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Comment by benoau | Hacker News Reader

There's not going to be a shortcut that puts you ahead of everyone else, they're getting 1000(s) of applicants for every position and lots of them have spent years at top-tier tech companies and still struggling to get through the filters and stand out.

That leaves you with lottery-ticket options like working somewhere they acquire, building something they acquire.

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For the specific position I mentioned, I don't think there are thousands—or even dozens—of truly good candidates. I’ve outlined my reasons based on general factors (such as my Stack Overflow rating) and specific expertise in the field of credential providers—for instance, I am the only one who has published a list of interfaces like this one: https://github.com/rbmm/StateMachineState/blob/main/ni.h. There are even YouTube examples demonstrating the use of some of those elements (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SpEfFGE5N8), along with many other things directly relevant to the role. If I were just one of dozens of candidates, I wouldn't be asking this question (I wouldn't have the standing to do so).

I watched a few videos, but I didn't understand them. Do you have a blog?

I'm not sure if it's helpful, but there is an official monthly post for jobs https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=whoishiring You can take a look at the current last post, but they are read only now. Also, you can post on the correct thread next month on October 1st.

I watched a few videos—maybe that’s because it’s a very niche topic, and you personally aren't involved in this specific field. Actually, my question had two parts. The first was general—less of a specific question and more of a general observation. I believe the current selection process is deeply flawed for both sides. It’s particularly bad for unconventional candidates (though that’s always been the case). The search for a résumé—which has to follow a specific format rather than just any style—has become an end in itself, even though it’s merely a tool, not the actual goal. And now, it seems like tons of people are using AI to write "perfect" résumés and heavily embellish their knowledge and experience. (Personally, I don't get the point of lying; if they believe you and hire you, that kind of lie—about your actual capabilities—will be exposed immediately. What do you gain in the end other than disgrace?) This breaks the process even further.

The second part was strictly personal. I’m wondering if there’s any way to get in touch with the team handling this position—bypassing the standard process. I say this because I genuinely possess unique knowledge and experience in the key required areas (low-level Windows development, credential providers, debugging all of that) and had some public proof of this—like my Stack Overflow ranking, for instance, which—unlike a résumé—can't be faked (and can look up "rbmm windows"). but, I can't even apply for the position or make myself known. So, I was asking if anyone happens to know people there (despite slim the extremally low, i nothing have to lost).

Thanks for the whoishiring link. My expertise is in a very narrow, specialized field. There are incredibly few job openings that actually suit me (I don't just "apply" (not in direct sense) for everything; I only target roles where I truly have specialized knowledge and experience). There are literally only a handful of them. However, it has now become absolutely impossible to reach them (following the loss of LinkedIn)—though I suspect there are very few people with deep expertise in such fields too.

>> I watched a few videos

> maybe that’s because it’s a very niche topic,

I agree. Do you have a few posts at the ELI25 level? To get traction here they must not be too light nor too heavy in the technical details.

> low-level Windows development

Something like this? https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=devblogs.microsoft.co...

Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. I’m a developer. I’m good at writing and debugging code. But writing articles isn't my thing—even on my native language, not say already on English (despite the language itself isn't the main issue here). I used to post technical posts on LinkedIn. Not in the style of The Old New Thing, but just about things that were somewhat interesting and not widely known. The posts weren't high-quality, but they did earn me over 2,300 followers there. However, a year ago, LinkedIn deleted my account. So, all of that is gone forever (I didn't back it up anywhere else, and I don't have a personal website). That means my claim about the LinkedIn posts can't be verified anymore. I’ve written a few article-like pieces on my GitHub—for example, https://github.com/rbmm/tbal (or https://github.com/rbmm/StateMachineState). They were nothing special—not top-tier quality. A few years ago, I collaborated with someone, and we wrote some articles together for his site (I provided the technical info, and he did the writing): https://dennisbabkin.com/blog/author/?a=rbmm (We haven't worked together for several years now). To me, it’s nothing remarkable. In any case, my main "creative output" was on LinkedIn. It never even crossed my mind that the platform could delete everything. When your account gets flagged as "restricted," it doesn't just switch to read-only mode where you lose access; it means a total wipe—everything gets deleted: all public posts, all conversations (including the ones with other people). For instance, I wrote about my framework for writing shellcode in C++ simply and efficiently using native code—okay, I think it’s the best implementation of its kind available publicly. I used to write about various other utilities and research projects of mine, amusing PoCs, and little-known techniques. At least there’s still Stack Overflow with its objective reputation (rating) system—though, in reality, it doesn't bring me anything, and the topic I primarily answered questions on (WinAPI) is pretty much dead these days. That leaves GitHub (obviously, I don't make all my projects public) and the occasional YouTube video.

Thanks for the comments.

> even on my native language

Hi from Argentina! For HN comments, I just write them and they may have a few typos. For long post, I use Google Docs to write the draft because it detects most errors.

> LinkedIn deleted my account

:( I tried withe the WaybackMachine, but It's not cached there.

> The posts weren't high-quality, but they did earn me over 2,300 followers there.

It's hard to know what other people will find interesting. If you decide to start again and make some blog post, you can post them here. (Not too much, not too short, not too long, bonus points for photos or screenshots, ...) Don't expect that to get a rain of job offers, but it's a nice hobby for when an interesting problem appears and deserve to be shared.

PS: This looks interesting https://dennisbabkin.com/blog/?t=how-to-perform-title-bar-wi... but it would be nice to have a short animation or video.

I’m simply looking for a job—nothing more. I posted updates on LinkedIn solely to draw attention to myself, hoping to turn that into a position; writing articles for their own sake doesn't really interest me. In reality, though, it hasn't helped at all. I’m trying to reach out only regarding roles where I possess—in my view—extensive knowledge and experience in the key area. It feels impossible to land these roles without an inside contact, which is why I asked about Duo Security. Then again, to be honest, even that usually doesn't help—but I try to seize even a hypothetical chance.

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