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Comment by Mc_Big_G | Hacker News Reader

My wife is seeing this now. I commented (under my old nick) on her great experience and inability to get a job here:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=725852

At the time I thought it was due to her not being a US citizen and others in the thread thought that perhaps it was due to location (Toledo/Detroit area which is suffering).

We've since relocated to the SF Bay area and she is still not getting any calls despite having fantastic IT experience. At this point I can only attribute the lack of interest to the fact that she is unemployed and/or that she hasn't worked in 5 years due to marrying me, moving from Spain and the time it takes to get a visa/work permit.

EDIT: Technically she worked for one year in Toledo at a Kohl's dept. store unloading trucks and folding clothes. This is soul-crushing for someone who was at a Director level position in IT, but she is the kind of person who will do whatever is necessary.

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(You're probably getting all sorts of back-seat job-hunters giving you/her advice, so apologies if this is frustrating.)

I highly recommend she network/attend events/meet industry people outside of a job hunting context. What technical topics is she into? What business topics? She should be around topics/events she naturally finds interesting, and lots of opportunities will come up.

Though I have my own indie business and am not seeking employment, people inquire about jobs I may be interested in all the time. (My point? If you're concerned her current job status is influencing things, having people admiring of one's ideas, talent, etc... before they even know where you work... would solve that dynamic.)

I feel especially confident about this recommendation because like your wife, I have more of an IT background than dev (which is indisputably undergoing a talent shortage... but so is IT.)

If she's more into virtual networking/learning, I can't recommend Twitter enough. You have to put effort into following great folks, but I've learned so much stuff from Twitter buddies.

buena suerte :D

[aside: I am also English/Spanish bilingual and have just started to enjoy http://www.noticiashacker.com, which is a Spanish Hacker News. She may like that, too.]

It sounds like she may not be connecting with the right people. Specifically, she might want to talk (in person, repeatedly) with managers / other decision makers. Once she's convinced one of them, then they can push internally to get her hired.

Basically, the goal is to convince the correct people at a specific company that they want to hire her. This is rarely accomplished by resume carpet-bombing.

It's worked for me. I landed my first job when I was still in high school (which allowed me to drop out). I landed my second job by talking with their lead designer over IRC / AIM, showing him how enthusiastic I was, explaining the kinds of things I could do, etc, until he finally gave me a chance to prove it.

I should probably mention that both times, I never brought up money until they did.

Good luck!

Absolutely correct. The savvy candidate has always known, you need to somehow do an end-run around HR and get the attention of people who will be your cow-orkers or your manager. Get them to submit your CV via internal channels, and chase it up, acting as your sponsor from within. Industry events, participating in an online/offline community, "networking" are the way to do this.

Volunteering and enthusiasm has worked for me.

The old adage about doing what you would do for free is very powerful. It also helps companies make the decision to let you in the door. Enthusiastic? Willing to work for free? Why wouldn't I try out this person?

If a job opens up you're well placed to get it. If you were wrong about the job and it sucks you can get out easily. If you're actually useful companies will often discover they have money to hire you. If, after a while, you don't get an internal offer, well you're still actively working in the field of your choice which eliminates the original problem of being perceived as 'unemployed' and you can look elsewhere!

Finally I would recommend even part time work for no pay rather than the soul crushing slog through craigslist and sitting at home all day.

I'd go to every possibly relevant meetup and try to find someone that needs her services and offer them for free.

Or start a meetup of her own to attract exactly the sort of people she wants to meet. Find a place nearby and its actually cheaper to pay meetup its fee than spend an hour traveling to someone else's meetup.

Contracting might also be the way to go. If they can get rid of you easily, an employer can take more risk.

Is your wife still looking for an IT position in the SF Bay Area? The IT guy next door (San Francisco) just came and told me that he's quitting on short notice to found a startup, and now his company needs an IT guy. It's not anything close to what your wife was used to doing -- just running the IT for a gaming studio -- but thought I would check with you.

Reply to this comment with an email address I can contact you at.

Much appreciated! email is qq66 <<at>> mcgintech com

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