Ask HN: Why am I having a hard time finding a new job?

24 points by taurenk 11 years ago | 31 comments

For the past few months I have been trying to find a new job and I can’t seem to find the right position one way or another. I have gotten pretty far in the hiring process with some large well known companies, the trend seems to be “we really really like you, we just don’t think your ready” type of deal.

Currently, I work for a healthcare company doing a little of everything in IT/IS. I administer systems, do analytics on large sets of claim, member and provider data, ETL work, SQL development, new system implementation, and now long term IT strategy. I even do a ton of python scripting/dev for analytics and large projects.

On top of working 40+ hours I started to teach myself some new things. I picked up Python/Flask/PostgreSQL about 8 months ago and built out a Geocoding service using Census data. After interviewing for some Java engineer positions and not making the cut, I started to rewrite the geocoding REST service in Java/Spring/Hibernate. I even started to pick up Angular so I could make a decent UI in order to show off my work.

I really would love to become a software engineer – I love solving problems, creating, designing, etc. Trying to switch from what I do now to that type of role has been extremely frustrating. Recruiters seem to think it’s impossible for me to switch and I haven’t gotten much hits for anything close to what I want to be doing.

I’m hoping someone could offer some advice on what to do! I’ve attached a link to my resume and github – maybe I am not marketing myself properly?

https://github.com/taurenk https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/77316816/resume.doc

shortlived 11 years ago |

First off - don't listen to recruiters. Second, tailor your resume more towards programming/software engineering vs. IT/sys admin. If you want to get out of healthcare domain then consider dropping some of the references to that tech (Pick, SAP) and focus on more general stuff (python/java, SQL server).

Edit: your resume looks great given that you've been working for 3 years. There are some really solid projects listed. My guess is that for some reason you are not making it past resume screen for the "right" companies or you are applying for jobs way beyond your years of experience.

vellum 11 years ago | |

In addition to that, OP should provide a URL for his geocoding project. It's more convincing if there's an actual demo to look at.

VincentTide 11 years ago |

They say that half the applicants can't even do FizzBuzz, but then we have people like you who can't find jobs. What is the true story?

lmz 11 years ago | |

The companies might be terribly picky about who they pick from the half that can FizzBuzz.

programmer01 11 years ago | | |

More likely they just can't interview correctly.

hikz 11 years ago | |

It feels increasingly like there are too many programmers for too few programming jobs.

Here in Denmark many companies are so picky that they only hire people with a MSc in CS/CE. Many of them have also outsourced HR to recruiting companies which is an absolute disaster for people who are self-taught or only have a BSc.

playing_colours 11 years ago | | |

If you can relocate, check the country just to the south from yours ;) Particularly the city of Berlin.

solve 11 years ago |

You're in the US, so don't call this type of work IT. In US, IT means support / help desk staff, very low-level :)

bjourne 11 years ago |

If you don't have a degree, then you will have to prove yourself through your work. Which you already have understood, which is smart.

I've looked through your projects specifically https://github.com/taurenk/PinPointGeocoder and it is decent code but not good enough, if these are the only projects you can show. The code has many newbie smells such as bare except clauses, faux modularization (the RegexLib class) and methods that are to long and to complicated. I think you need much more practice. In a few months, you can revisit the old projects you wrote and see how much better you can code them then.

What you've written in only 8 months is impressive (I wasn't very good after 8 months), but it's not there yet. If you go at it at 8 more months then I think you would make an excellent hire.

taurenk 11 years ago | |

Thanks for advice! I'll admit I definitely need to refine my engineering skills. Using proper exceptions and writing better methods are something I have been trying to improve.

tixocloud 11 years ago |

First off, I would love to hire you because of your strong self-initiative! And I love that you have experience with geocoding. I only wish that I have funding to hire you right this moment. Your technical skills are rock solid but it's the initiative that really draws my attention.

With regards to finding a new job, it sounds like you have no problem meeting the criteria. Your resume and Github profile seem to be fine since you've been landing interviews. The problem would then be at the interview process. Without having interviewed you, take my advice with a grain of salt. Many times, it comes down to communication - how you present yourself and whether or not the person likes you. Especially when it comes down to the final interview.

We all love to believe that hiring should be objective and made based on technical ability to do the job. But there's more to it as well. You might be the superstar but if you can convince the other person that you are, then you may not got hired. I was convinced myself that I had great technical ability but I was never able to land jobs. I just couldn't sell myself well when it came to talking. You can either find an organization who does like you and gets you OR you can improve your ability to sell better. Or you could do both. I took it upon myself to improve how I communicate my skills - it's a great learning experience especially when you're trying to sell ideas once you go further up the chain or if you start a company.

hkarthik 11 years ago |

Find some local developer meetups and start connecting with folks there. You'll get a lot more actionable advice that is pertinent to your local market, and maybe one of them is willing to take a chance on hiring you to do Python development work with them.

Networking with recruiters will definitely lead you nowhere. They are only looking to place people that are a "sure bet" on paper, and aren't accustomed to sifting through for hidden gems like yourself.

Good luck!

taurenk 11 years ago | |

I found some local tech meetups near me to check out. Thanks for advice!

liquidcool 11 years ago |

I see some common ground between us. I, too, got roped into being a generalist early. After 15 years it's an advantage (you can call yourself a consultant), but can be trying before that.

I suggest you pick the stack you enjoy the most, pick a project that gets you excited, and stop learning new things until you've mastered one (well, one set).

If you're not sure which that is yet, pick a newer technology that no one can claim deep experience in. I've seen people get involved in projects early on, start blogging and talking about it, and next thing they're being flown around the world to present at conferences with a good stream of consulting income. Pretty sweet gig. Does require excellent communication skills, but they can be learned and pay off forever.

When I read that you are using analytics to make improvements, I see an opportunity missed: quantify your impact in dollars. Engineers are usually bad at this, but managers are good (assuming a top down push for metrics, which is common), so talk to yours and find out how you're earning your keep. Then put that on the resume and see how it helps things.

taurenk 11 years ago | |

I have found myself jumping from technology to technology, which is something I'm trying to do less of, for example; I started a project in Python then when it was pretty much finished started to re-write in Java for numerous reasons (learning java being the key driver).

What you said makes sense and definitely has me thinking about things a bit differently. Thanks!

lazyant 11 years ago |

If you have sysadmin experience you can apply to (some) DevOps positions as well (you may want to play and get skills with things like AWS, orchestration tools like puppet/chef/ansible/salt, docker etc).

Also for a "generalist" is probably easier to find jobs in smaller companies than in large companies.

Jemaclus 11 years ago |

Your Github account says you're in New York, but I know quite a few startups out in San Francisco that would love your geocoding experience. I work on a product that involves a massive amount of geocoding in several different ways, and I would love someone who thinks that's a cool thing on my team. Unfortunately, we're not hiring at the moment, but I'll keep your name on file and ping you if we ever do open up a position for it.

As for actual advice, I'd talk to people you know. Word of mouth is the best way to get a new job. I despise recruiters and avoid them like the plague, and I tend to recommend that you do the same. Find companies you want to work for and ping their hiring managers directly, if you can. Get your resume directly into the hands of the decision maker -- not HR.

Good luck.

taurenk 11 years ago | |

Do you think it's intrusive to find hiring managers on let's say LinkedIn and send them my resume/letter that way?

Jemaclus 11 years ago | | |

I don't think so at all, but you should investigate the company to make sure they're actually hiring first. If you sent me your resume now, I'd say "Huh. Cool." but then send you an email saying we're not hiring, check back in 6 months...

gamechangr 11 years ago |

small comment:

Sometimes I like to see activity (on Github) for more than the last two months. It makes me wonder if someone is really passionate about building things, or is just looking for easy employment.

You did a good job of addressing that in your HN post, but I would bet that a few companies are holding that (good activity, but only fairly recently) against you.

Good news, that problem will fix itself with another two months or so of activity.

zerr 11 years ago | |

What's wrong with `looking for easy employment`? I mean, we know tech interviews suck. So if there any other way to workaround this thing and show to the prospective employers what you can do (assuming that you're willing to sacrifice your time), why not? Especially, given that `github is your CV` meme, which is fading nowadays.

collyw 11 years ago | |

I have a very empty github profile, because most of my work is in house. Plus personal projects have the potential to make some money, plus, it seems a bit of a security risk dumping everything, including settings files with passwords into github.

taurenk 11 years ago | |

Thanks. It's funny, I actually started all of this NOT using Git. I wasn't until I was about 3 months into the Python Geocoder I mentioned about did i start to use Git!

gamechangr 11 years ago | | |

Yeah man, many people do that. It's just hard because maybe 50 resumes come through and you breeze through twenty githubs before writing down who to call back.

Sometimes -- that's all you get ( a twenty second look), so make sure to explain your story in the cover letter.

programmer01 11 years ago |

It's because the engineering school is destroyed in America (and elsewhere too).

attazkia 11 years ago |

bagaimana cara mengirim ke walletnya ?