4 ms·

"Mr. Hazlett, 29, estimates he has applied unsuccessfully to 400 tech jobs, all online, since graduating from a coding boot camp in May" Is this indicative of

by js98 4y ago

"Mr. Hazlett, 29, estimates he has applied unsuccessfully to 400 tech jobs, all online, since graduating from a coding boot camp in May" Is this indicative of a bad job market, or instead perhaps a bad fit between the perceived skills/value the persons belives themselves to have, and the view of the recruiters?

Arainach 4y ago
Likely the latter. I've done O(100) interviews at big tech companies. There are some folks who went through boot camps and have been valued teammates, but there are many orders of magnitude more who went through a boot camp hoping for a big paycheck and can't code their way out of a wet paper bag.
colinmhayes 4y ago
I think it's more likely they're just applying wrong. Shotgunning applications on indeed doesn't work as a fresh bootcamp grad, you need at least some sort of relationship with the company. That's why referral mills like blind are popular, when there are 100 applicants for an entry level job literally anything that can help hr narrow the process is used. I even had success just calling the company as an undergrad and asking to speak to HR. Always at least got an interview after that.
karaterobot 4y ago
Is it a bad job market? Everybody I know is desperately trying to hire, and finding that even decent candidates can afford to be really choosy right now. The place I used to work (not a terrible company, and competitive but non-FAANG salaries) has had an FE position open for 11 months. Anyway, I think if they've applied to 400 places in 3 months, they're probably using more of a shotgun approach. I always got better results when I researched the company and customized my application to what I thought they were looking for.
- Nextgrid 4y ago
  > Everybody I know is desperately trying to hire, and finding that even decent candidates can afford to be really choosy right now In the market that I'm seeing in London UK, everyone seems desperate to hire at salaries that no longer correspond to the cost of living. I don't see many actually putting decent numbers on the table, suggesting 1) they aren't that desperate or 2) those that are putting these numbers down have no trouble filling their positions quickly and they don't stay on the market for long. Keep in mind that in most places, taxes have yet to adjust for inflation, and/or the government services funded by those taxes degraded beyond usefulness meaning you now have to use your after-tax take-home money to pay for services that you used to rely on the "free" (paid by your taxes) government-provided service.
- t-3 4y ago
  It's a bad job market for those without the correct education or experience to get a foot in the door. If you already have the right credentials, it's probably a great job market.
isbvhodnvemrwvn 4y ago
Impossible to tell without knowing more. For our recent entry-level opening we could offer an interview to about 5-10% of applicants due to the volume of applications, generic "I've done a bootcamp/I have a degree" resumes in general did not fare well.
endtime 4y ago
Around six months ago, I was a Staff SWE at Google with ten years there. I applied to a few smaller-than-FAANG public companies online...and never heard back from any. The only way I managed to get interviews, or even have a recruiter acknowledge my existence, was by pinging potential hiring managers on LinkedIn (or in one case, having a former Google coworker ping the CTO of the company, since they were connected on LinkedIn). I ended up with very strong offers from Coinbase and Roblox; I never heard back at all from Airbnb. (I took the Roblox offer and am happy with the decision. :) )

by js98 4y ago

Arainach 4y ago

Likely the latter. I've done O(100) interviews at big tech companies. There are some folks who went through boot camps and have been valued teammates, but there are many orders of magnitude more who went through a boot camp hoping for a big paycheck and can't code their way out of a wet paper bag.

colinmhayes 4y ago

I think it's more likely they're just applying wrong. Shotgunning applications on indeed doesn't work as a fresh bootcamp grad, you need at least some sort of relationship with the company. That's why referral mills like blind are popular, when there are 100 applicants for an entry level job literally anything that can help hr narrow the process is used. I even had success just calling the company as an undergrad and asking to speak to HR. Always at least got an interview after that.

karaterobot 4y ago

Is it a bad job market? Everybody I know is desperately trying to hire, and finding that even decent candidates can afford to be really choosy right now. The place I used to work (not a terrible company, and competitive but non-FAANG salaries) has had an FE position open for 11 months. Anyway, I think if they've applied to 400 places in 3 months, they're probably using more of a shotgun approach. I always got better results when I researched the company and customized my application to what I thought they were looking for.

Nextgrid 4y ago
> Everybody I know is desperately trying to hire, and finding that even decent candidates can afford to be really choosy right now In the market that I'm seeing in London UK, everyone seems desperate to hire at salaries that no longer correspond to the cost of living. I don't see many actually putting decent numbers on the table, suggesting 1) they aren't that desperate or 2) those that are putting these numbers down have no trouble filling their positions quickly and they don't stay on the market for long. Keep in mind that in most places, taxes have yet to adjust for inflation, and/or the government services funded by those taxes degraded beyond usefulness meaning you now have to use your after-tax take-home money to pay for services that you used to rely on the "free" (paid by your taxes) government-provided service.
t-3 4y ago
It's a bad job market for those without the correct education or experience to get a foot in the door. If you already have the right credentials, it's probably a great job market.

isbvhodnvemrwvn 4y ago

Impossible to tell without knowing more. For our recent entry-level opening we could offer an interview to about 5-10% of applicants due to the volume of applications, generic "I've done a bootcamp/I have a degree" resumes in general did not fare well.

endtime 4y ago

Around six months ago, I was a Staff SWE at Google with ten years there. I applied to a few smaller-than-FAANG public companies online...and never heard back from any. The only way I managed to get interviews, or even have a recruiter acknowledge my existence, was by pinging potential hiring managers on LinkedIn (or in one case, having a former Google coworker ping the CTO of the company, since they were connected on LinkedIn). I ended up with very strong offers from Coinbase and Roblox; I never heard back at all from Airbnb. (I took the Roblox offer and am happy with the decision. :) )