4 ms·

You're very lucky. I'm starting to think that we imagine the market is better than what it actually is. This is my story: I moved to the US on March after work

You're very lucky. I'm starting to think that we imagine the market is better than what it actually is. This is my story: I moved to the US on March after working on a fast growing an successful European start-up for 4 years. The one where everyone wants to work at: lots of "I want to get out of the shower and code" problems, smart colleagues and excellent compensation. I took 5 months off to get used to this country, travel and finish some personal projects I had in my mind since long ago. Four weeks ago I started to actively look for a job and dude... I'm shitting in my pants about the idea that I may have to go back to Europe. I'm allowed to work in the US, I have a decent Github profile and couple of LinkedIn recommendation (if they're useful or not, I don't know). I've lead teams before, I've funded a company right out of college and sold it for a profit two years later. I've applied to ~20 job offers and so far I only got two replies: for one I already dealt with HR and it's been a week since they told me they'll set up an Skype interview with one engineer (Yes, I'll follow up Today on that one). For the other one, they were looking for Java-enterprisey guy and I told them that Java is not something that I can say I'm an expert with, but that I could get up to speed in one or two months at the most. They said they'll call again... in six months. HNers: I'm looking for your advice here. Do you see something wrong with my approach? What else should I try? Am I just too anxious? Because it seems to me that everyone take forever to answer! I'm really scared, because I left a lot of things behind on the idea that finding a job in New York City would be easy as cake and now I'm facing reality. I don't have a network that I could leverage here in New York. I'm trying to build one, but that could take more time than the one I could resist before exploding in desperation and handling my resume to companies outside my field of expertise. Thanks!

ericabiz 13y ago
If you would like a response, it's best if you're not anonymous. I am a hiring manager and I've interviewed (at this point) hundreds of techies, and I'm sure I'm not alone in being in this position on Hacker News. However, the only way we can really help is to know more. Post your Github profile and your LinkedIn profile, and let us know what you're looking for. Who knows--you may even score a job!
- ChuckMcM 13y ago
  I'm going to second this comment (I happen to be a 'hiring manager' as they say) and if someone posts here they are looking for work and I have an opening I'll see if I can match them up and contact them if I have contact info. (and sorry Ernie we're in the Bay Area and we haven't been able to make it work effectively with remote folks)
  - zura 13y ago
    Chuck, do you mind if I send you my details on email? (Some info can be found in my profile).
    - ChuckMcM 13y ago
      Always happy to get mail from engineers, not so enthusiastic about getting mail from recruiters trying to 'help me with my staffing needs.'
    - ericabiz 13y ago
      Please send me a message too. (Same as Chuck: No emails from recruiters, please.) We use both Erlang and Haskell at our company.
  - joblessinnyc 13y ago
    To be honest, I don't want to be contacted. I want to pick a job that looks interesting to me and one in which I could add real value. In the current job market, that's how it's supposed to be, but I just can't see it. I'll keep trying, I'm just worried that the response rate of the companies I've applied so far is close to 5% only. Thanks for your advice.
    - karmajunkie 13y ago
      that's a great philosophy, but you have to have the personal network to back it up. make a lot of friends, know who's working on what, and offer to help the ones with projects you like.
    - 13y ago
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
pathy 13y ago
Could it be that you have not adapted your resume/cover letters and so forth to the American market? There are regional differences between what should/shouldn't be included in a resume, like a picture of yourself, your age, your family status and similar things. A resume not tuned for the local market may disqualify from some positions in the hiring manager's mind. Finding a job in a new city is never easy but a capable programmer has a better chance than most others! Have you tried any visiting any local meetups, conferences or co-working spaces?
thirdtruck 13y ago
We're looking for software engineers at TheLadders (http://theladders.com http://theladders.com), here in New York. My contact info's in my profile. :)
300bps 13y ago
I took 5 months off to get used to this country, travel and finish some personal projects I had in my mind since long ago. In hindsight, I hope you see how this was a terrible idea. For years, there have been article after article about how the only people able to find work are the people that are currently working. You appear to have chosen to create a 5 month gap in your work history. Can you imagine how this looks to an employer? I instantly think of someone who is lazy and is only willing to put the work in to find a job when they absolutely have to. It makes me think you'll wait until the last minute for everything. My advice is to find a way to explain what you were doing during those 5 months that doesn't come across so negatively. If you were working on side projects, tell them you were working for "[YourName] Consulting" and thought you'd try your hand at freelance consulting. Then you decided that it wasn't for you. Best of luck.
- jarek 13y ago
  > You appear to have chosen to create a 5 month gap in your work history. Can you imagine how this looks to an employer? Are you by any chance trolling? I am a middling .NET developer with a self-chosen 4 month gap in my work history ("personal projects to grow Python experience") and it took me something around four weeks of not particularly intensive search to get a signed contract in not particularly software-heavy Vancouver. You'd rather have someone lie about what they do with their time than tell you they do something other than pump out code? This sort of "you must have a job" selectivity isn't a factor for halfway decent software developers.
  - UK-AL 13y ago
    I hate the attitude too. However HR treats most people with suspicion. They think you've been prison, or fired from a job after a month or two.
    - jarek 13y ago
      Of my applications that proceeded beyond email, five had HR or non-technical recruiters handling the initial screening. It just doesn't seem to have been that big of a factor. Maybe Vancouver is particularly progressive on this, or I've always happened to encounter good HR, but I somewhat doubt it.
jacalata 13y ago
I think what's wrong with your approach is that you underestimated the difficulty of completely uprooting yourself. In most cases when people take time off, they come back to somewhere that they already have a network - they call people they used to work with, or went to school with, etc. Or, when they want to move somewhere else, they line it up in advance so that if it takes six months they aren't screwed (eg; get a job that will relocate you, transfer within a large company). You now have two strikes - one, absolutely no network, and two, a short employment gap. I think the lack of network is a bigger deal and you would be having basically the same problems if you'd started looking straight away when you got to NYC.

ericabiz 13y ago

If you would like a response, it's best if you're not anonymous. I am a hiring manager and I've interviewed (at this point) hundreds of techies, and I'm sure I'm not alone in being in this position on Hacker News. However, the only way we can really help is to know more. Post your Github profile and your LinkedIn profile, and let us know what you're looking for. Who knows--you may even score a job!

ChuckMcM 13y ago
I'm going to second this comment (I happen to be a 'hiring manager' as they say) and if someone posts here they are looking for work and I have an opening I'll see if I can match them up and contact them if I have contact info. (and sorry Ernie we're in the Bay Area and we haven't been able to make it work effectively with remote folks)
- zura 13y ago
  Chuck, do you mind if I send you my details on email? (Some info can be found in my profile).
  - ChuckMcM 13y ago
    Always happy to get mail from engineers, not so enthusiastic about getting mail from recruiters trying to 'help me with my staffing needs.'
  - ericabiz 13y ago
    Please send me a message too. (Same as Chuck: No emails from recruiters, please.) We use both Erlang and Haskell at our company.
- joblessinnyc 13y ago
  To be honest, I don't want to be contacted. I want to pick a job that looks interesting to me and one in which I could add real value. In the current job market, that's how it's supposed to be, but I just can't see it. I'll keep trying, I'm just worried that the response rate of the companies I've applied so far is close to 5% only. Thanks for your advice.
  - karmajunkie 13y ago
    that's a great philosophy, but you have to have the personal network to back it up. make a lot of friends, know who's working on what, and offer to help the ones with projects you like.
  - 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

pathy 13y ago

Could it be that you have not adapted your resume/cover letters and so forth to the American market? There are regional differences between what should/shouldn't be included in a resume, like a picture of yourself, your age, your family status and similar things. A resume not tuned for the local market may disqualify from some positions in the hiring manager's mind. Finding a job in a new city is never easy but a capable programmer has a better chance than most others! Have you tried any visiting any local meetups, conferences or co-working spaces?

thirdtruck 13y ago

We're looking for software engineers at TheLadders (http://theladders.com http://theladders.com), here in New York. My contact info's in my profile. :)

300bps 13y ago

I took 5 months off to get used to this country, travel and finish some personal projects I had in my mind since long ago. In hindsight, I hope you see how this was a terrible idea. For years, there have been article after article about how the only people able to find work are the people that are currently working. You appear to have chosen to create a 5 month gap in your work history. Can you imagine how this looks to an employer? I instantly think of someone who is lazy and is only willing to put the work in to find a job when they absolutely have to. It makes me think you'll wait until the last minute for everything. My advice is to find a way to explain what you were doing during those 5 months that doesn't come across so negatively. If you were working on side projects, tell them you were working for "[YourName] Consulting" and thought you'd try your hand at freelance consulting. Then you decided that it wasn't for you. Best of luck.

jarek 13y ago
> You appear to have chosen to create a 5 month gap in your work history. Can you imagine how this looks to an employer? Are you by any chance trolling? I am a middling .NET developer with a self-chosen 4 month gap in my work history ("personal projects to grow Python experience") and it took me something around four weeks of not particularly intensive search to get a signed contract in not particularly software-heavy Vancouver. You'd rather have someone lie about what they do with their time than tell you they do something other than pump out code? This sort of "you must have a job" selectivity isn't a factor for halfway decent software developers.
- UK-AL 13y ago
  I hate the attitude too. However HR treats most people with suspicion. They think you've been prison, or fired from a job after a month or two.
  - jarek 13y ago
    Of my applications that proceeded beyond email, five had HR or non-technical recruiters handling the initial screening. It just doesn't seem to have been that big of a factor. Maybe Vancouver is particularly progressive on this, or I've always happened to encounter good HR, but I somewhat doubt it.

jacalata 13y ago

I think what's wrong with your approach is that you underestimated the difficulty of completely uprooting yourself. In most cases when people take time off, they come back to somewhere that they already have a network - they call people they used to work with, or went to school with, etc. Or, when they want to move somewhere else, they line it up in advance so that if it takes six months they aren't screwed (eg; get a job that will relocate you, transfer within a large company). You now have two strikes - one, absolutely no network, and two, a short employment gap. I think the lack of network is a bigger deal and you would be having basically the same problems if you'd started looking straight away when you got to NYC.