I switched careers but can’t find a job | Hacker News Reader

I switched careers but can’t find a job

3 pointswho-me5 comments

About a year ago, I left my old job and decided to pursue a job in computer science.

I did a lot of self study and coding bootcamps. I also do coding challenges to practice for interviews.

I’ve been having a hard time finding an entry level job though. I use LinkedIn to search for new roles. It seems like every job requires at least a bachelors degree.

I’ve mostly gotten rejections. The offers I did get were trying to pay well under the average salary of a junior software engineer and my previous job.

Does anyone have experience with what I’m trying to do? Where do I go looking for jobs that don’t mind giving me a fair shot?

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First rule of job hunting is that it's always easier to find a job when you have a job - so lesson learned there: don't quit your job and then go looking for another one. Second rule of job hunting is that you need to be able to demonstrate value. Your potential employer needs to know you will benefit him more than you will cost him. How can he determine that? One way is to look for credentials, your degrees, your experience with previous employers. Another is for them to actually see your work. That might mean taking a job at low pay for them to get a look at you. If you do that, you should have an agreement with the employer ahead of time that if your work is exceptional, then your salary will be increased to a certain amount by a certain date. The onus is not on an employer to give you a "fair shot" it's on you to demonstrate value.

I read article a few years ago that described why this happens.

It boils down to this, people with zero experiences are in it for the $, and they will not stay around. It takes 1 to 2 years to take a jr to mid level. During that time, you are stealing time from Sr devs that could be producing something else.

The conclusion of the article, is that it is a huge risk taking bootcamp graduates because if they end up working out, they will take the first job offer that the time spent is wasted.

Partly reason why on the last teams I been on, we refuse, because we get burned every time. We wait till management has enough budget to hire a senior to avoid these issues.

My advice, accept those low paying offers, get the 1-2 to years experience. After you prove yourself, people will come and go while at the job. You can join one of those companies after you prove yourself.

This is a rough time to be looking for entry level work, anecdotal evidence indicates that new postings get hundreds of applications. It is hard to stand out.

Advice I have given to others in your exact scenario is (if possible) to take advantage of your prior career and look for jobs that would value your expertise. For example: If you worked in restaurant management look for software companies that are making products for small businesses in that space.

I can tell you that from administering interviews most developers only know development and don't have a lot of knowledge of WHY the software they are writing does what it does. This can be a big benefit to showcase in the interview.

I hire in a field where a degree in that discipline is a filtering criteria.

However, we make exceptions for self learned people who have great sample of high class work.

So my recommendation is build your portfolio of open source contributions or work that you may even have done pro bono. Impress the hell out the hiring managers by sheer quality of your work. Help them to decide that they will not be taking any risk by hiring you.

1. Work with a recruiter in parallel to your own job search.

2. Email your resume to hello@taylor.town and I'll review it for you.

3. Do you have side-projects? Do you have a personal website? Both of those might be helpful.

4. Are your social skills problematic? There's no easy path to becoming likable, but it's an incredibly valuable trait. Charisma can be learned with hard work.

5. Be searchable! Post on the monthly HN job threads.

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