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Not sure if frantically interviewing for a new job during the holidays when lots of tech companies are also laying people off can be considered a vacation.

by tempsy 4y ago

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
joenot443 4y ago
They have 3.5mos. I find it unlikely someone’s market value dropped enough that they could once be a Stripe employee but they’re now unemployable.
- kodah 4y ago
  It took me three months to go through tech interviews. I'd say that's cutting it close.
  - roflyear 4y ago
    Yeah. You need six months of emergency fund, minimum. I would say close to 1yr honestly, depending on your risk tolerance, for senior tech roles, unless you're willing to take a real shit job while you look for something else.
- tempsy 4y ago
  that’s not what i’m referring to. these layoffs are macro driven so you’re competing against a lot of people. and it’s harder to schedule interviews around the holidays so on average you need more time.
  - Ancapistani 4y ago
    Agreed. In my experience, if you’re job hunting and don’t have an offer in hand by November 1st, you’re probably not going to get one until mid-January. The “normal” interview process takes 4-6 weeks in my experience from application to offer/rejection. That is doubled between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
  - joenot443 4y ago
    That's a good point, I hadn't considered it that way.
bluGill 4y ago
There are lots of tech companies hiring too. The hard part is finding them, and convincing them you are the one. Most of the resumes I see for a "senior" programmer don't have the experience.
- lowercased 4y ago
  Yet... we still see ageism in hiring too. I'm continually surprised at people advertising for 'senior' positions that require 3 years of 'foo' experience. If that's how you label 'senior'... don't be surprised when people with little experience apply for senior positions. Not poking at you directly. I've got 25 years of experience. I was on a team a few years ago with people with... 2-4 years experience. We were both labelled to the end client (contracting company) as 'senior developers'. It's just weird all around. When everyone is 'senior', it loses any useful meaning.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    Although 3 years is a little low, I work with plenty of people with 5 years of experience who are just as good as the best programmers with 25 years. The early years experience matters a lot, but the difference between 5 and 25 years is insignificant. The levels are fresh out of school, have learned enough to not need hand holding, and able to make good decisions about code. You cover them very fast. There is a staff level about that, but most people don't reach that level. There just isn't need for too many of them.
randomdata 4y ago
Maybe if you're the janitor, but based on the quip about the salaries Stripe pays, the parent is presumably looking at this from a developer's perspective. That's a payout of around $73,000. If you are handed $73,000 and still need to frantically look for a new job, something strange is going on.
- tempsy 4y ago
  i’m not referring to running out of money, just the idea that it’s harder to interview during the time around the holidays and immediately after, and we are in a period where these layoffs are macro driven so lots of people are competing against you for the same roles also all the income and benefits are taxable
  - randomdata 4y ago
    If you're not out of money, why the frantic search? It isn't going to sustain you forever, but if it takes you six months to find a new job... oh well?
    - PuppyTailWags 4y ago
      It's pretty frantic if you're holding certain visas.
  - PragmaticPulp 4y ago
    > i’m not referring to running out of money, just the idea that it’s harder to interview during the time around the holidays and immediately after Keep in mind that this is interviewing without a job taking 40 hours (or maybe more) of their time every week. Interviewing is much, much easier when it replaces your job and you're still collecting paychecks for several months.
- theGnuMe 4y ago
  You've got taxes on that so 40% and then health insurance at Cobra rates. Granted it looks like they said they will pay that for 6 months. Not sure if that is taxable as well also not sure what the individual contributions are.
idiotsecant 4y ago
Compare that to the average experience of the vast majority of people who aren't a software engineer and a person might be forgiven for thinking it looks like an incredibly privileged vacation.
colinmhayes 4y ago
Why not just collect the paycheck and chill with some open source work for a bit while casually interviewing? If you have expenses that don't let you do that fine, but the stripe severance is more than my yearly spend.

Not sure if frantically interviewing for a new job during the holidays when lots of tech companies are also laying people off can be considered a vacation.

by tempsy 4y ago

Not sure if frantically interviewing for a new job during the holidays when lots of tech companies are also laying people off can be considered a vacation.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

joenot443 4y ago

They have 3.5mos. I find it unlikely someone’s market value dropped enough that they could once be a Stripe employee but they’re now unemployable.

kodah 4y ago
It took me three months to go through tech interviews. I'd say that's cutting it close.
- roflyear 4y ago
  Yeah. You need six months of emergency fund, minimum. I would say close to 1yr honestly, depending on your risk tolerance, for senior tech roles, unless you're willing to take a real shit job while you look for something else.
tempsy 4y ago
that’s not what i’m referring to. these layoffs are macro driven so you’re competing against a lot of people. and it’s harder to schedule interviews around the holidays so on average you need more time.
- Ancapistani 4y ago
  Agreed. In my experience, if you’re job hunting and don’t have an offer in hand by November 1st, you’re probably not going to get one until mid-January. The “normal” interview process takes 4-6 weeks in my experience from application to offer/rejection. That is doubled between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
- joenot443 4y ago
  That's a good point, I hadn't considered it that way.

bluGill 4y ago

There are lots of tech companies hiring too. The hard part is finding them, and convincing them you are the one. Most of the resumes I see for a "senior" programmer don't have the experience.

lowercased 4y ago
Yet... we still see ageism in hiring too. I'm continually surprised at people advertising for 'senior' positions that require 3 years of 'foo' experience. If that's how you label 'senior'... don't be surprised when people with little experience apply for senior positions. Not poking at you directly. I've got 25 years of experience. I was on a team a few years ago with people with... 2-4 years experience. We were both labelled to the end client (contracting company) as 'senior developers'. It's just weird all around. When everyone is 'senior', it loses any useful meaning.
- bluGill 4y ago
  Although 3 years is a little low, I work with plenty of people with 5 years of experience who are just as good as the best programmers with 25 years. The early years experience matters a lot, but the difference between 5 and 25 years is insignificant. The levels are fresh out of school, have learned enough to not need hand holding, and able to make good decisions about code. You cover them very fast. There is a staff level about that, but most people don't reach that level. There just isn't need for too many of them.

randomdata 4y ago

Maybe if you're the janitor, but based on the quip about the salaries Stripe pays, the parent is presumably looking at this from a developer's perspective. That's a payout of around $73,000. If you are handed $73,000 and still need to frantically look for a new job, something strange is going on.

tempsy 4y ago
i’m not referring to running out of money, just the idea that it’s harder to interview during the time around the holidays and immediately after, and we are in a period where these layoffs are macro driven so lots of people are competing against you for the same roles also all the income and benefits are taxable
- randomdata 4y ago
  If you're not out of money, why the frantic search? It isn't going to sustain you forever, but if it takes you six months to find a new job... oh well?
  - PuppyTailWags 4y ago
    It's pretty frantic if you're holding certain visas.
- PragmaticPulp 4y ago
  > i’m not referring to running out of money, just the idea that it’s harder to interview during the time around the holidays and immediately after Keep in mind that this is interviewing without a job taking 40 hours (or maybe more) of their time every week. Interviewing is much, much easier when it replaces your job and you're still collecting paychecks for several months.
theGnuMe 4y ago
You've got taxes on that so 40% and then health insurance at Cobra rates. Granted it looks like they said they will pay that for 6 months. Not sure if that is taxable as well also not sure what the individual contributions are.

idiotsecant 4y ago

Compare that to the average experience of the vast majority of people who aren't a software engineer and a person might be forgiven for thinking it looks like an incredibly privileged vacation.

colinmhayes 4y ago

Why not just collect the paycheck and chill with some open source work for a bit while casually interviewing? If you have expenses that don't let you do that fine, but the stripe severance is more than my yearly spend.