Tech hiring is broken so how can I find a new job? | Hacker News Reader

Tech hiring is broken so how can I find a new job?

10 pointsalansmitheebk18 comments

I'm a senior front-end developer at my current job. I'm tired of working here but having trouble finding a new job. I have 8 years of experience, which includes having done some fullstack stuff with PHP in the past. I'm obviously qualified to be a senior front-end dev because uh.. I AM one... Problem is I don't have a CS degree and the interviews that I go on ask me questions about algorithms and data structures that I have trouble with. It seems a bit silly to me since these questions usually don't have much to do with frontend development (do backend devs get asked about how they would implement a mobile-first responsive design using CSS3 and HTML5?) but whatevs... it is what it is.

I'm planning on hitting the books (and coursera ) to brush up on this stuff, but I'd love to know if anyone else out there running into this same issue? If so, how are you coping with it?

View on HN

Same here. 9yr of front-end dev/design experience and no luck. Applied for over 120 jobs (between 2015 & Today), and not 1 single interview. Nothing.

I have the education (Bachelors in Digital Design & Masters in HCI)...I have the experience & diversity of project work..... yet, I can't seem to land an interview out of 120 applications. What gives?

Perhaps it's my resume, perhaps it's my skill set, or the places I am applying, or maybe the market it flooded with dudes like you & me...I'm not sure.

It is very frustrating. I don't know what to do about it. Maybe get another degree....?

I always recommend very specific resumes and cover-letters written against the job description.

Imagine being a hiring manager, getting 20 resumes that all look "good" and one that is obviously specifically for this job.

For the resume, keep the design of it super-simple and modular (so you can swap in pieces as necessary). Make sure to use every keyword you see in the job-description (you could be being auto-filtered by software or recruiter that doesn't really understand your resume -- both use keywords) I personally also bold them and repeat them in every place it would be relevant to do so.

The cover letter is a writing sample where you are making an argument for why they should interview you. You know the part where they say "Excellent communication skills" -- this is the part where you show that. It should be impossible for you to send this letter to anyone else and have it make sense.

If you do this, you probably can't apply to many jobs -- instead be choosy about where you apply -- pick the places where the letter and resume you send can be a bingo for the job.

If you get in touch, I can give more specific pointers. Show me a job description that you thought was ideal for you and the resume/letter you sent. I can give you an example of mine.

If you're not getting to the interview stage with that many applications, I'm guessing it's your resume or cover letter.

I'd be happy to look it over, shoot me an email at #{my username} at mail.gvsu.edu

sent

Seriously? I thought companies fight for people with good skill set and i see recruiters bothering me on Linkedin all the time. Did you try applying for start ups?

I have intentionally not applied to startups. I want to work for an organization with some staying power and not the 'flavor of the week'. With a wife & 2 kids, the risk of working somewhere that may go belly up in 3yrs becomes a huge factor when applying.

I'm sorry you are having trouble finding work. I know what it is to have to support a family.

It can be demotivating, but don't give up, and take a look at some of your algorithm books. Or cut to the chase:

http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-Coding-Interview-Programming-...

I understand! But yes, there's a definitive gap in the applications vs interview calls and how the applicants are picked up for interviews in general.

Where are you located?

midwest.

This is a problem in general. There were so many instances where the candidates were turned down because they couldn't write an algorithm from text book. The famous example being the guy who made Homebrew.

Reasons are below: 1) The existing assessment methods being used have been working for companies except in some cases. 2) There's no new way(yet) to assess candidates apart from the experience related questions. some companies use pair programming interviews which is by far the only different way which seems to be working. 3) Companies don't have time/resources to screen every candidate over phone, so they end up sending a link to hackerrank or some other programming questions site. And there are no custom assessments generated based on the candidate profile, rather these are very generic aptitude/algorithmic questions.

Don't look for a job, look instead for people you can help.

Get out of your bubble-- start attending meet-ups, conferences, industry trade events. Make new friends and contacts. Ask around who's doing interesting work? Who's struggling with technologies in your area of expertise? Who might need dev help?

That's the Old School informal search approach where you uncover those famous 'hidden jobs'. And it still works!

So really just "don't be introverted." I agree with you, and all that stuff is good, but sometimes it all can sound a bit much when you just want to do some programming for someone else. It's not that you shouldn't be doing these things, it just takes A LOT more energy for some people to add these tasks along with their normal schedule.

> it just takes A LOT more energy for some people to add these tasks along with their normal schedule.

I'm not a social butterfly by nature, but I do enjoy conversations with intelligent people. If a new job truly is a priority, carving out the time (1 or 2 events a month) is an entirely workable stretch. And often you can use "professional development" as cover to get away from work.

As a hiring manager I see a lot of resumes and I am frequently shocked at how poorly many candidates come across on their resume. There may actually be nothing wrong with your skillset or experience, but many can't make it show on their resume.

If for every position you did:

1. Feature enhancements in HTML, CSS and JS 2. Bug fixes and debugging 3. Wrote scripts, created new layouts etc etc

...then sorry, I am not even interviewing you because you don't seem to be thinking very critically about your job and what you are really here to do for the company.

Always express your resume in terms of accomplishments and what change you produced that affected the ultimate goal of the business.

So no, you didn't do "feature enhancements', you "Increased conversion rate by 5% after acting upon A/B test results. Streamlined the customer on-boarding experience by reducing clutter, pre filling forms, and cutting page latency."

After 8 yeas of experience and a brief listing of technologies you frequently work with somewhere on your resume, I don't really care what technology you used to accomplish the above. The fact that this is how you think about your role at the company is what matters to me. Any deficiencies or strengths will come out during the interview but I'll definitely invite you for a conversation.

And I agree, interviewing front end devs using algorithm puzzles are bullshit. A clear sign the company hiring doesn't know what it actually needs in a person but just do it because it's what Google does (or did).

I've found that working with recruiters and going to conferences/meetups works much better than applying via a web form.

The best jobs I've ever gotten were through connections. I've had some good luck sending in applications through web forms blindly but the jobs weren't that enjoyable. I suppose at some level this was due to the opaqueness of the entire process.

Tech hiring is fucked.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com