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My last job search (in Seattle) took me months longer than I was expecting. This could be ageism at work (I'm 48), but I'm still inclined to think that there's
by curtis 9y ago
My last job search (in Seattle) took me months longer than I was expecting. This could be ageism at work (I'm 48), but I'm still inclined to think that there's a more mundane explanation: The recruitment and hiring process for software engineers has gone from crappy to damn near broken. If ageism is a significant problem right now, it's possible that it is primarily a completely unintended side-effect of how were doing hiring in the industry.
I don't know for sure, but we need to be careful about looking at obvious problems and then simply assuming that we know the explanation.
- tiggybear 9y agoThank god we don't unionize (part of our salary might go to under qualified colleagues instead of under qualified executives...the horror). My sister, a nurse, takes about a 20minutes-1hour phone call every time she needs a new position. That's it. Then she gets an answer. That is what being in an in-demand field with workers rights looks like (nurses tend to be (are all?) unionized). She also makes 6-figures in the bay area in her mid-20's with a bachelors from a no-name school. But tech workers will shout down unions while it's currently feasible to make them. Unfortunately, when they finally realize they need them they will no longer have the leverage to unionize.
- seattle_spring 9y agoOut of curiosity, why does your LinkedIn not list months for all of the 1 year jobs you have? It seems really suspicious to me, and as a hiring manager it would almost certainly have been a red flag.
- curtis 9y agoMy LinkedIn profile is not my authoritative job history -- my resume is. Your first job as a recruiter or potential hiring manager is to find my resume. It's not hard. I should also mention that when I'm looking for a job, I'm usually contacting you. If I email you I will include a direct link to my resume. If I'm applying through a portal it will ask me to upload my resume. Either way there's no excuse for people in the recruiting/hiring pipeline to consult my LinkedIn profile rather than my resume. (Sorry if there's a little bit of attitude leaking through here, but this is a personal soapbox of mine.)
- twblalock 9y agoMost recruiters are going to look at your LinkedIn profile, and they won't do the digging to find your resume unless they like your LinkedIn profile. That's just the way it is, whether you think there is an excuse for it or not. You're only hurting yourself by refusing to spruce up your LinkedIn profile.
- curtis 9y ago> and they won't do the digging to find your resume unless they like your LinkedIn profile Yes, and that's a big part of my point. This is an actual problem, and we (the software development industry) should try to fix it. Or at least make it suck less. When I switched to applying through AngelList I had much better luck, and that's how I got my current job. Part of that is that early mode startups are picky about other things than later mode startups or big companies. But mostly I think it was because actual engineering hiring managers were looking at the applications without requiring them to go through an HR/sourcer/recruiter filter first.
- dabockster 9y agoQuestion about AngelList, did you bother with their built-in coding challenge that they are pushing? Or did you just start applying?
- curtis 9y agoI just started applying. And I applied to pretty much every open position in Seattle for which I was remotely qualified.
- dabockster 9y agoHuh, I'll have to try it. I mean, since Indeed and Linkedin are flooded with Amazon and CyberCoders spam.
- ionwake 9y agoI would love you to look at my profile to get your opinion on whether I have any red flags, is there a way I can contact you? Just a quick glance would be great.