3 ms·
> I wonder what the biggest hindrances are. Three-tiered interview system, flaky interviewers, flaky candidates, insane job requirements for mundane positions,
by sph 3y ago
> I wonder what the biggest hindrances are.
Three-tiered interview system, flaky interviewers, flaky candidates, insane job requirements for mundane positions, useless recruiters, fake job ads, "hybrid" work?
It's a bloody mess and it has always been. My best interview was in 2006, at my first junior position, when the guy just asked my experience in Linux, what does "ifconfig" do, what languages I know, and I got a paid internship. They expected me to learn on the job, and I did. Now even the junior position have ridiculous requirements, and with 17 years of experience, I get ignored by a clueless recruiter because out of the 10 techs they use, I forgot to list the exact Linux distro they use on my CV, so I'm probably not good enough for them.
I keep hearing there's more demand (for engineers) than there is supply but I call bullshit. That might be true, but the employers make all the rules so even getting an interview this year felt more like winning the lottery than filling a supply shortage. And the lottery you've just won got you in the Squid Game. Now you gotta fight against 50 other candidates, which might be more desperate than you and gladly work for peanuts, 3 days in the office.
Fuck this. Even finding work as a mercenary^Hconsultant is a bloodbath. The only advice is "ask your network." If your network isn't hiring, it's back to the Squid Game for you.
I reckon even Fortune 500 CEO interviews are easier than the average software engineer gauntlet.
- 5350-uiop-1130 3y agoit's the outcome of saturation. the barriers to entry get higher and higher.
- sph 3y agoYes, which is why the meme that there are more open positions than engineers is bollocks. That might've been the case in the era of free money (RIP 2008-2020), when tech was in a hiring spree and engineers switched jobs every 6 months.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- meiraleal 3y ago> which might be more desperate than you and gladly work for peanuts, 3 days in the office. Yeah, 3 days in the office is impossible to beat, they most be really desperate! /s Now talking seriously, Software Engineering is a great career, probably the best out there. You don't need to work for anybody to make money if the big problem is the job market. You can literally create your job with a few months work. Now is every person capable of it? No, many don't have the grit and discipline. But that is not tech's fault. Is a people's issue. To call it Squid Game to get a 6 figures salary working from home is insanity.
- mnk47 3y agoIs it really as easy as "grit and discipline"? I find it hard to believe. Everything I've read about consulting work, indie gamedev, and one-man-SaaS apps has a similar message: that previous experience and luck are huge factors, and there's a lot of financial risk involved. Small businesses fail all the time for reasons other than lack of grit and discipline.
- meiraleal 3y agoPrevious experience is grit and discipline. The amount of it will have a considerable impact on anybody's success. Luck will help that extra bit that only people doing things will get.
- ericfrazier 3y ago"grit and discipline" and an idea. You have to come up with something worth building based on if enough people will pay you for what you build. That's the hard part. Every programmer has "grit and discipline" in spades.