Pluck and hard work, or luck of birth? Two stories, one man. (2019)
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It also reminds me of my own life. Instead of settling down straight after university, I visited many places, usually on Working Holiday visas, to choose where in the world to settle down. This meant having to apply for jobs quite frequently, and getting broad experience. Below is a confession. I feel guilt about the way that I've been helped, because the injustice of the application process seems wrong. That reinforces the Impostor Syndrome [1]. I won't name specific employers, only countries. When countries are listed twice, that's because of two different roles.
Family connections:
Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria
Own connections (web forums, Hackerspaces, church):
California, Taiwan (x2), South Korea, UK, China (x2), India, New Zealand
Job/university applications:
UK, Canada, South Korea
The root cause of this seems to be that HR compare people, whereas technically-minded individuals like me prefer to compare measurable skills. Name-dropping is more meaningful to HR that people like to think. Being able to compare yourself to a famous celebrity might help. Startups are often easier to get into, because they don't have professional HR. Yet startups often raise money through family and friends.
The most powerful way to get into a company, though, is having a manager on the inside invite you. Then everything will breeze through HR. This is part of the reason why Hacker News can be so important - for the social connections that are built. This community also encourages creativity (Show HN).
I wish I knew how to help the people who I've met along the way, some of whom are incredibly talented, but had to return to their country of citizenship just because employers didn't give them a second look, and gave positions to friends of the boss. I want to help, but feel so insecure of my own position (see [1]) that I wonder whether anyone would really believe me if I mention to managers that someone is talented.
I still remember the distinguished university professor who first told me how the world REALLY works. This made me at once both more cynical and more relaxed.