
Homeless in NYC, suggestions on how to get a job in IT? - amagnasco
22 years old, 19 years&#x27; experience with screwing up computers. BA in STEM field, non-CS. Four years&#x27; work xp. mostly non-CS. Some small amount of professional xp. setting up office IT. Over a decade of xp. helping people understand what went wrong with their soft. or why their pc &quot;won&#x27;t work&quot;. Basic understanding of how to take hw apart, isolate issue, and put it back together. Very basic understanding of how to build a linux OS from scratch, including kernel options. Few years&#x27; entry level xp. with databases. Can design, create, populate, optimize, and trim DB of many different types, from spreadsheets, through Blackbaud CRM, MS Access, and SalesForce, to SPSS and basic R, on many OS. Can design, calculate, question, test, implement and reimplement analytics from pivot tables to multiple regression models. Currently learning how to implement machine learning in R and working my way up to calculus. Want to learn C to build device drivers so my computers work like they should. Some basic LaTeX, 3rd world cert in HTML&#x2F;CSS. Natively bilingual in both EN and ES, US citizen but lived abroad. Extremely eager to learn and be challenged. Want to work my way up to managing large DB and servers (or preferably stats) within the next 2 years, passing through desktop support if necessary. Could not afford getting any certs yet but I intend to within a year. Can do some basic debugging, have a rPi2 and old MBP, both running Arch Linux, so I have some basic familiarity with everything going horribly wrong. No problem whatsoever with working overtime. 100% ok with cleaning out junk on keyboards for a while to prove myself until I work my way up to &quot;staring at kernel dump in hazy confusion.” Free time at work will mostly be spent learning, reading, failing at scripting cron jobs, or hacking espresso machine. Later on will take night classes towards grad degree. My nonprofit CV: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.overleaf.com&#x2F;read&#x2F;jccfwqtdsfbd 
Thank you for taking the time to read through this!
======
kafkaesq
(1) I might suggest getting a rock-solid foundation in just a few things
rather than superficial acquaintance with 50 different things. Provided you
pick those "just a few things" very carefully.

(2) Do be sure to proofread your written business communications; non-standard
abbreviations like "xp", "cert", or "pc" (not capitalized), and a run-on /
fragmented sentence style will be instant deal-breakers to many, many people
on the hiring side.

Your Stack Overflow CV, in particular, definitely will not work with 98% of
regular business employers out there, simply on the basis of the writing style
and over-personalization (i.e. the way you make it all about you and your
story... rather than the skills you can bring to the table).

(3) Whatever you do, never mention that you're homeless of course. This might
get you sympathy from some people on an abstract level -- but a much stronger
impulse will force them to compartmentalize, detach their feelings from the
situation, and focus on the job they have to do (namely, finding the right
person for the role).

~~~
amagnasco
Hi Kafaesq, thank you for the tips. I agree 100% with you.

1\. Unfortunately I'm slightly past the point where I can get a rock-solid
foundation in something, I just need a job. The classes I'm taking I've been
focusing on for a while now.

2\. My actual CV and cover letters don't read like this, and I had to
abbreviate plenty to fit in the 2k character limit here on HN. Opinion on
[https://www.overleaf.com/read/jccfwqtdsfbd](https://www.overleaf.com/read/jccfwqtdsfbd)
and how I can get my tech skills in there?

3\. I agree, and it sucks because it's what my life is like right now. Having
to hide it in interviews is ok I guess, but I did want to open up about it
here so I could get some advice.

~~~
kafkaesq
My quick take on your CV is that while it might be fine for applying for, say,
an administrative or leadership position at a non-profit or an NGO, it doesn't
read at all like a resume someone would want to see in the tech world.

I'd suggest creating a completely different resume for tech positions you're
applying to, mentioning your other positions but emphasizing just the
technical side of your skill set. However (currently) meager this skill set
may be.

Also, to be blunt, not only does no one in the tech world care about graphic
design, or self-assessment of generic personal traits (like being able to work
outdoors), hobbies, etc -- making a point of these things (or presenting an
over-designed resume of any sort) will quite definitely work against you.

As will mentioning experience with LinkedIn as a "skill" comparable to actual
programming or devops skills. That will instantly kill your chances at an
actual tech position, in fact (again, to be very, very blunt).

BTW it's absolutely no problem for you to mention your being homeless here, in
this forum (I've been on the edge of it myself, and can only sympathize). But
I would immediately delete any public postings of any sort where your personal
story in this front is associate with your real name. Really, it just falls
into the category of "too much information" for 99% of the folks out there who
are making hiring decisions -- and can only work against you.

~~~
amagnasco
Thank you so much for looking over it and giving me your honest opinion. It
helps immensely-- I'll write up a new tech-specific CV and post it here.

I agree with your assessment of hiring managers' mindset on that, and am being
discreet. I'll even come back and delete my linked CVs as soon as I get a job
opportunity.

~~~
kafkaesq
Best of luck. BTW in your situation (and in fact I was in something pretty
close to it, during good stretches of my 20s) I would definitely keep my focus
on getting any kind of a job (bike messenger, driver, delivery, whatever), and
of course a cheap place to stay, well before winter sets in. Rather than on
your ideal job and all that fancy ML stuff.

You'll have _plenty_ of time to think about long-term skill growth and how to
best invest in it, how to get around the lack of a tech degree (or perhaps
whether it's worth going to school again, after all) once you've got a place
to stay and a regular paycheck.

~~~
amagnasco
I agree 100%, the problem is that the places that I've been staying haven't
had any open opportunities within bike distance, and I don't have a car. I'm
moving back to the city, over there it'll be different.

Here's the new CV, opinion? www.overleaf.com/read/zrwcqvgrftvj

~~~
kafkaesq
Much, much better. Some quick feedback:

(1) Relentlessly check for spelling ("videoconferencing" should be two words),
and for correct and consistent use of acronyms ("SUNY Geneseo" should always
be written that way, and no other way.

(2) Be careful not to mix (to put it delicately) "brainy" languages like SQL
and R with "webby" languages like CSS (or other formatting languages). Even
though CSS can in fact be quite tricky, this is a common mistake people
applying for junior-ish people make -- experienced people will think that you
think these languages have equal "weight" when in their mind they clearly do
not. And certainly don't mix them in the same mention as natural languages.

So it would be better to split these into separate bullet points, e.g.:

\- Data analysis (intermediate SQL; basic R, SPSS) \- Frontend web
(intermediate HTML5, CSS); LaTeX \- Natively bilingual in English and Spanish

(3) Again, relentlessly check acronyms against their standard spellings (e.g.
"GitHub", "csh", "Bash" should always be spelled exactly like that, and no
other way). "OS X" has a space in the middle, etc.

(4) "Vim" and "vi" are interchangeably; juste use one or the other.

(5) Use color for hyperlinks only - not headings or anything else. Gratuitous
color looks overdesigned to tech people (like you're trying to hard), and will
likely be a dealbreaker.

And finally:

(6) If you have a GitHub profile with anything at all of interest in it, by
all means, include that up at the very top. But do make sure that whatever is
in there meets the same standard for correctness in terms of spelling, case as
your resume. (A couple of typos are OK -- but it should look like you _care_
).

Good luck!

------
pastProlog
I would suggest...

If you're homeless in NYC, there used to be a squatter scene in the Lower East
Side. That's changed over the past decades, but ABC No Rio at 156 Rivington
used to be a squat, and they have a calendar of open events on their web site.
Bluestockings books on 172 Allen St., one block south of Houston Street is
open all the time and is not really squatter-oriented, but has people and
flyers associated with this scene. Food Not Bombs moved out of ABC No Rio to
the Catholic Worker at 36 E. 1st street, they serve free food in Tompkins
Square Park after 3:30PM.

Also, 2600 meetings happen on the first Friday of every month in the lobby of
153 E 53rd St, people start coming in at 5PM. They're technical people who
might be sympathetic to someone in your situation.

If you look on Craigslist, there are a lot of (Microsoft) desktop support
jobs. Some need an A+/MCSE, some don't. It sounds like you could handle things
more complex, but if you're in dire need it's a paycheck. Also you have some
experience doing that. Do that, learn that, try to save some money up.

In fact if you're homeless you should probably look for an easier to get job
like a messenger's job first. Then I'd look for desktop support job. If I was
homeless I would put aside learning ML in R until I was getting a steady
paycheck and had a roof over my head.

~~~
amagnasco
:::::UPDATE::::: we found a way to get there and will absolutely be making use
of all these incredible resources, when we get a job and have free time and
money we'll go back and help out too

Wow, this is amazing. Thank you so much for all the information, I'm literally
crying right now. Can I ask how you know all this?

After the better part of a year in this situation in Florida, I managed to get
a friend to put us up two hours north of NYC, but there was a change of plans
and we need to leave by next week. So all those amazing people are slightly
out of reach right now but we'll definitively go if we manage to get to NYC,
but we can't because there's no-one we can stay with.

The main problem we have right now is Catch-22. We need a job to pay rent for
a roof over our heads or buy food. We need a roof and food to apply for jobs.
We don't have any more savings left to keep us coasting by, any more family
left that can help, or any more friends that can put us up. We managed to stay
off the streets up until now but it doesn't seem like an option anymore. No-
one wants to put us up, even for the promise of back-paid rent, and no-one
wants to give us a job. We're at wits' end, really. We have two college
degrees each for christ's sake. If we were in NYC proper we could go in person
to do all of those things but we're not. I completely agree with your
assessment and will definitively start looking on craigslist. Re: R, doing
some programming once in a while between applications keeps me sane, which is
absolutely a priority right now. I don't know why I just wrote out all of
this, sorry.. thanks for all the advice

~~~
pastProlog
I neglected to mention, FNB only serves food in Tompkins Square Park on
Sunday.

In your situation, forget about a job that involves R machine learning, unless
you already have an in. Get a job as a messenger, or supermarket stocker, or
McDonalds burger flipper or something. Look for signs in stores that say help
wanted, or find Manhattan messengering services you can work at.

Don't look for an apartment. Look for a room to rent.

There are different recycling days in New York, and some supermarkets have
24/7 recycling machines. You can take cans from people's blue recycle bins,
put it in a container (the street collectors use a basket with wheels around
here) and 20 of them means a dollar.

Also - on Staten Island is a place called Ganas. Some people work in their
stores and live there. They own residential buildings, stores etc. Some people
live there and work elsewhere. I don't know if they have space available, if
you tell them you'd like to live there and work in their stores, and perhaps
one of you eventually would get an outside job (or maybe both), it might work
out. The inner circle of Ganas is slightly cultish, but lots of people come to
New York, live there a few months, then go somewhere else, and had a good time
of it. They don't push you too heavily to join their meditation circle or
whatever it is. There used to be a Ganas splinter group with a building near
Ganas with a building, I don't think they owned businesses though. The living
is cheap, communal etc., but it's a roof and a job, and some of them have
outside jobs.

The city places homeless people, but if you're a walkin you'll probably be
sent to a homeless shelter with a lot of mentally ill and criminal people.
People get their stuff stolen, sometimes worse. There is a curfew too,
although if you have a legit job it might be extended.

------
Aveire4OoCeewi
Find a public shower and a place where you can wash clothes cheap. Go to the
public library and send CV's out all day - day after day (until you get a
job). Use the public shower and fresh clothes every day for first month
working. With first salary check get a flat.

Had to do that 2 times, once in my home country (non IT job), second time i
moved to a country without money and had to do it again (IT job).

Cheers

~~~
amagnasco
That is exactly the plan! At the moment we found a friend of mine to crash
with but it's ending next week. I'm sorry that you had to go through that too
but at least you got out! It's really encouraging, thanks for sharing

------
asyrique
If you're down to relocate, we're based out of Malaysia and growing fast.
Sounds like you might be a cultural fit.

[https://vase.ai/careers/](https://vase.ai/careers/)

P.s. We might be able to help with the flight ticket if you're an interesting
candidate. And Malaysia's cost of living is just way cheaper :D

~~~
antoineMoPa
Browsing through the career offers: "Expect no pay until you prove your
value."... Hmm, nice, let's go to Malaysia and see if I'll get paid...

~~~
asyrique
Hey @antoineMoPa,

Sorry if that rubs you the wrong way. That expectation applies to only one
career option, the "I'm really smart" option. We put this in because we want
people who want to join Vase, but do not see themselves in any of the
positions currently offered, to pitch us what position they want, and why
they're a really good fit for it.

Given the nature of creating a position specifically for a candidate, I think
it is a fair expectation on that candidate to prove why that position is
necessary in Vase, and also what value they bring, hence the "Expect no pay
until you prove your value."

That being said, the position that @amagnasco expressed interest in,
Operations Intern, is definitely paid, as are all the other defined positions
we have.

I'd love to pick your brain if there is a better way we can do this though
@antoineMoPa. We want to attract great people, and know that sometimes they
may not see themselves in a software engineer/sales executive/data analyst
role, (which is what we have on offer), and this seemed like the best way to
attract driven people who will create their own role in the company.

Do you have any ideas?

------
auganov
You need to cut down on the noise. You mention so many things that it's hard
to figure out "who you are". Would be nice to have something tangible you
worked on that would give you instant credibility.

Wouldn't mention that you're homeless. As long as you can seem similar and
likable to the founders you can talk your way into most startup jobs (if
that's what you're after). So I'd mostly focus on the image you're projecting.

~~~
amagnasco
would this work? www.overleaf.com/read/zrwcqvgrftvj

~~~
auganov
Well I don't know much about CVs and that sort of hiring. I was mostly
concerned about your own possible confusion about who you'd like to be. You
still seem to list a lot of "random" technologies rather than just operating
on high level concepts. I.e. just saying you know networking rather than
"iptables, firewalls..." [0]. I really don't know if that's a good strategy
job-application wise or not, no idea.

I was imagining you just finding a way to network with startup people, making
some friends and eventually getting a job. Especially since you mention you're
willing to do anything [for I assume not so much pay] Applying for jobs is
definitely an unlikely path to such an arrangement.

[0] and btw mentioning firewalls and iptables separately in that context is
werid unto itself

~~~
amagnasco
Since online applications haven't been working out for me, I'm going to start
going in person, so I wrote the CV with that perspective in mind.

I don't know about CVs either, at all really. I know the limits of my
knowledge and I don't want to oversell myself, I just wanted to clarify what I
do and don't know. My experience is heavily linux-based so if someone is
looking for a windows expert to debug their registers, that's not me. Sure I
can poke around and apply critical thinking to the issue, go online and
download a new dat file, reinstall the OS, virus scans or whatever, but I've
never debugged a VB app. I don't even know what else is out there in the
windowsverse past that point. If tinkering got me nowhere, it's not in the
manual, and it's not online, I'll pass it on to someone else. As opposed to
linux, OSX, BSD debugging which I can handle fine.

Thanks for pointing the firewall thing out, I fixed it.

------
650REDHAIR
Meetup.com

Find tech events in Manhattan/Brooklyn and show up for the free food and soak
up as much as you can from the people giving talks.

You'll meet people who might be hiring, or maybe their company is hiring. And
even if you don't, you'll be learning cool shit and eating free food!

~~~
huehehue
Adding to this: the Bitcoin center in NYC has (or had, it's been some time)
Satoshi Square every Monday & Thursday, which is a meetup/trading event. Free
entry, free pizza, free bar.

I think the scene has died down a bit, but if there's even a fraction of the
energy left you'll have a good time and make a few solid business connections.

------
amagnasco
Long time lurker here. Sorry for the lack of intelligible paragraphs and for
all the abbreviations. I had to fit it under 2000 characters.

A more reader-friendly version is at
[http://stackoverflow.com/cv/amagnasco](http://stackoverflow.com/cv/amagnasco)

~~~
skissane
You write in your CV "Want to learn C to build device drivers so my computers
work like they should". Why do you want to write your own device drivers?
Because there is hardware you want to use (e.g. under Linux) for which
adequate free device drivers don't exist? (What hardware?) Because existing
device drivers have bugs or limitations that no one has fixed? (Can you give
an example?)

If I was doing hiring, the way you worded that would make me suspicious that
you don't really have a good understanding of the reasons why in practice
people develop device drivers. You could avoid that impression if you were
more specific about a device you want to write a driver for (e.g. "I bought a
Thingymabob9000, but I can't use it under Linux because only Windows drivers
are available for it"). Since the vast majority of IT jobs don't actually
involve device driver development, any limitations of your understanding in
this area are probably irrelevant; but it is better you avoid inducing a
negative impression in others even if it is irrelevant to the job
(unconciously we tend to still consider things even if we know consciously
they are irrelevant.) Or you could just avoid mentioning the topic of writing
device drivers altogether-better to not bring up a topic on which your
knowledge might have some gaps than bring it up only for the hiring manager to
get the impression that you have a poor understanding of it.

~~~
amagnasco
Sorry about not being more specific in there, you're absolutely right. I
wouldn't mention it in an actual CV or cover letter, I just wanted to put it
on here so you can see my long-term interest in CS, that it's not just to pay
the bills.

As a general issue my hardware is mostly old and crappy, while most of it does
have foss linux drivers the specific configuration for some is quite
impossible to manage. I've been trying to figure it out with a lot of AL
experts on the forums for some years now. So my interest in that would be
learning how drivers work so I can actually configure them properly, helping
rewrite the documentation, and maybe helping rewrite the drivers themselves if
necessary. Probably the first step would be learning how to get a working
Gentoo system up, as I spend a lot of time reading their documentation anyway.
For example, the 2011 MacBook Pro has two video cards: an integrated Intel HD
Graphics 3000, and a discrete AMD Radeon HD 6750M. It works like ______* even
on OSX (it literally froze up on me for 15 minutes while I was writing this
post), but on Arch I can 't even get it to run so I just use single-user mode
and do everything from bash. Unfortunately as fun as Mutt and Elinks are, I
can't apply to jobs using that so I'm forced to run OSX.

As a specific interest there's a lot of areas that intrigue me in the realm of
FOSS development for ARM (and HURD!).

------
samblr
Changes to CV:

> First up put an objective of what your objective in 1-2 lines. (eg:
> System/Web/Mobile developer looking for beginner level role - something in
> this line)

> Next pull your fluent skill levels from second page sidebar to first page on
> main-side. By this, reviewer will quickly be able to see your tech skills
> first up (right in viewing zone).

> Show some code in your github profile - as you can program - write some neat
> code for problems in codejam, topcoder, careercup etc. If you have already
> 've some code - push it to a github.

> Put your SAT scores and college education in viewing zone - 1st page.

> Divide your tech skills by [ system, web, mobile ]. Skill with highest
> proficiency cam come at beginning.

Cut down on what you want to do ahead (but let that burn within you till reach
the goal) in resume as it will not help now. Also search for sample programmer
CVs and see if anything helps you organise content in a better way in FIRST
PAGE.

Then in second page - rest of the things can come.

Left hand section of cv - content looks dense with paragraphs of texts. See if
you can put it in less words.

Apply through as many webportals as possible. Search career section of
companies if you have any in mind.

Push hard and trudge on - do not stop.

~~~
amagnasco
New CV, thoughts? www.overleaf.com/read/zrwcqvgrftvj

~~~
samblr
Good :).

Can be better. Replace SysAdmin with System Admin.

First 3 paras will be better like below - (each '>' is a bullet): >
Programming languages: SQL, HTML, CSS, BASH, R, SPSS/PSPP, LaTeX space
languages. > Version control : Git [insert link of your account]. > Editor:
Vim, Vi, Emacs. > Tools and Applications: SalesForce, Raiser's Edge, Blackbaud
CRM systems, Asana, Overleaf, Slack, MS office. > Operating systems : Arch
Linux, Ubuntu, Red Hat, OSX, and Windows, Gnome, Unity, LXDE, XFDE, CISC and
RISC systems. > Networking: DHCP, routers configuration.

Activities: > Installing and setting up operating systems (windows & linux
flavoured). > Installing and troubleshooting hardware and software. >
Purchasing, and negotiating with vendors. > Excellent customer service, in
person or remote. > Partitioning and disk recovery, both GUI and shell.
IPtables, firewalls. Antiviral, rootkit, periferal, and social engineering
safety measures, both preventative and corrective.

When you see paragraphs of text in CV - think in bullets and subheadings.
Golden rule - keep each point within a line or two.

Hope all goes well for you. Good luck.

~~~
amagnasco
Thank you so much for all this advice! It still seemed a bit dreary so I put
some of the more marketable items in bold, I guess I can change that on the
fly to suit wherever I'm applying to. Thanks and likewise!

------
Mz
There are tips here for how to get a mailing address, etc:

[http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/](http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/)

You aren't yet literally on the street. I suggest you not tell people you are
homeless. Get a mailing address and dirt cheap phone and apply for work.

Get better at leaving out the personal details. They are pertinent to you.
They are mostly not anything a potential employer wants to hear.

Best.

~~~
amagnasco
Thank you, everything helps. I agree completely with you, the actual CV I send
out is linked at the end of the post, and I'll upload a tech-specific one now
based on suggestions here.

For the past year I've been constantly on the brink of being on the street or
worse and have been fighting tooth and nail to get even a sofa or any help at
all. The vast majority of my family are back in South America and have
problems of their own to deal with, my friends are not doing that much better.
It sucks. No-one I'm applying for a job with would hear about any of it though
of course.

~~~
Mz
Well, I have been camped in a tent for 4.5 years. I openly self identify as
"homeless" online, but it isn't a good way to get real respect from most
people and Hacker News is a professional forum and a place some people manage
to get work. (That link (above) is my website.)

On the first of the month here, they do a thing where you can post that you
are a freelancer or an employer seeking a freelancer. That is coming up in a
few days. You might check that out.

You should also look for gig work. By 2020, 40% of US workers are expected to
be doing gig work of some kind. Regular jobs are becoming less common. I have
been doing gig work and my income is trending up while on the street. I do
freelance writing, part time and intermittently (due to health issues). That
is gradually leading to better things for me.

Best.

~~~
amagnasco
That's incredible, I don't even know what to say. I'm looking at your website
and it really is very useful, thanks for putting it up. I'll spread the word
around about it when I get to the city.

I've done some grant-writing work on Upwork, and I'm trying to get into other
writing opportunities for gigs. Is there anywhere you recommend for that, in
particular that doesn't scam people? I will definitively come back Aug 1st and
check out that thread, thanks. That reddit definitively is interesting...

I remember when Amazon started Mturk and all of a sudden, the gig economy hit
the internet. Visionary, really.

~~~
Mz
[http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-...](http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-job-
you-can-carry-in-your-backpack.html)

------
jason_slack
I'm a few hours north of the city, but if you need clothes I probably have a
bunch, your size depending.

~~~
amagnasco
You're amazing, thank you! We're good on clothes thank god, we've been taking
care of them. Hopefully by the time winter rolls around we'll be in a better
position to get some new stuff. Seriously, thank you though.

~~~
jason_slack
If the winter rolls around and you are in need, my e-mail is in my profile.
Happy to make the drive down to help a fellow human being.

------
amagnasco
:::::::::::UPDATE:::::::::::

Thank you everyone for all of your amazing advice! It really is helping me
immensely, I cannot thank you enough..

New CV incorporating your suggestions: www.overleaf.com/read/zrwcqvgrftvj

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

~~~
pkaye
Some feedback... Should be a one page resume. No wall of text as the
interviewer will spend one minute looking at your resume and your need to grab
their attention. Emphasize the skill set the particular job opening is looking
for. Make it a short list of bullet points that are easy to read.

Don't list too many skills if your don't have in-depth experience. Each
interviewer will pick a few from that list to quiz you and you are bound to
fail if your have minimal experience. Keep only the ones you are most
comfortable and proud about your accomplishments.

If you have good GPA or SAT scores then emphasize them.

