8 ms·

This article has a section titled "how to get a job." The author then mentions straight away that he has never had to apply for a job in the traditional way. Fo

This article has a section titled "how to get a job." The author then mentions straight away that he has never had to apply for a job in the traditional way. Following this, he questions his own success and implies that there may be factors other than merit that played a role. A few paragraphs down the author then laments people with imposter syndrome. Yup. I'm not sure how you can read this without being irritated. Is this the tech equivalent of a social media influencer?

riidom 3y ago
Well, it's about life.
dario_od 3y ago
Right. It might be because I have no idea who the author is, but this post read like a bunch of useless incoherent ramblings
- jxnlco 3y ago
  author here: it was incoherent ramblings! Its my first time writing something thats not technical documentation. context: my sister was talking to me about feeling stressed about going to college i wrote this with speech to text. I have personally not read it yet. I shared it on twitter this weekend to get some feedback.
seoulmetro 3y ago
>Is this the tech equivalent of a social media influencer? Yes. They have existed for a while. There are always sheep to herd.
Paul-Craft 3y ago
My impression: it reeks of someone who's self aware enough to know they're insufferable and privileged, but then goes on to be insufferable anyway. Evidence: jiu jitsu, Waterloo, free diving, refers to themselves as a "social media influencer" on their Twitter bio. Also, never interviewed for a job and says "oh, just be likeable," as if that's somehow the whole secret to life. Sorry to say, but it is not. I won't hire a likeable bumbler, and I'd bet he wouldn't either. Merit does matter, but only once one reaches the point where merit can be demonstrated. That point is often not during the interview process, because interviews are very rarely all that much like the actual job one would be interviewing for. And, nobody should listen to someone who's maybe all of 30 on how to live life, and especially not on how to be a father. Half of what's there isn't actionable; half of the other half reads like one of those "I just bought my first home: here's how I did it," articles that tries to bury the lede and stick the fact that their parents paid the down payment in the middle of so much inconsequential bullshit you'll skip over it. It's pretty plain this guy has never seen the other side of what his life looks like. As the great Jean Luc Picard said, "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life." For every one of him there are five others out there who committed as many or fewer mistakes as he did, but just lost out to dumb luck. But, it's pretty hard to see that being as far up one's own ass as he appears to be.
- rramadass 3y ago
  Agreed. The entire post reeks of unwarranted self-importance and posturing and contains equal measure platitudes and balderdash. He needs to watch the documentary Waging a Living to get some real-life perspectives (this documentary legitimately made me very angry at the "American System") - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waging_a_Living https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waging_a_Living and https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/wagingaliving/ https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/wagingaliving/ Seems like it is available on Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXFyLXSBuo&t=6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXFyLXSBuo&t=6s
angra_mainyu 3y ago
Yeah, the guy and I have lived completely different lives. For starters, I've never gotten a job via referral, it's always been applying, busting my ass off during interviews and tests, and getting in...
- RHSman2 3y ago
  We have all lives different lives.
- ivalm 3y ago
  I come from a poor first gen immigrant family and got all my jobs + conventional success from referrals. I don’t even think I’m that good at networking (introvert, feel very shy in groups of strangers), but I do have strong bias for action.
j-bos 3y ago
> Yup. I'm not sure how you can read this without being irritated By taking it as a good faith chat about one person's perspective. I found it enjoyable, though yes there were some inconsistencies, couldn't be more than my own.
satokema 3y ago
Please note, he says "he has never gotten a job by applying", not that he has never applied to jobs. My ratio isn't 100% but being referred or (in older times) called first have probably been the better experiences in my experience.
- zero-sharp 3y ago
  Do I respond to nitpicking with my own nitpicking? The language of the parent post implies a lack of necessity (due to having success through other means). Well, this is fun.
jxnlco 3y ago
author here: i got rejected by almost every job i applied to conventionally.
- j0nahthefriend 3y ago
  Also, don't forget that recently you got an offer that came with basically a two-level demotion.
red-iron-pine 3y ago
> Is this the tech equivalent of a social media influencer? this has been a thing for years mon ami, and regularly flogged here on HN.
flappyeagle 3y ago
I’ve also not ever applied to a job the traditional way. The first job I got was because I went to a career fair and had a human connection with a recruiter at a company no one wanted to work at. She was manning a booth that everyone was passing by because the company had some reputation hit in the news and I talked to her for 30 minutes. I got hired because they had a hiring quota and like 2 applicants. Every other job I got because of my reputation at previous jobs. I’ve never applied to a job in the traditional way. Also immigrant. Also grew up frugal AF.

riidom 3y ago

Well, it's about life.

dario_od 3y ago

Right. It might be because I have no idea who the author is, but this post read like a bunch of useless incoherent ramblings

jxnlco 3y ago
author here: it was incoherent ramblings! Its my first time writing something thats not technical documentation. context: my sister was talking to me about feeling stressed about going to college i wrote this with speech to text. I have personally not read it yet. I shared it on twitter this weekend to get some feedback.

seoulmetro 3y ago

>Is this the tech equivalent of a social media influencer? Yes. They have existed for a while. There are always sheep to herd.

Paul-Craft 3y ago

My impression: it reeks of someone who's self aware enough to know they're insufferable and privileged, but then goes on to be insufferable anyway. Evidence: jiu jitsu, Waterloo, free diving, refers to themselves as a "social media influencer" on their Twitter bio. Also, never interviewed for a job and says "oh, just be likeable," as if that's somehow the whole secret to life. Sorry to say, but it is not. I won't hire a likeable bumbler, and I'd bet he wouldn't either. Merit does matter, but only once one reaches the point where merit can be demonstrated. That point is often not during the interview process, because interviews are very rarely all that much like the actual job one would be interviewing for. And, nobody should listen to someone who's maybe all of 30 on how to live life, and especially not on how to be a father. Half of what's there isn't actionable; half of the other half reads like one of those "I just bought my first home: here's how I did it," articles that tries to bury the lede and stick the fact that their parents paid the down payment in the middle of so much inconsequential bullshit you'll skip over it. It's pretty plain this guy has never seen the other side of what his life looks like. As the great Jean Luc Picard said, "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not weakness, that is life." For every one of him there are five others out there who committed as many or fewer mistakes as he did, but just lost out to dumb luck. But, it's pretty hard to see that being as far up one's own ass as he appears to be.

rramadass 3y ago
Agreed. The entire post reeks of unwarranted self-importance and posturing and contains equal measure platitudes and balderdash. He needs to watch the documentary Waging a Living to get some real-life perspectives (this documentary legitimately made me very angry at the "American System") - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waging_a_Living https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waging_a_Living and https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/wagingaliving/ https://www.pbs.org/pov/films/wagingaliving/ Seems like it is available on Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXFyLXSBuo&t=6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIXFyLXSBuo&t=6s

angra_mainyu 3y ago

Yeah, the guy and I have lived completely different lives. For starters, I've never gotten a job via referral, it's always been applying, busting my ass off during interviews and tests, and getting in...

RHSman2 3y ago
We have all lives different lives.
ivalm 3y ago
I come from a poor first gen immigrant family and got all my jobs + conventional success from referrals. I don’t even think I’m that good at networking (introvert, feel very shy in groups of strangers), but I do have strong bias for action.

j-bos 3y ago

> Yup. I'm not sure how you can read this without being irritated By taking it as a good faith chat about one person's perspective. I found it enjoyable, though yes there were some inconsistencies, couldn't be more than my own.

satokema 3y ago

Please note, he says "he has never gotten a job by applying", not that he has never applied to jobs. My ratio isn't 100% but being referred or (in older times) called first have probably been the better experiences in my experience.

zero-sharp 3y ago
Do I respond to nitpicking with my own nitpicking? The language of the parent post implies a lack of necessity (due to having success through other means). Well, this is fun.

jxnlco 3y ago

author here: i got rejected by almost every job i applied to conventionally.

j0nahthefriend 3y ago
Also, don't forget that recently you got an offer that came with basically a two-level demotion.

red-iron-pine 3y ago

> Is this the tech equivalent of a social media influencer? this has been a thing for years mon ami, and regularly flogged here on HN.

flappyeagle 3y ago

I’ve also not ever applied to a job the traditional way. The first job I got was because I went to a career fair and had a human connection with a recruiter at a company no one wanted to work at. She was manning a booth that everyone was passing by because the company had some reputation hit in the news and I talked to her for 30 minutes. I got hired because they had a hiring quota and like 2 applicants. Every other job I got because of my reputation at previous jobs. I’ve never applied to a job in the traditional way. Also immigrant. Also grew up frugal AF.