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> Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid. I disagree, honestly. After reading it, I saw another stella

> Based on the title, I was expecting the article to suck, but I think it's actually pretty solid. I disagree, honestly. After reading it, I saw another stellar example of empty yet well-meaning advice. It's just enough to stand on its own, has good intentions, but doesn't actually focus on a tangible problem or set of problems that people have. Rather, it addresses a few high-level topics in extreme brevity and is just an outlet for the author to demonstrate some kind of power they feel that they hold[0]. The article looks more like a wrapper for a previous HN comment, which is in a thread about an article detailing a very specific and actually useful piece of advice, and a Data Science book. [0] https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6779&context=lkcsb_research https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6...

30 8y ago
> ...a thread about an article detailing a very specific and actually useful piece of advice. Anyone have a link?
dnautics 8y ago
a lot of the advice struck me as something that not everyone looking for a job can afford. 10 weeks of trying a new thing for a week? I found the best advice in the article to be the one about taking time off to travel - that it will be hard getting back (know someone who is in that state now) Honestly: If you're looking for a job - find a friend who is hiring. Be sure that friend is not just a friend, but a friend who is going to go to bat for you.
- jehlakj 8y ago
  It’s a tricky situation. I was in a position to look for hires, but I was surprised to realize how many of my friends weren’t necessarily qualified for that position. It wasn’t a high position or anything either. If you can vouch for a friend to that degree, they probably don’t need your help.
  - dnautics 8y ago
    > If you can vouch for a friend to that degree, they probably don’t need your help. A friend of mine finished a coding camp. He'd been looking for a job for 9 months. I interviewed him and totally understood why - he just had no chill at all. Super anxious, very nervous, seemed way too eager to please, borderline desperation? Sat him down, we did a very tough coding problem, and he did just fine for a junior position, so I made an offer happen. A lot of times people have a 'singular flaw' that nobody will tell them what it is, and it takes someone willing to come up with an excuse to get them hired.
- PopeDotNinja 8y ago
  Speaking only for myself, I've found looking for to fluctuate between quite easy and quite hard. Anytime I've really struggled to find a new job, whether I already had a job or not, it was usually because there was some factor beyond my control that I could not work around. In those hard times, I think I would have landed new employment more quickly by focusing more on making myself more marketable so I could stand out in a sea of applicants without enough to go around. Sometimes rushing to fight the wrong fight is simply not gonna work.

30 8y ago

> ...a thread about an article detailing a very specific and actually useful piece of advice. Anyone have a link?

dnautics 8y ago

a lot of the advice struck me as something that not everyone looking for a job can afford. 10 weeks of trying a new thing for a week? I found the best advice in the article to be the one about taking time off to travel - that it will be hard getting back (know someone who is in that state now) Honestly: If you're looking for a job - find a friend who is hiring. Be sure that friend is not just a friend, but a friend who is going to go to bat for you.

jehlakj 8y ago
It’s a tricky situation. I was in a position to look for hires, but I was surprised to realize how many of my friends weren’t necessarily qualified for that position. It wasn’t a high position or anything either. If you can vouch for a friend to that degree, they probably don’t need your help.
- dnautics 8y ago
  > If you can vouch for a friend to that degree, they probably don’t need your help. A friend of mine finished a coding camp. He'd been looking for a job for 9 months. I interviewed him and totally understood why - he just had no chill at all. Super anxious, very nervous, seemed way too eager to please, borderline desperation? Sat him down, we did a very tough coding problem, and he did just fine for a junior position, so I made an offer happen. A lot of times people have a 'singular flaw' that nobody will tell them what it is, and it takes someone willing to come up with an excuse to get them hired.
PopeDotNinja 8y ago
Speaking only for myself, I've found looking for to fluctuate between quite easy and quite hard. Anytime I've really struggled to find a new job, whether I already had a job or not, it was usually because there was some factor beyond my control that I could not work around. In those hard times, I think I would have landed new employment more quickly by focusing more on making myself more marketable so I could stand out in a sea of applicants without enough to go around. Sometimes rushing to fight the wrong fight is simply not gonna work.