Ask HN: How to deal with recurring layoffs affecting your career? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to deal with recurring layoffs affecting your career?

9 pointsdjellybeans8 comments

I realized that I have a recurring problem in my career as a programmer, which is that I almost always get laid off from my jobs without time to prepare for it. And then I am constantly picking up the pieces in life as I return to job searches and spending my bank account, as I do not have a solid plan B to back myself up.

Since graduating, I've always been going back and forth between working as a contractor for small-ish companies (and also low paying at that) for about a year or two, and applying for jobs for another year or two. And going back to being broke in the process. There's no way for me to manage a stable career or lifestyle like this.

I understand that layoffs happen even in the largest of companies. But I just wish I could stop spinning my wheels for so long.

So how do I get myself out of this vicious cycle? Recruiters aren't working out very well for me, and I do not have friends or colleagues that can refer me to suitable jobs. I don't want to play the long game anymore. Going though 4 job layoffs over the span of about 10 years tends to form this attitude, I guess.

Some more details about me: Chicago resident, mid 30s male, most experience is in web development, from agencies and consulting work to a few early startups. I apply to companies big or small, but incidentally the only offers I get are low-pay contract jobs from small companies.

Are you working as a contractor for an unspecified time at each company? One possible change could be to either engage with them on a set timeline (so you know to start looking for something new N months before the end), the other option is to continuously look for something, so that you can jump ship when you want to (for example be ready after a year).

For almost every company, yes I was working for an unspecified time. Continuously looking for work, keeping my ears to the ground sounds like a habit I should be getting into, right? I never thought about doing this prior to working as a programmer.

It's hard to say what to improve without more details, but contract work should be high paying because of the uncertainty. Could be issues with your resume and/or interviewing skills. For the latter, you could try interviewing.io. Almost everyone underestimates the amount of practice required to get good, and they procrastinate until it's too late (just like with networking). Also sounds like you're a generalist, which will work against you.

I have a career course that should give you a ton of ideas to help, see my profile for details. If it's taking you that long to find a job, there are some fundamental issues with your strategy and tactics.

How are you finding job openings? Classifieds? Recruiters? Networking?

I for one have never gotten anything beyond an entry level job from a classified ad.

Recruiters have a bad rep (some for good reason), but a good recruiter is your in to a lot of good jobs that aren't advertised.

But the best jobs come from networking. Every time I've gotten a salary bump of more than 10%, it's been an unsolicited offer from my network.

I mostly get jobs through the job boards, cold applying. I've used StackOverflow, Indeed, BuiltInChicago, Craigslist, LinkedIn, etc.

Third party recruiters usually don't work out for me, either. They contact me about a job, then put me in a loop of calling several places and sendind resumes to them. Might get a few interviews but no offers. Then the recruiters stay silent for a few months.

My personal network is fairly disappointing. I can count a total of two times that I have gotten job interviews through a colleague or friend. Most of the time, they don't have what I'm looking for, and tell me they'll keep an eye out for something. But it never pans out.

I don't do many social activities. I won't be motivated enough till I get my life on track. Not really big into social media either, but that's always been the case with me.

So right now, job listings have been the most effective way for me to convert to job offers. There's no shortage of mid-level to senior developer jobs in Chicago.

Instead of waiting for recruiters to contact you (the ones who do are usually the spammy and ineffective ones), try asking around and see if you can get a referral to a recruiter that someone you know has worked with (from either end) and found effective. You might even get some recommendations from HN.

It also sounds like you might have room to improve your interviewing skills - your description seems to suggest that that's the bottleneck in your funnel. That's something else a recruiter can help you improve your skills for; so can some job centers, or even a friend who's a hiring manager and willing to spend a little time mock-interviewing.

Good luck!

Are there any sources for sample video interviews that I can watch and review? Just as there are websites that show sample resumes for different professions?

Right now I have used Pramp and went on one mock interview so far, to work on my technical skills. Got anywhere between 2/7 and 3/7 in the qualities I was reviewed for, but I can still take more interviews to improve there.

The most insightful interview has been with Triplebyte, though. They went into great detail telling. In general, I code well, but I code slow. Also, they said I wasn't really showing much depth in any particular area, although I have showcased a variety of skills.

I'm gonna try finding a professional who has time to do a mock interview with me. Setting up time for one may be the only tricky thing.

You need to find a way to get your FY money, maybe use the time between jobs...

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