
Ask HN: Bait and switch after long, arduous job search for SWE, any advice? - ibm_throw
hey HN, I was bait and switched into product support after thinking I had finally scored my first software engineer job. Happy to go into the details but that about sums it up. I was hired in a batch of about 10 in this particular location, and I have another coworker (fresh ivy league grad) in the exact same situation.<p>What are my options? I&#x27;m a career shifter and this search has been difficult to say the least. I&#x27;d like to think I&#x27;m a good candidate (math&#x2F;cs graduate from a target school, made it to the hiring committee at G (didn&#x27;t pass due to one meh round), ~15 years in a technical role), but the bay area job market for junior SWEs is brutal.<p>I don&#x27;t think this is going to resolve well, our boss has said there is no reassignment; and while we are scheduled to talk to an exec, I&#x27;m certain she&#x27;s going to toe the company line. Any advice?
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platinumrad
What exactly do you mean by bait and switch? Is your job title "SWE" but your
tasks are support-oriented? Is the salary lower than expected?

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ibm_throw
yes, exactly. There is no coding aspect to the job, but title is SWE. Salary
is not an issue, it's what was agreed to.

They are claiming the 'client solutions' paragraph (one of many subcategories
of SWE listed: backend, front end, etc.) in the description is the
classification of this role. We think that the term, in the context of SWE,
meant more along the lines of turnkey software solutions for clients, not
product support (basically help desk, but for fortune 100s).

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wmf
Sounds like it's time to coast for a while, recharge your energy, then go back
on the job market. Now that you're currently employed as a SWE your resume
will look better.

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ibm_throw
so in the description of responsibilities and achievements under the job
title, won't it look bad if they aren't related to software engineering in any
way whatsoever?

I thought that would be a huge red flag. Am I mistaken?

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wmf
Just don't talk about that, or spin it by saying that you're looking for a job
that will challenge you. Ultimately it can't be worse than having no job.

