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I had the exact same attitude as you. I got laid off at the start of covid from a travel-tech startup. At first my mentality was "I'm a really good engineer wit

by Sodman 6y ago

I had the exact same attitude as you. I got laid off at the start of covid from a travel-tech startup. At first my mentality was "I'm a really good engineer with a solid resume, I don't need my network or even need to use a recruiter". I cold-applied to a number of jobs and didn't even receive a response from most. Did they pause hiring because of covid? Was my resume just not good enough? After about 2-3 weeks of this I finally folded and starting talking to recruiters. I had 3 final round interviews at companies who I'd love to work for within 2 weeks, ultimately resulting in my current job. That's just using recruiters' "networks". If you have someone in your own network that thinks highly enough of you, the entire interview process can sometimes end up being as quick and painless as grabbing a coffee. My advice is to try and leave your pride at the door and just think of it as playing the game. There's no reason to handicap yourself when most people you're competing with will be playing at full strength - many of whom I'm sure are more arrogant than you ;)

ghaff 6y ago
>If you have someone in your own network that thinks highly enough of you, the entire interview process can sometimes end up being as quick and painless as grabbing a coffee. I was laid off immediately after 9/11 and I had lunch with an acquaintance of mine; I was a client at a prior job. This led to a job offer in about a month. (It was a very small firm and it just took them a while to decide if they wanted to bring someone on full-time.) In the meantime I had some other get-togethers. Sent a bunch of resumes around. Etc. Crickets. And my current job came from basically sending an email to someone senior I knew at the #1 company on my short list.
- noirbot 6y ago
  As a younger developer on the other said of this, I have plenty of senior/older engineers that I would love to work for again, but I also feel a bit awkward reaching out to them to ask if they want to work with me again. It's hard to know if they're looking for work - some have been with my previous employers for 10+ years, and I assume they're being paid well and allowed to do what they want for the most part. It feels arrogant of me to reach out to them and ask them to quit to come help me. To that end, obviously judge this on your own situation, but if anything,junior engineers that used to work under/around you are probably pretty star-struck with you. I'd provide a pretty glowing referral to almost every Principal engineer I've ever worked with if they asked me.
infinite8s 6y ago
It's not just playing the game though. Think about it from the hiring perspective - if someone on your team strongly vouches for someone, that removes a lot of downside risk in a new candidate (assuming you respect and trust the judgement of your teammate).

by Sodman 6y ago

ghaff 6y ago

>If you have someone in your own network that thinks highly enough of you, the entire interview process can sometimes end up being as quick and painless as grabbing a coffee. I was laid off immediately after 9/11 and I had lunch with an acquaintance of mine; I was a client at a prior job. This led to a job offer in about a month. (It was a very small firm and it just took them a while to decide if they wanted to bring someone on full-time.) In the meantime I had some other get-togethers. Sent a bunch of resumes around. Etc. Crickets. And my current job came from basically sending an email to someone senior I knew at the #1 company on my short list.

noirbot 6y ago
As a younger developer on the other said of this, I have plenty of senior/older engineers that I would love to work for again, but I also feel a bit awkward reaching out to them to ask if they want to work with me again. It's hard to know if they're looking for work - some have been with my previous employers for 10+ years, and I assume they're being paid well and allowed to do what they want for the most part. It feels arrogant of me to reach out to them and ask them to quit to come help me. To that end, obviously judge this on your own situation, but if anything,junior engineers that used to work under/around you are probably pretty star-struck with you. I'd provide a pretty glowing referral to almost every Principal engineer I've ever worked with if they asked me.

infinite8s 6y ago

It's not just playing the game though. Think about it from the hiring perspective - if someone on your team strongly vouches for someone, that removes a lot of downside risk in a new candidate (assuming you respect and trust the judgement of your teammate).