Ask HN: So I'm being let go
Nervous because my whole adult life has been spent in between these walls. Scared because I don't have a degree and at 30 I'm competing with younger, new grads. Somewhat excited because it will force me out of my comfort zone.
I got married in June of this year so that adds extra pressure since I am now a provider. Luckily, I dont have any kids, yet, to have to worry about.
I've spend the last decade working with HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP and a suite of other tools. I've built banner ads for advertisers, booked online campaigns in various platforms Google DFP, Yahoo APT. I'm a jack of all trades master of none. I've always taken that as an insult rather than a compliment. I hear it as "your mediocre at a bunch of things...not really good at anything."
So HN, what advice do you have for a 30 year old who's about to embark on a new adventure?
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[ 3.8 ms ] story [ 140 ms ] threadWhere in the world are you? This is an important question.
I started as a Print Graphic Designer, then moved to I.T. Due to more layoffs I then became I.T./ Web Dev. I weathered the storm once again and had my job mutated into I.T. Assistant/ Web Dev/ Digital Campaign Coordinator.
Try to stay on working one or a few days per week or work for them on a contract basis.
It is easier to find a job if you are currently employed so hanging on 1 day per week or as a contractor you could list them as an employer or yourself as a contractor.
If you're interested and have the skills you could try to pick up some of your own clients including your current employer.
Sounds like you have basic skills but will need to spend some time getting to the next level.
If you enjoy web development you could elevate your skills by learning web application development front end with Angular or React back end with Rails or Laravel. If you have a few months till your let go you could make some progress learning new skills.
You won't be an expert or even employable over that time but the sooner you start learning the sooner you will be.
Check with companies in your area and see what skills they are hiring for.
If bringing in the same level of income isn't critical you could take an entry level developer position and start working your way up.
Play around with some of the popular languages and see what you like, what you are interested in.
Good luck.
Enjoy the Holidays, things will work out. You're still young, have a good foundation of skills to build on.
Check out https://www.reddit.com/r/hiring for possible gigs.
10 years work experience > fresh grad with a degree that has no idea what lies ahead. You know the ins and outs of companies, the kind of people you deal with, you don't throw tantrums, deadlines are deadlines.
> I've built banner ads for advertisers, booked online campaigns in various platforms Google DFP, Yahoo APT.
Yep, experience in different platforms is a huge plus.
> I'm a jack of all trades master of none. I've always taken that as an insult rather than a compliment. I hear it as "your mediocre at a bunch of things...not really good at anything."
I hear it as "I know that much, too much." Being a jack of all trades means you know enough to move around. Your wide range of experience allows you to look for a wider range of jobs. You are more flexible to position change. You are no stranger to being moved across projects, across people, across locations.
> what advice do you have for a 30 year old who's about to embark on a new adventure?
- Read up on the latest trends. Most job interviews will have questions about them (though the job itself may not actually use the latest tech).
- Be sharp, concise and confident in job interviews. I've heard from my co-workers who do the interviews for new candidates. They find resumes good, but they fail candidates because they were terrible at interviews.
- Up the ante. Take up higher positions. You probably make a good project manager with that 10 years around people.
Life got considerably better as I started specializing towards a track of Front End Development. There's a huge gulf between being the guy who can write spaghetti JS and CSS to developer but its doable, although it was much easier 6 years ago when left the Jack-Of-All-Trades. I'd suggest picking a part of your skill set if you have extended downtime and trying to level up. Having a broad skillset won't hurt you, but not having anything technical will.
You might not be an ace with HTML or CSS. Heck, you might not even be a great coder (I suck at coding!), but you've probably learned very valuable lessons about how a local newspaper works and how your work could add value to them.
Can you remember every time you had an opinion about how to do something and it was shut down by someone else? Do you still think you were right? If yes, that means you think you can do better. What about those ideas you've never shared but still think were great?
Why don't you sell this knowledge to local newspapers? You could start an IT consultancy specialized in the newspapers business. You could sell again your services to the same newspaper that just let you go, plus other newspapers in your region.
This is my advice without knowing much about you. I hope it helps you in any way :)
For the past 5 years the focus has been on the bottom line and if you have to lay off people to reflect a better number then so be it.
It's hard to see this place go down this route when you genuinely believe in the product. Having an informed public is very important but at the end of the day you have to keep the lights on.
And if the idea doesn't sell, what about some competition? Maybe following a crowd-funded model? I know I'm just throwing random ideas, but hopefully this will spark a light in you :)
I don't want to make you feel like shit, but the demand for your skillset (media oriented programming) is declining. The main focuses these days are on JavaScript replacing Flash and mobile development, but apart from that any company in the space is only making money if it is overworking and underpaying its employees (which is easy to do when they are young).
The money in digital media was cheap and easy for a while, but since maybe 2010 more and more people have been trying to get into the space, because the barrier to entry is so low. This has massively driven down rates. If you're a competent programmer outside of media, you can easily pull down 100k+. If you're in the media space, you're working way more hours and pulling down a little bit more than half of that, in my experience.
tl;dr: You need to decide whether you want to stay in the segment of the industry you are in. If you do, you will probably be in this position again in 2-3 years. If you don't, you need to convince someone like me in an interview that you aren't just like every other "WordPress programmer" out there.
while it's true that media in general is in decline and has a poor wage situation, that's mostly felt on the editorial side. Programmers still seem to be paid quite well, at least in New York. I've never received an offer to work at a media company for less than $100k and have had a few at double that.
Frame this exercise as what you would prepare if you were given the opportunity to do a 15 minute formal pitch of your capabilities to a room full of potential clients/employers.
Advertising Agencies and Consulting companies often have this as a section of their pitch decks. This is the "generic" part in which they are telling potential clients why they are generally capable and able to handle whatever will come up in the course of the project and they focus on the people and skills that they think make their agency stand-out while also assuring clients that they have all the "table stakes" covered.
The deck will help you with interviews and networking. How do I tell my story succinctly and engagingly?
2] Create an online portfolio website and other mini-sites. Build a portfolio site describing your accomplishments in various projects at your current newspaper job and include URL to relevant page. That portfolio site should also link to 2 or 3 mini-sites that demonstrate various sub-sets of your skills in action.
This is helpful because you can just send someone you are networking with a single URL that lets them explore who you are and what you can do.
3] Map out your skills. For each skill: label, short description, depth of experience, breadth of experience, assessment of your skill level, clear path toward improvement, enjoyment level and local market demand.
What this map will help you to do is decide where to focus your specialization budget, your time, money and intellectual energy. Ideally you would find a skill where you already have a nice breadth and depth of experience, market demand is at least moderately high and that skill has a clear path forward for improvement such as online courses, great books for moving toward expert status. Of the things you have listed, Javascript stands out as the skill that has market demand and a clear path toward expertise on top of your practical experience. It also has the virtue of being demonstrable.
The degree piece is almost ALWAYS an issue with flunky HR functionaries. Not so much for the Hiring Executive, he's interested in how you can help him move his agenda forward. Target your job search on reaching out directly to senior executives WHO you know how to help.
Incidentally, suggest reading Gitomer's Little Red Book- unconventional applications to approaching your job search> http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75890.Little_Red_Book_of_...
And yes, I've been in managerial positions, from team lead all the way up to director of engineering for several multinationals. Most of the positions listed a BS (or even MSc) as requirement.
The best thing you did for yourself was learning the HTML, CSS, etc that you did. That is going to get your resume farther, faster, even without a degree. Having been on hiring committees for organizations looking for new copyrighters, etc, there is such a focus on web that it is always a plus to see, even if there are other developers doing the heavy lifting.
One bit of encouragement: newspapers (including local papers) and the people who produce them are still highly respected. You presumably have good communication skills and understand community. In an interview, if you can convey confidence and pride in your accomplishments there's a good chance you will make a good impression and that's half the battle.
Regardless of what direction you head off, good luck.
1st) Resume + story. Search google for 'Harvard Computer Science Resume' or 'Georgia Tech Computer Science resume' and use their format. There are standard formats that are widely used for top jobs. You then need to get ready for behavioral interviews. This involves getting a minimum of 3-5 PAR stories ready and to think hard about all the stuff you have done over 10 years. Practice them.
2nd) You need to prep for technical interviews. I'm not a coder, but in my field (finance) there is a lot of material available. I know I have seen stuff about technical interviews here.
3rd) Network. Obviously LinkedIn is extremely helpful for locating contacts. Search for past people from the Newspaper, your high school, any groups you are in. For education, I would probably leave it blank rather than putting a high school on there so it doesn't draw attention to you not having a degree.
It will be extremely hard for you to get a job via a career posting. You will need to reach out to friends and ask them for 'advice' and if they know of anyone that you should talk to in their company.
Expect this process to take 4 months. It seems like forever, but it will take a while. That will be fine. Once you have your new gig, you will be in an exciting new industry.
Source: I just got hired by another large company after a search after shutting down my business.
edit: I found a harvard guide at http://ocs.fas.harvard.edu/files/ocs/files/hes-resume-cover-... but the GA Tech style seems a little more elusive
I believe we all underestimate our own skills, but there's a lot of folks looking for generalists. I don't believe in "full stack" development quite so much, but there are a lot of people looking for it.
Anyway, 30 is a great age - You're just at the point where you are starting to be very marketable and your experience has built up to a value where you can command a lot more value based on having had the experience of all the things you have done before.
I've been here for just over a year and it's awesome. Highly recommend applying if you see a job that fits your skillset.
You are better than you think you are. Do you really think that when you start "X" job, that you will be unable to complete tasks given to you?
I'd encourage you to look at our jobs page: http://ownlocal.com/jobs
These are informal "can I take you out to coffee?" talks with people in your industry to see what they are working on, what is happening with them, what is going on in the industry. Every job I have ever gotten is through informal meetings with people I have met through my network (whether its the current newspaper, your friends, parents, relatives, or other).
At the end of every one I ask: "Is there anyone else you think I should talk to?" and "Do you currently have any opportunities at your company for me?". Rinse repeat.
I guarantee investing in 30 informational interviews will yield huge dividends vs. 30 career fairs, a personal pitch deck, starting a blog, dusting off your resume, or God Forbid: applying to jobs through Linkedin.
Same. Maybe not directly from that meeting, but all of the best offers I've received have come through my network around the local startup scene.
Another bit of advice I give is try new platforms before they're popular. For example, it was easy to get noticed as an applicant on AngelList in 2012-2013. If I were for looking for a dev job today, I'd start with Triplebyte or Hired.
On a related note, I don't believe in job fairs, but I find value in niche job boards. Product Hunt has a nice aggregated list of some of the top remote job lists for example: https://www.producthunt.com/e/find-a-remote-job.
Downside to that. It was NOT overnight.
So with respect to the OP's question and regarding the informational interview approach, there's one thing I have discovered that surprised me. How many acquaintances I haven't spoken with in years are actually willing to jump in and help me if I open up to them asking for it. Pretty amazing that :)
Spend some time to think about what you'd like to be over the next few years and most importantly, know what you're good at and what you're not so good at. List 10 strengths and 10 weaknesses and include both technical and non-technical skills.
Don't dwell on negative thoughts that tell you that you're not good enough. Sure, people with degrees might have an easier ride to get noticed but it's not impossible for you. Be creative. Make a portfolio. Proactively reach out to prospective employers. Learn something on your own. Take an online course.
People who tell you shit like "you're mediocre at a bunch of things.. not really good at anything" aren't worth listening to. Take it with a grain of salt, learn from it but move on. There are plenty of advantages to being a generalist rather than a specialist. But it really depends on what YOU want to do with your life.