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Comment by codr7 | Hacker News Reader

The current job market is so messed up that I honestly can't see myself getting a job until we hit a wall and people start using their brains again.

I have 26 years of solid experience, been writing code since I was 8.

There should be a ton of companies out there just dying to hire someone with that kind of experience.

But I'm not perfect, no one is; and faking doesn't work very well for me.

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> There should be a ton of companies out there just dying to hire someone with that kind of experience.

heh.. they are probably dead already?

i have even longer years.. But this time i am looking since.. september? Applying 1-2 per day, on average.. Widening the fishing net each month.. ~2% showed some interest.. but no bingo.

"overqualified" is about half of the "excuses" :/

Time to plant tomatoes maybe..

Or maybe join forces and show them how it's really done?

Not that I mind growing tomatoes, quite the opposite :)

I am with you! Been programming since I was 10 and have 20YoE. Many of my prototypes have grown into full fledged products, I have 40+ published papers, and I am regularly sought out for advice and help by those who know me. Everyone i have been, I am always told I am a good catch.

However, I won't do leet coding. I want to hear about why I should come work for u. What about my works makes u think I could help ubm with your problem. Then let's have a talk about your problems and where I can create value for you.

My experience in hiring is that leet coders are good one trick ponies. But long term don't become technical peers.

Part of the problem is there just aren't a lot of people out there who can correctly judge that level of experience, and looking up the spectrum tends to simply look weird.

I agree. Do you have any thoughts on how to mitigate this? After all, its in your best advantage and the companies to hire someone with talents because of the value they can bring.

Not really, except having a lot of experience on board from the start.

Which will also naturally attract more of the same.

Unfortunately (at least in my opinion) the way to mitigate it is make contacts, friends, colleagues etc. Meet people, stay in touch with them. In my experience relationships are by far the most important aspect of a career. I'm not naturally someone who forms these relationships easily, but it's by far the most valuable and important thing I've done in terms of the jobs I've had.

It's VERY rare for me to work with people capable of even seeing the level I'm working at, sad but true. I suspect my solutions simply look weird to them, maybe with a touch of NIH-syndrome; even if they eventually grow to appreciate the integrity of the code. And it's difficult to see code that's never written, which is feel is the biggest win I bring to the table.

This means I'm mostly judged by my ability to perform mindless drone work.

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