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Ask HN: How do you get a job in 2024?
Hey HN,
I have been trying to find a new job for the past year and I have been struggling a great deal. I have managed to get a handful of interviews, but none of them resulted in an offer. In a couple cases the only feedback I received was "you seem great, but we need something different right now".
I don't have unreasonable salary expectations, but I expect the salary to cover my living expenses at a minimum. I don't live extravagantly, I'm in a 450sqft apartment in a bad neighbourhood, but I do live in Manhattan FWIW, so rents aren't cheap.
I am quite accomplished at 38 y/o: I have worked at several top tech companies, have done a variety of roles, founded my own companies (which didn't work out in the end), and I have multiple GitHub projects with over 1,000 stars and thousands of open source users. I have also published 2 books with great reviews, but the royalties only amount to a couple hundred dollars per quarter.
I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm doing wrong. I have tried a variety of different strategies with interviews, faking it extra hard with positivity and excitement for whichever company it is, and yet I only receive rejections.
I have applied to well-over 500 jobs/companies, many of which I applied to multiple times, and the vast majority of the time I receive an auto-rejection or no response. I've mostly exhausted my personal network at this point, so begging for people to refer me to jobs doesn't help and it stinks of desperation.
While I've made decent money in tech over the past 25 years of writing software professionally, I've also had my share of ups and downs, and the downs were very costly. My savings are dwindling, while my expenses keep rising. So I'd be much happier if I could get some income and health insurance.
I would appreciate any insights if anyone has them. Or perhaps others can vent and share their experiences as well.
- 999900000999 3y agoYou have to treat job hunting like dating. You might be trying to sell Apples to someone who wants Oranges. Assuming your unemployment has run out, you need to find a survival job. Be open to moving, NYC might not be the best market for you. Start applying for everything, everywhere.
- throwaway694206 3y agoI'm hoping there's some sort of cheat code for our current times. I think I would fare better if I at least knew how to get past the recruiters :)
- JohnFen 3y agoThere is no cheat code and never has been. Looking for a job is itself a full time job.
- 999900000999 3y agoThe cheat code is called nepotism. Bill Gates's Mom knew the chairman of IBM.
- throwaway694206 3y agoYeah, I wish I had this one. I'm an immigrant and my family is dirt poor. I'm their only lifeline and I'm all tapped out.
- 999900000999 3y agoAlso be open to Chicago and maybe Philly. Chicago has amazing public transportation.
- aliaa88 3y agoAre you applying to only NYC jobs? Suggest you look elsewhere to cut down on expenses. Market is bad for sure but hopefully will pick up towards the end of the year.
- throwaway694206 3y agoMy one hard requirement is that I need to stay in Manhattan. I can't live anywhere that requires car ownership. Remote would be fine but I suspect all the decent remote jobs are the worst because they are probably getting slammed with thousands of applications and have no easy way to sift through all the incoming spam.
- JohnFen 3y agoBe careful that you don't avoid applying for certain jobs because you suspect the potential employer may be getting slammed with applications or because you expect no response from them. Even if those things are true, apply anyway. Sometimes you can just get lucky. Remember the truism that "if you don't ask, the answer is 'no'. If you ask, there's a chance of a 'yes'".
- shams93 3y agoIt's brutal I have been destitute for 2 years now, my unemployment ran out and there is nothing in la not even uber the big cities are dead.
- JohnFen 3y agoThis is what I do. It works very well for me, but I won't claim that it works for anyone else. First, I contact everyone in my professional network to tell them I'm looking for work and ask if they know of anything interesting that's available. Second, I apply directly to companies that I think will be a decent fit. If they have listed openings, I'll apply for one of those. If they don't, I'll send in my CV and cover letter anyway. I do 10 of these per day. Third, I work with a recruitment agency. I'm lucky here in that I've been working with a great one for decades. Finding a good one is hard, though, so YMMV. 75% of the jobs I've landed have been landed through that agency.
- throwaway694206 3y agoThanks, really appreciate your thoughtful and genuine responses in this thread.
- quesa11112 3y agoI echo some of the thoughts in this thread. In this type of competitive job market, it’s hard to stand out. The cheat code is internal referrals from friends and colleagues. Stay positive and keep studying and preparing yourself for when the opportunity strikes. There are lots of people in similar situations. I also would recommend not taking any job if you are able to be selective. You want something that won’t burn you out in 6 months.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- interbased 3y agoI got the most interviews through referrals from LinkedIn. Any time I apply for a job, I immediately message someone from the company. Top choice is somebody I’m connected to. Second choice is the Technical Recruiter. I’ve gotten more results from the people I’m already connected to, but that’s not surprising.