'm sympathetic as I've gone through some rough
| patches, and once thought my career was over.
|
| Looking at my career, it tanked at age 44, in 2007 due to the
| financial crisis, and has never truly recovered. Part of this is
| the reality of getting old. Age discrimination is real.
|
| I am now 60, and still employed, but mainly with contracts, and
| even those have been difficult to get, in part because I am not a
| good interviewer.
|
| My approach has been to focus on senior software engineering
| roles, even though that could be considered "junior" given my
| decades of experience.
|
| All I can suggest is that you cram for interviews for whatever
| roles you are hoping to get. Read Cracking the Coding Interview,
| practice solving problems on Hacker Rank, cram for design and
| behavioral interviews, etc.
|
| Yes, I had to practice doing l33t code bullshit. It is part of
| how we have to play the game.
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