
How to Navigate Job Hunting During a Period of Layoffs and Extreme Unemployment - markhall
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhall/2020/04/05/job-hunting-during-unemployment/#1a6deaaa24d3
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angarg12
My piece of advice is this: if you are fortunate enough to keep your job
during a recession, be ready to look for a new job quickly after the recovery.

I kept my job during the 2008 meltdown, and I suffered from a bad case of
salary compression [1]. Although we didn't lose our jobs, our salary froze
during the first 4 years. Our bonuses got cancelled, so effectively our income
went down. On the fifth year we started getting meagre raises, and when I
finally left after 7 years, my salary went up dramatically. I estimate that
when I left I was getting paid easily half of market rate.

Moral of the story, I could have left after a couple of years in a recovering
economy rather than keep the same grossly underpaid job for so long.

[1]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=salary+compression&oq=salary...](https://www.google.com/search?q=salary+compression&oq=salary+compression&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.2523j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)

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pdubs1
__Submitter MarkHall is also the article 's author. Looking at his user
history, he submits articles he writes here, despite their irrelevance to this
community __

I don 't see any value in this article posted here.

1\. It's general content

2\. It's not related to technology (or other STEM knowledge/innovations)

3\. Many tech companies are hiring

4\. covid is not effecting many software engineers as much as other
occupations since we can work from home.

~~~
markhall
OP here: While I do share my articles here often, I think the content can be
valuable to folks who recently lost their jobs or are looking for jobs.
Regarding point 1, sometimes general advice is still practical. Regarding
point 2, not all HN content is tech specific. 3: I included the links to tech
companies hiring.

~~~
pdubs1
No worries, I just wanted to point out some things I felt were factual about
my experience with A. happening upon at largely tech/stem-irrelevant news
story and thinking "Gee, why is this here if it's not relevant? I want
Tech/STEM -relevant news, which is the purpose of HN." and then B. clicking
your HN username and seeing you've been doing this for a while. and then C.
realizing "Hey, this is misuse, and I am going to point it out."

I think given that this is "Hacker" News, founded by YCombinator, an
technology incubator ("seed accelerator"), that the spirit of this forum is to
keep the discussion purely Tech, STEM & Tech/STEM-business related. Not
articles which have no clear emphasis on these core topics.

In respect to Social Contract, I'd prefer that YCombinator isn't flooded by
every blogger who thinks their non-tech or STEM article should be posted on a
Tech/STEM related news forum. I'd prefer that you don't consider this a
traffic outlet to boost your articles' views & visits, especially then they're
not Tech/Stem relevant.

In terms of links to tech companies hiring-- If I were blogging and wanted
views from a Tech/STEM news forums' visitors, I would make the clear,
overarching focus of my article Tech/STEM related. I think this approach is
would be more respectful to the purpose & visitors of this forum.

OP: "Doo daa doo... let me just go post my article on HackerNews just because
I need some views"

~~~
detaro
> _I think given that this is "Hacker" News, founded by YCombinator, an
> technology incubator ("seed accelerator"), that the spirit of this forum is
> to keep the discussion purely Tech, STEM & Tech/STEM-business related. Not
> articles which have no clear emphasis on these core topics._

Please re-read the site guidelines. This is not the case. (FWIW, I would
personally agree that this article isn't a great fit, but not for that reason)

~~~
pdubs1
Ah gotcha. Hence I preceeded it with "I think..." Which part is not the case?

~~~
detaro
There is no restriction to "purely Tech, STEM & Tech/STEM-business related".

~~~
pdubs1
I would prefer if there was.

I can go anywhere any get junk news. I come to HN for STEM/Tech &
similar/related business news

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RickJWagner
"Don’t constantly listen to news or TV programs that repeatedly harp on the
economic challenges - just take action and stay focused on your goals"

Perhaps the hardest of the suggested things to do, but the most productive.

~~~
davesque
This. I think at times there's a certain mind trick you have to play on
yourself. You have to believe something is possible for your own reasons
irrespective of popular opinion. The insight is that popular opinion is often
wrong or exaggerated or less relevant to your personal situation than you
realize.

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mlthoughts2018
It seems kind of a sham to write this for a generic audience when specific job
sectors are likely to be much worse hit. If you’ve built a career in
management at a large retailer for instance, and all the large retailers are
hurting the same, your resume probably doesn’t matter at all in this downturn.

When will you get a chance to elevator pitch someone while on lockdown?

What do you do if you don’t like data privacy practices or dark patterns of
platforms like LinkedIn or social networks?

In reality this article is written only for white collar workers in industries
likely not as strongly impacted by the recession who are looking at job
options at other white collar positions also not heavily impacted. And in that
case the advice basically boils down to “do what you would normally do.”

In that sense it’s kind of a frustrating article masquerading as though it’s
helpful to people hitting hard times.

~~~
markhall
OP here: While I appreciate the feedback and understand parts of it, I think
writing general pieces that can help broader audiences still can be valuable.
The piece wasn't designed to cover simply today's reality but tomorrow as
well.

