Ask HN: I have applied to 1000 jobs from Sep. 2023 is it that bad?

[dvcoolarun]

I'm unsure whether the HN community will upvote or downvote this post.

I've been applying to a lot of jobs, but most recruiters here in India say they can't move forward with my profile because of my freelancing background (which I used to do due to personal/family issues). However, I now want to transition to a full-time role.

In the past, I've been able to code and build decent projects, and I have experience working with Frontend/Backend technologies such as React, Python, and Django.

I'm particularly interested in working with startups, but most European startups I've applied to with custom cover letters have rejected my profile.

If any kind soul could help me, I've attached my CV here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kn0tc86x1a53cpaomfgr7/Arun-Frontend.pdf?rlkey=drilldxdhzaz952k5720tusl8&dl=0

[solardev]

It's ridiculously hard right now because you're competing with literal hordes of ex-FAANGers with a ton of full-time big-name experience and expertise, all in a race to the bottom. My colleagues (in the USA) were laid off months ago and sent out hundreds of applications too and have been ghosted by most of them.

I'm sorry, I know that doesn't help, but it's just to say... you're not alone :( The market has changed dramatically since last year.

[xhkkffbf → solardev]

Yup. I concur. This is what I'm hearing from friends. Nasty time.

[1letterunixname → solardev]

Another way to approach it is to ensure the inbound pipeline (to you) is good because outbound has significantly less weight and a possible sense of desperation.

[solardev → 1letterunixname]

I'm not sure what you mean by this?

[EchoChamberMan → solardev]

Pretty sure they mean get offers from connected people in your network... like how the rich do.

[mv4]

The market is awful right now. You are not only competing with the unemployed ex-FAANG, you are competing with internal candidates as well (layoffs still ongoing).

[tareqak]

Some numbers for context/sense of foreboding: https://layoffs.fyi/

159 tech companies w/ layoffs ∙ 41793 employees laid off in 2024 (as of 8:26 AM PST February 20, 2024).

I have been applying on and off for much longer with no success (I would stop because I would just get discouraged after a while).

[Brajeshwar]

Hey, not sure if I can help immediately but let's talk and see where this leads. Sent you an email.

Almost all the demos mentioned or led from your resume do not work. I'd suggest fixing them. This might be your chance.

Update your resume to include the recently HN popular app you did https://github.com/dvcoolarun/web2pdf

btw, nothing derogatory but a professional curiosity -- are you going to continue to go by "CoolArun" everywhere or do you plan to transition to a normal one soon! ;-)

[1letterunixname]

Here's some unsolicited feedback. Sorry that it's public, but I hope this helps other people as 1:N broadcast format:

- Bold is good, but it's too much.

- Never use underline in a CV. Lines and boxes are OK if they break up sections.

- Color tends to get lost and could trip-up some document scanners.

- Two columns is kind of cramped and doesn't work well with résumé scanners. Instead, put that stuff at the bottom.

- Center name (first and last), title, and city. Make the intro tagline shorter.

- English copy writing - Reduce use of hollow adjectives and adverbs like "actually", "really", "especially".

- Tech differentiation - Name specific, hot frameworks beyond just what everyone else lists. 2010-2015 it was C++, Java, JavaScript, and SQL on every darn résumé. Zzz.

- Business impact - Excellent! This is what makes software engineers valuable. Try to introduce specific cases where you solved a problem. Especially gold moments are where you saved the business significant money, shipped features fast, or were the hero.

- Github links - Awesome! If it finally makes its way to a real hiring manager who coded or a tech lead, they can get a sense of how clean and understandable your code is.

Remember that if you give a technical recruiter your résumé in .docx or .txt format, they're probably going to edit it before sending it on to hiring companies. Please ask the recruiter to let you see and approve changes because you don't want them to exaggerate or lie about your qualifications.

Also, you can disintermediate the role of a technical recruiter if you have good social and sales skills to work with HR and hiring managers of hiring companies. This requires a bit more ambiguity navigation, patience, assertiveness, and finesse than is customarily expected of a job candidate. Remember that if you go this route, you're there to deliver a helpful, assertive, customer service approach facilitating their hiring pipeline to fill their open jd's/req's. Follow-up, ping gently with exponential backoff, and inject a little humor to keep life interesting.

Bring good vibes and find a situation that's most interesting and comfortable for all.

PS: What really helped me early on was a life lesson where my parents forced me to sell candy bars door-to-door in residential neighborhoods. Thousands of doors. Rejection is a muscle to be built up with numbers while being careful to create and nudge interest towards "yes" with care.

[beardyw]

As a freelancer I have been asked if I would go on the payroll. Is that a route?

[1letterunixname → beardyw]

That never worked out in my experience. Often, clients just wanted to see what your lowest price would be.

[beardyw → 1letterunixname]

I meant once you have been working for them a while.

[1letterunixname]

Then ditch the freelancing background. Come across as a loyal, corporate clone.

[OsintOtter69]

Yes. It’s fucking horrible. I work at a FAANG company and all the ones who got laid off last year are just flooding the market. Tough times my friend. I wish you the best of luck.

[1letterunixname → OsintOtter69]

Hey current and Ex-MAANGers, we should get a critical mass of talent and launch a consulting-ish shop that dips into focused productization of apps as a worker-owned co-op. Enough with being underpaid, uncool bureaucracy, and being thrown to the wolves cyclicly.