Ask HN: What can I do differently in my job search? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What can I do differently in my job search?

I know there are similar threads but would be nice to have a kind of updated one. Any ideas (no matter how obvious they may seem) are appreciated. I think this can help other job finders as well.

Some of my own are:

Going to meetups (I need to do this more) LinkedIn Premium (looking up alumni) Cold emailing companies Applying to positions I am definitely under-qualified for (10 years of experience in Crystal Lang required)

I also do manage to get interviews but I often don't pass the non-technical screen(not a lack of culture fit but it's more like "sorry you don't have 10 years of experience in X") or I fumble the coding part (Good God, I hate Hacker rank).

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From your list, I only agree with attending meetups. LinkedIn is garbage, you don't need Premium account to get spammed by recruiters. Cold emailing companies, I've never tried but I hear that it's very rare to get a response.

I would recommend to take the time to build a portfolio. Have some serious Github/Gitlab repos to show your work. Better to have a handful of good repos than 100 useless forks that you never use. That's usually how I avoid BS coding exercise. When they send me a Hacker Rank link, I reply with a link to my profile "here is my real code, no balancing of red/black trees, but real world problems solved by real world solutions, take it or leave it", some take it, some don't because they want to stick to their process.

TBH, not passing the non-technical screening is a little concerning. Did you get any feedback on that? Do you sound like a bad co-worker? Are you not well-spoken?

Sorry I should clarify. It's not the lack of culture fit. I am usually screened by someone non technical who looks at my experience and determines I don't have enough years of experience in X or Y.

Years of experience is just a half-assed but objective proxy for "are you good at this?"

Do you feel like you're a good match for the positions? If you're not a good match the HR person is doing their job and doing you a favor by saving your time. If you are a good match and you're still getting rejected, you need to tweak your soft interview skills. You may need to color up your resume too so the HR person doesn't have the concern in the first place. Even if you don't have 3 years experience with X, knowing it should be enough to get you talking to someone who can evaluate you on it.

Years of experience is how many years of experience you have, not whether or not you are good at it. A lot of companies simply won't hire if you don't have the experience, regardless of how good you are.

I'd highly recommend reading "What Color Is Your Parachute" by Richard Nelson Bolles. He's covered this there quite well.

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