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Notorious b.s.d.
Jan 25, 2003

by Reene
the choice to hire somebody was the critical budget decision

whether that somebody costs $50k or 100k or $200k hardly matters at all, unless you work for a pathetically tiny business

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Notorious b.s.d.
Jan 25, 2003

by Reene
gazpacho, i know how much it sucks to be unemployed. and the logic of this poo poo really blows

99% of candidates are a complete loving waste of time, and employers rely on terrible heuristics to eliminate as many candidates as possible before wasting time on the remainder

some heuristics work well and some poorly, but it always sucks to be trapped on the wrong side of the heuristic

Arcteryx Anarchist
Sep 15, 2007

Fun Shoe
sometimes i think tech has an especially lovely "wrong side of the heuristic" hence all the depression itt

sometimes i feel like i choose the incredibly wrong career path

Notorious b.s.d.
Jan 25, 2003

by Reene
or you're just seriously depressed and comparing notes with a parasocial support group of similarly depressed folks engaged in the same line of work

there are no really great jobs. they call it a job because they have to pay you to do it.

as jobs go, software is pretty fuckin good. high pay, low chance of injury, reasonable hours, good benefits, reasonable job security, etc

you could be just as miserable in a hundred other careers, but be making less money and worried about making rent on top of all the normal poo poo that bothers you

elite_garbage_man
Apr 3, 2010
I THINK THAT "PRIMA DONNA" IS "PRE-MADONNA". I MAY BE ILLITERATE.
have like 4 coding challeneges over the next couple of weeks. I'm pretty tempted to just output "checkout my sound cloud" and hit submit on this first one.

elite_garbage_man fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Nov 30, 2018

CRIP EATIN BREAD
Jun 24, 2002

Hey stop worrying bout my acting bitch, and worry about your WACK ass music. In the mean time... Eat a hot bowl of Dicks! Ice T



Soiled Meat

Notorious b.s.d. posted:

this is also a common ploy that won't work for two seconds

I’ll be honest, I got hired right out of college and have been at the same place for 10 years, so I don’t know what works and what doesn’t, but I do have to scan over CVs and I know what doesn’t tickle my fancy.

Tetramin
Apr 1, 2006

I'ma buck you up.

CRIP EATIN BREAD posted:

I’ll be honest, I got hired right out of college and have been at the same place for 10 years, so I don’t know what works and what doesn’t, but I do have to scan over CVs and I know what doesn’t tickle my fancy.

ah, guy who has had exactly one job is militant about only hiring people exactly like him

e: obviously I’m saying this poo poo in the middle of a great job market for tech people, and gaps will be more serious when the market changes. still it’s pretty hilarious that anyone with any gap is Just Not An Option for you even now.

Tetramin fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Dec 1, 2018

PokeJoe
Aug 24, 2004

hail cgatan


I was unemployed for 2 years before I got my current job. I regularly interview and recommend people out of work who apply if they have the skills. Sadly I'm pretty deep into the chain as a technical employee so yeah as nbsd said if I get your resume you've already made it through the hardest part of the sorter

CRIP EATIN BREAD
Jun 24, 2002

Hey stop worrying bout my acting bitch, and worry about your WACK ass music. In the mean time... Eat a hot bowl of Dicks! Ice T



Soiled Meat

Tetramin posted:

ah, guy who has had exactly one job is militant about only hiring people exactly like him

e: obviously I’m saying this poo poo in the middle of a great job market for tech people, and gaps will be more serious when the market changes. still it’s pretty hilarious that anyone with any gap is Just Not An Option for you even now.

swim with the fishes

ADINSX
Sep 9, 2003

Wanna run with my crew huh? Rule cyberspace and crunch numbers like I do?

My wife took a year off to focus on writing and taking a data science class after being entirely burned out at Google. She had no problem lining up interviews and getting in persons, but it did take her awhile to get an offer. I don't think it was the year off though, if it was why would they bother bringing her in.

At any rate, it worked out for her, but we're in Seattle where the market is hot.

I'm considering taking some time off myself... I took a job recently and have been regretting my decision big time, I don't think its gonna work out. I wanna take a little time to focus on my own ideas since she's got a job again.

Nomnom Cookie
Aug 30, 2009



Tetramin posted:

ah, guy who has had exactly one job is militant about only hiring people exactly like him

e: obviously I’m saying this poo poo in the middle of a great job market for tech people, and gaps will be more serious when the market changes. still it’s pretty hilarious that anyone with any gap is Just Not An Option for you even now.

whats the typical downside for binning a resume? nothing? yeah you might get yelled by downstream but you can cover that with "sorry its all poo poo didn't want to waste your time". the downside of passing people on is getting yelled at for wasting peoples time on interviewing dipshits

Nomnom Cookie
Aug 30, 2009



im not saying its a good thing that incentives are lined up for the first guy to look at a resume to lean very strongly towards throwing it out, but they are

FlapYoJacks
Feb 12, 2009
I legit do 1099 work. When i was unemployed for 7 months a few years ago, I put the 1099 stuff on my resume. I never got any pushback from it.

qhat
Jul 6, 2015


Cold on a Cob posted:

that's a good question, how much of a gap do y'all consider "safe"?

i've seriously debated taking 6 months off work to travel but it's also something i worry about a bit

i have a friend that did it a few times and didn't seem to hurt his career vOv

i guess i could keep my consulting business active during that time and do a bit of freelance work, so i actually wouldn't have a gap...

I took 9 months off to do just that and I struggled to get in the front door at a lot of places when I came back. Just be prepared for a prolonged job hunt, many HR and recruiter will assume you are broken goods with a large gap, but it's okay because at the end of the day you're not and you only need to succeed at one interview to be able to go to work everyday.

qhat
Jul 6, 2015


One really frustrating thing about being unemployed and interviewing honestly was having absolutely zero leverage in negotiations. You know you're broke, they know you're broke, and they'll drat well use it to their full advantage. The flipside is that you get to stick it to them when you leave a major project at a critical time because another employer valued your labor much more.

4lokos basilisk
Jul 17, 2008


Ciaphas posted:

yeah, sorry y'all

it's genuinely astonishing even to me how often i'll just let myself shoot my toe off and not even notice (or even fully rationalize it)

i'll try to take a more shotgun-like approach going forward with the applications

(edit) that said thanks for the interesting info Progressive JPEG, glad that ended up working out for you. that part of my original post was partly true, at least, i'd love to visit NZ

i read your cv, you have been writing c# and c++ - learning php and javascript will absolutely not be a problem for you ever as you will spend more time on thinking "how the hell does anyone trust their business on this technology" while your coworkers merrily commit the 97182th npm dependency to the repo

javascript is the language scared man children hold on to because they can not handle anything more complicated while the relative abundance of bandwidth and CPU means that they can make it look like they are achieving something more than what a computer could already do 20 years ago

as for jobs, currently there is only one thing that gets a hard nope from me and that's if the company is into blockchain - if i was unemployed or badly hurting in my job i would not blink an eye to join mt gox even as newspapers show mark in handcuffs

anyway don't bring yourself down and keep on applying :hfive:

Ciaphas
Nov 20, 2005

> BEWARE, COWARD :ovr:


i suppose my question while i wait for a chance to practice is, how i should present myself if i somehow end up interviewing over a skill i'm not familiar with

practice, sure, can and do, but that only goes so far in an interview, i already know that much

suppose i can leave that question for later, really

Notorious b.s.d.
Jan 25, 2003

by Reene

Ciaphas posted:

i suppose my question while i wait for a chance to practice is, how i should present myself if i somehow end up interviewing over a skill i'm not familiar with

present yourself as a novice and work through the problem, dumbass

by the time you get down to the interview, all the problems are interpersonal -- can you talk to these people about what you're sweating, how you think about the problem, and do they think you're getting at the heart of the thing?

in general, all problems at the interview are things you can manage if you are vaguely competent, given enough opportunities

Notorious b.s.d.
Jan 25, 2003

by Reene
don't ever worry about "interviewing" on a weak skill. you wing it, and you see what happens.

sometimes what happens is actual, bona fide, synergy.

sometimes your strong skills are vastly more valuable in combination with a weak skill than they would have been in the inverse configuration!

4lokos basilisk
Jul 17, 2008


Ciaphas posted:

i suppose my question while i wait for a chance to practice is, how i should present myself if i somehow end up interviewing over a skill i'm not familiar with

practice, sure, can and do, but that only goes so far in an interview, i already know that much

suppose i can leave that question for later, really

before the interview you usually do know what the position is going to be, so i would try to imagine and do some research on how the company's stack is likely set up

in the example of a web app company doing javascript, you probably get some hints of what framework they use because they no doubt will list it as one of the requirements (vue.js, node.js, react.js, etc.), so now you can try and imagine how the stuff is put together, frontend/backend+database, or some cloud services thrown in the mix. even if you don't grasp it all technically, just taking a glimpse on some tutorials or articles about the tech they use, look up what is a REST API, etc.

definitely be ready with algorithms, data structures and general software architecture sort of talk because this is universal for all languages - if they ask how would you do $thing in javascript, start off by mentioning that you're not entirely sure about the framework they use, but based on your c# experience it would go like this (sortedset, linq, serialize etc.) but stress the fact that instead of SortedSet you would find the best equivalent for a sorted unique data structure, instead of linq you say how you would query the result so it's not a mess to figure out later, and serialization is already a language agnostic concept

and last but not least, i find honesty is the best policy and i usually just say i don't know instead of bullshitting, but i do always try to follow it up by "i imagine should go something like this, because ..." and then explain

4lokos basilisk
Jul 17, 2008


oh and tattoo the questions in the OP inside your eyelids because they are really good and will impress people

The MUMPSorceress
Jan 6, 2012


^SHTPSTS

Gary’s Answer

Notorious b.s.d. posted:

present yourself as a novice and work through the problem, dumbass

by the time you get down to the interview, all the problems are interpersonal -- can you talk to these people about what you're sweating, how you think about the problem, and do they think you're getting at the heart of the thing?

in general, all problems at the interview are things you can manage if you are vaguely competent, given enough opportunities

Arcteryx Anarchist
Sep 15, 2007

Fun Shoe
in an industry whose original puzzle interview format got thrown out only recently (and still probably not universally) and whose real intention, interviewer conscious of it or not, was to see if you could confidently bullshit right to their faces and have them buy it, I don’t think openly saying “I don’t know” is a good idea

“Sounds like you’re giving up brah, not curious enough, not driven enough, not Stanford material enough”

Phone
Jul 30, 2005

親子丼をほしい。
can I get a gut check on my pending role switch and how turboboned im potentially going to be in a few years’ time?

im switching from mainframe development (cobol) to data engineering (read: oracle dev). the new role isn’t going to be sql dev 100% of the time and I should be able to do aws stuff if i push for it.

my concern is going from incredibly specific toolset to another incredibly specific toolset and my resume is going to wind up looking like I only deal with dead or dying vendor locked environments.

champagne posting
Apr 5, 2006

YOU ARE A BRAIN
IN A BUNKER

Phone posted:

my concern is going from incredibly specific toolset to another incredibly specific toolset and my resume is going to wind up looking like I only deal with dead or dying vendor locked environments.

sounds like this is already the case

distortion park
Apr 25, 2011


Phone posted:

can I get a gut check on my pending role switch and how turboboned im potentially going to be in a few years’ time?

im switching from mainframe development (cobol) to data engineering (read: oracle dev). the new role isn’t going to be sql dev 100% of the time and I should be able to do aws stuff if i push for it.

my concern is going from incredibly specific toolset to another incredibly specific toolset and my resume is going to wind up looking like I only deal with dead or dying vendor locked environments.

This sounds fine, there's plenty of demand for good sql devs and will be for a long time. It's the cobol of the 21st century so is appropriate really.



I don't get postings asking for 5+ years of professional cj experience AND a degree in cj'ing. what does it add?

The MUMPSorceress
Jan 6, 2012


^SHTPSTS

Gary’s Answer

lancemantis posted:

in an industry whose original puzzle interview format got thrown out only recently (and still probably not universally) and whose real intention, interviewer conscious of it or not, was to see if you could confidently bullshit right to their faces and have them buy it, I don’t think openly saying “I don’t know” is a good idea

“Sounds like you’re giving up brah, not curious enough, not driven enough, not Stanford material enough”

you're wrong

distortion park
Apr 25, 2011


lancemantis posted:

in an industry whose original puzzle interview format got thrown out only recently (and still probably not universally) and whose real intention, interviewer conscious of it or not, was to see if you could confidently bullshit right to their faces and have them buy it, I don’t think openly saying “I don’t know” is a good idea

“Sounds like you’re giving up brah, not curious enough, not driven enough, not Stanford material enough”

bullshiting about something is way way worse than being able to admit you don't know (which is itself a positive!)

Notorious b.s.d.
Jan 25, 2003

by Reene

Phone posted:

can I get a gut check on my pending role switch and how turboboned im potentially going to be in a few years’ time?

im switching from mainframe development (cobol) to data engineering (read: oracle dev). the new role isn’t going to be sql dev 100% of the time and I should be able to do aws stuff if i push for it.

my concern is going from incredibly specific toolset to another incredibly specific toolset and my resume is going to wind up looking like I only deal with dead or dying vendor locked environments.

cobol is just as "alive" as oracle pl/sql

both are "legacy" technologies in the sense that people loving hate the vendors (microfocus, peoplesoft, and oracle) ... but they ain't gonna phase them out this decade

it's ok to have a resume filled with dying vendor-locked environments as long as they're reasonably popular. don't become an intersystems caché specialist and you'll be ok

Notorious b.s.d.
Jan 25, 2003

by Reene

lancemantis posted:

in an industry whose original puzzle interview format got thrown out only recently (and still probably not universally) and whose real intention, interviewer conscious of it or not, was to see if you could confidently bullshit right to their faces and have them buy it, I don’t think openly saying “I don’t know” is a good idea

“Sounds like you’re giving up brah, not curious enough, not driven enough, not Stanford material enough”

well yes, dipshit, don't blurt out "i don't know" and sit there like a stone

that is 100% definitely the wrong response. you have to work the problem.

it is ok to admit the problem is not one that you are familiar with. it's ok to fumble. people want to see you do your thing, whether or not you're good at the specific fuckin turd they dumped on your plate today

Cold on a Cob
Feb 6, 2006

i've seen so much, i'm going blind
and i'm brain dead virtually

College Slice

qhat posted:

I took 9 months off to do just that and I struggled to get in the front door at a lot of places when I came back. Just be prepared for a prolonged job hunt, many HR and recruiter will assume you are broken goods with a large gap, but it's okay because at the end of the day you're not and you only need to succeed at one interview to be able to go to work everyday.

yeah i definitely wasn't thinking 9 months, i was thinking more like 2 months off and then start looking.

but i'm changing my mind.

i'm about to hit my peak earning years so time to really put in the hours

Symbolic Butt
Mar 22, 2009

(_!_)
Buglord
it depends on what kind of people are interviewing you. I've had dudebro interviewers flexing their amazing fizzbuzz bikeshedding skills. but I also had nice interviewers who legit just wanted to see me fumble trying to reason a problem (not necessarily if I was able to solve the problem in their gimmicky way)

one tell on this is the way they introduce the question, usually the nice people make an effort for you to not feel nervous "it's ok, don't sweat the details" that kind of stuff

some people do the complete opposite, they go the other way to make you feel intimidated

Symbolic Butt
Mar 22, 2009

(_!_)
Buglord
one year of unemployment made me notice this clear distinct pattern on interviewers, you gotta read them a bit and choose between being sincere or bullshitting your way through accordingly

Ciaphas
Nov 20, 2005

> BEWARE, COWARD :ovr:


yeah that's the part i'm stinky at and why i asked last night: I suck royally at reading people because I'm generally just anxious

workin past that but in the meantime i'm on the back foot and asking dumb questions :shrug:

fritz
Jul 26, 2003

lancemantis posted:

“ not Stanford material enough”

the deeper we get into this eternal 2018 the more i think an old boss of mine was right about never even interviewing stanford graduates

Qtotonibudinibudet
Nov 7, 2011



Omich poluyobok, skazhi ty narkoman? ya prosto tozhe gde to tam zhivu, mogli by vmeste uyobyvat' narkotiki

Notorious b.s.d. posted:


it's ok to have a resume filled with dying vendor-locked environments as long as they're reasonably popular. don't become an intersystems caché specialist and you'll be ok

somehow intersystems is coming back to haunt me and has somehow ended up as a prospective customer for my current employer. i can never escape.

the ability of government funding for healthcare tech to prop up poo poo that should have been discarded years ago amazes me

4lokos basilisk
Jul 17, 2008


Ciaphas posted:

yeah that's the part i'm stinky at and why i asked last night: I suck royally at reading people because I'm generally just anxious

workin past that but in the meantime i'm on the back foot and asking dumb questions :shrug:

just try your best to get started with face to face stuff - i guarantee over time you will get better not only at reading people but simply gaining confidence and experience

CRIP EATIN BREAD
Jun 24, 2002

Hey stop worrying bout my acting bitch, and worry about your WACK ass music. In the mean time... Eat a hot bowl of Dicks! Ice T



Soiled Meat
I like crushing the interviewees’ hand during the handshake and then berate them whenever they screw up the most minute detail.

CRIP EATIN BREAD
Jun 24, 2002

Hey stop worrying bout my acting bitch, and worry about your WACK ass music. In the mean time... Eat a hot bowl of Dicks! Ice T



Soiled Meat
never show any weakness during an interview or I will loving eat you

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feedmegin
Jul 30, 2008

Kevin Mitnick P.E. posted:

whats the typical downside for binning a resume? nothing? yeah you might get yelled by downstream but you can cover that with "sorry its all poo poo didn't want to waste your time". the downside of passing people on is getting yelled at for wasting peoples time on interviewing dipshits

The downside is that someone who is good at their job (which is rare) works for your competitor, not you. Sorry if this isn't enough incentive for you.

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