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Ask HN: Bait and switch after long, arduous job search for SWE, any advice?
hey HN, I was bait and switched into product support after thinking I had finally scored my first software engineer job. Happy to go into the details but that about sums it up. I was hired in a batch of about 10 in this particular location, and I have another coworker (fresh ivy league grad) in the exact same situation.
What are my options? I'm a career shifter and this search has been difficult to say the least. I'd like to think I'm a good candidate (math/cs graduate from a target school, made it to the hiring committee at G (didn't pass due to one meh round), ~15 years in a technical role), but the bay area job market for junior SWEs is brutal.
I don't think this is going to resolve well, our boss has said there is no reassignment; and while we are scheduled to talk to an exec, I'm certain she's going to toe the company line. Any advice?
- platinumrad 8y agoWhat exactly do you mean by bait and switch? Is your job title "SWE" but your tasks are support-oriented? Is the salary lower than expected?
- ibm_throw 8y agoyes, exactly. There is no coding aspect to the job, but title is SWE. Salary is not an issue, it's what was agreed to. They are claiming the 'client solutions' paragraph (one of many subcategories of SWE listed: backend, front end, etc.) in the description is the classification of this role. We think that the term, in the context of SWE, meant more along the lines of turnkey software solutions for clients, not product support (basically help desk, but for fortune 100s).
- wmf 8y agoSounds like it's time to coast for a while, recharge your energy, then go back on the job market. Now that you're currently employed as a SWE your resume will look better.
- ibm_throw 8y agoso in the description of responsibilities and achievements under the job title, won't it look bad if they aren't related to software engineering in any way whatsoever? I thought that would be a huge red flag. Am I mistaken?
- wmf 8y agoJust don't talk about that, or spin it by saying that you're looking for a job that will challenge you. Ultimately it can't be worse than having no job.