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Bad. DevOps/Software Engineer with 20+ years experience. ~100 applications this year, a good number of interviews, but no offers yet. (2.5 calls this week sche

Bad. DevOps/Software Engineer with 20+ years experience. ~100 applications this year, a good number of interviews, but no offers yet. (2.5 calls this week scheduled) It seems I either get: - proto-startups with ~5 people and no concrete revenue stream, or - 5k-person enterprises who want someone with a very specific skillset Both are fine, but they're picky... as am I, so I'm doing my own consulting for a bit. What happened to startups? What happened to the thousands of 50-300 person companies who need tech work done? The other day a headhunter called me... because they were bored! Rather different from last year when they were juggling 4-5 excited companies in front of me. Given my experience, I'll be giving a "Fast Developer/Startup" class to a number of companies. That'll turn into a day-long workshop that will be very valuable :) Strategies: - DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY - find roles on e.g. LinkedIn, but _never_ do "fast apply": go to the company's site and apply directly - use a "highlight positives/negatives" tool to draw certain words in a web page different colors. By interactively seeing a mass of green (or orange) you can quickly make a YES or NO decision on a role. I adore the Chrome plugin Highlight This -- https://highlightthis.net/ https://highlightthis.net/ - apply for jobs on a schedule (e.g. Mon-Wed-Fri), don't just struggle for hours at a time, it's soul-sucking. - do Studying (job-related tech) interspersed with Fun Programming (generative art!) -- have fun! - take care of your health and family, go outside and take walks - DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY

huijzer 3y ago
> who want someone with a very specific skillset I’m also probably going to look for a job soon. Do you think that being very skilled in a niche could help if there is work in that niche or would you think that even those jobs are gone?
- vinberdon 3y ago
  In this economy, companies are looking to save money by hiring people who can wear many hats... probably not the case for the really big companies, but that's what I see in the SMBs. And they don't want to pay you more for your diverse experience, either.
- CableNinja 3y ago
  Honestly, unless youre looking down the barrel of unemployment, keep your job for now. Its so bad right now. 20+ years exp, from greenfield building to managing and improving existing things, physical, cloud, hybrid, virtual, breadth of technologies touched and used. Been looking for 3 months now, and its just been a shitshow

huijzer 3y ago

> who want someone with a very specific skillset I’m also probably going to look for a job soon. Do you think that being very skilled in a niche could help if there is work in that niche or would you think that even those jobs are gone?

vinberdon 3y ago
In this economy, companies are looking to save money by hiring people who can wear many hats... probably not the case for the really big companies, but that's what I see in the SMBs. And they don't want to pay you more for your diverse experience, either.
CableNinja 3y ago
Honestly, unless youre looking down the barrel of unemployment, keep your job for now. Its so bad right now. 20+ years exp, from greenfield building to managing and improving existing things, physical, cloud, hybrid, virtual, breadth of technologies touched and used. Been looking for 3 months now, and its just been a shitshow