Comment by peterburkimsher | Hacker News Reader

Comment by peterburkimsher | Hacker News Reader

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peterburkimsher

Thank you. I wish I could share some good news now, 10 years on, but sadly I can't. That time was during my exchange programme to UCSB.

When I graduated, I went to Canada on a Working Holiday visa. I found a job at a startup, but they only paid 600 CAD/month. I ended up doing remote work instead. In New Zealand I had a good summer job, so saved a little. In Japan I was unemployed, I foolishly went there without finding a job first. Then I worked in South Korea with North Korean refugees for 2 months on a stipend that covered food and shelter. Then a summer job in Austria that paid. Then volunteer missionary work, which emptied my savings. Then failing to find a job in the Netherlands. Then unpaid work at a PCB factory in China, but they let me stay in the dorm and eat in the cafeteria for free. Then a paid job in Shenzhen, and I had savings again. Then trying to start PhD in Korea, but the professor didn't pay my scholarship and my savings were gone soon. Then 5000 INR/mo for a social enterprise in India. Then 4 years in Taiwan for a microSD card manufacturer, and finally saving up enough for plane tickets once a year to visit family. But that ended a couple of months ago.

Now I'm unemployed, living with parents, trying to find anything. My dream had been to return to NZ or Canada but I'll give up dreams just to have income again. Those who give advice usually just criticise my résumé without ideas of how to find a job.

I've been trying since March. I tried job websites (Seek, Indeed). LinkedIn. Direct applications to companies. Custom cover letters. Rewriting my résumé twice. Contacting engineers via their Github profiles to offer to work together on open-source just to get an introduction. Side projects on Show HN. Several recruiters. Friends from previous summer jobs. Offering to start a data migration service with my old Apple IIgs or Mac Plus. Prayer. Now I'm just cold-emailing every company on the accredited employers list. Nothing's working. Please, if you have any idea what I can try next, please get in touch.

I suspect by your great amount of traveling around that the problem is not the job market, but your difficulty integrating with society (even outside of any one culture) as a whole. I hope that you can find stability, at least up to your yearnings to travel and live life as a rolling stone. The first step is for you to realize that who you are and what you want to achieve are in conflict with each other. You have had some very low points it sounds like and have not yet changed. Perhaps you never realized that the problem is not with those around you, but within your own self. This is a very self defeating illusion.

I stayed in Taiwan for 4 years to prove that I can settle. Unfortunately their immigration policy can't make that permanent.

I was born with nationality issues that caused me to wander, looking for somewhere that will welcome me. Identity-wise, I associate well with TCKs, international students, and the CouchSurfing community. A full explanation why I don't have a "home" is in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17695674

Hey Peter,

Did a quick google search and found your GitHub repo. I feel for you on the "not finding a job" thing. I would offer this advice: Try and keep "empty" spots in your resume to a minimum. If there is anything you can add to it that can answer for the blank times, that shows employers that you are driven. My gut says you are good at "IT things," with no specific speciality in a particular area.

Another thing to keep in mind is this: the only job that is beneath you right now is one that doesn't pay. Take anything, because going to work and earning some wage will do wonders for your mental health, and will get you in a better mindset. On top of that, have you approached any recruiters in your area or in the areas you want to work? If you are clear to them that you are going to cover your own relocation costs, perhaps a company would be willing to look at a work visa applicant that way. I can tell you from my experience, from the companies I have worked for doing dev in the US, we wouldn't be interested in dealing with relocating a worker. I am in the West side of Michigan, US. I'm not saying you aren't employable, but just giving some info I've seen.

One of the areas you are inherently ahead of the curve on is i810 work. Your knowledge of IT and also working in Asian countries and abroad makes you a prime person for that kind of work. Perhaps you could market yourself in that way?

I hope this is more helpful to you than "lol get a better resume noob" kind of feedback you have been getting.

Thank you; it's really encouraging to read your comments. I agree - I'll take anything now. For most countries I already have the visa requirements memorised, and I can afford a one-way plane ticket and one month of survival costs. Even though that probably means taking a job in a place where I can't settle long-term, I'll take it now because something is better than nothing.

How about those remote work websites? Upwork and the like?

And you could start from non-related to IT work (you've done some anyway) like waiter, assistant etc, and with the salary, grow from there (try to find side-gigs, do some personal projects, etc).

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