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Thank HN: You helped me get a new job

2425 points by atum47 ↗ HN
I remember like it was yesterday: I applied to a job overseas through a job platform and didn't get hired. People from the platform contacted me telling me one of the possible reasons was that I didn't have any code on GitHub. After that I started uploading all my code as open source projects and began to search places to tell people about it.

Soon I learned about Hackernews and made a post that got 1 vote. I then decided to contact HN to ask how can I get more traction to my projects and they told me about the Show HN, a tag design to share small and even unfinished projects. Soon I was posting every idea I ever had made into a project. After InvaderZ - a space invaders clone that uses genetic algorithm (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21577659) - people started liking my projects and I started to gain some attention. That was very important cause I was being approached by some companies.

I don't do projects to gather attention, I do cause I have fun doing them. I already had a lot of things done when I decided to upload them to GitHub. Well, in one of those times when my post was in top 10, a cool company from São Paulo saw me and called me for an interview. They liked my project so much they offer me a job.

I'm living in São Paulo now, it's a huge city full of things to do and places to visit. It's been really cool so far and I have a huge appreciation for Hackernews and the good people that work here. They provide a cool platform where people can share relevant news. They provide tools for people to start their own startup. They share job openings. They share companies that are hiring. It's a neat place for programmers, hackers and tech enthusiasts in general. I wrote this cause you never know when your story will inspire others and maybe there's someone on the struggle right now looking for a job. This was my experience. HN help me a lot and I think it might help you too. Thank you all and have a wonderful year.

198 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 207 ms ] thread
codezero
Congrats on the job! It’s always awesome to hear how a community helps one of its members!

Edit: looking at your submissions, you’ve been a machine, good work. I’m moderately curious what hiring platform came back with feedback for you, it seems in retrospect to have been helpful :)

atum47
honeypot, they were all over Reddit some time ago

edit: I think the lady who was dealing with my profile felt bad cause I had zero offers, lol.

gordon_freeman
Congrats and I hope you'll keep contributing to this HN community in the future as well.
atum47
Thanks, I hope I do too.
bobochan
Wow! Congratulations! This is a great story. Best of luck with your new position. São Paulo sounds great.
atum47
Thank you. São Paulo is a great city. Every food you want to try, from every nation. you can rent a eletric scooter from the street with just your phone. I'm really having fun here
rapfaria 

   you can rent a eletric scooter from the street with just your phone
For now, at least
hycaria
And is it really the best part about a city ?
ipnon
Congratulations. The hacking can truly open doors it seems. :)
atum47
I see what your did there
sbuccini
Congratulations! Don't stop now! Stick around and provide inspiration to others coming along behind us.
werber
That’s so awesome, congratulations on your success
jamie-vesoft
Wow great story! Congrats on the new position. I didn't know about the Show HN tag. Sounds like a great opportunity for startups. Thanks for sharing!
atum47
yes, indeed. I've seen a lot of cool apps here. I think one even got bought after being featured on top.
conductr
> I didn't know about the Show HN tag

Not sure why but that made me laugh and think that either says a lot about how HN has changed over the years or you just don’t spend much time here

OJFord
I'm guessing the latter, there's two on the front page right now; there must rarely not be at least one.
conductr
Probably and that’s kind of my point. Not meant as an insult or anything but just thought it was funny since it seemed like the main purpose of HN back in the day
jamie-vesoft
LOL Not bad that my comment made you laugh. I'll be honest that it's the latter reason because I am new to the community. :) Glad to meet you here.
soneca
Congrats! I remember seeing one of your projects, finding it cool, and checking your profile and site.

HN is indeed a good platform for a kind of disperse networking. I got approached by a friend whose boss saw my posts/comments on HN, somehow talked about it to my friend, who recognized my username (which is both memorable for Brazilians and my actual nickname) and asked him to recruit me.

And I don't even ever got a hit post.

atum47
soneca is a funny nickname, uhauhauha
soneca
I gained it when I was 15yo and it followed me everywhere since (I am 40yo now), including work environments
Insanity
Perhaps I'm missing something, why is it funny? :)
atum47
"soneca" it's a Portuguese word that means "sleep for a short time". Is something people usually do after lunch.
soneca
The literal translation is "nap"; but nickname origin is actually because it is how we call one of the Snow White's seven dwarves, Sleepy.

I used to sleep a lot during classes on high school. It's kind of a classic nickname

atum47
yeah, I remember soneca from the 7 dwarfs but I failed to mention it
alexmorenodev
I kinda have a mental map of brazilian people here. Everytime I see some nick which resembles anything in portuguese, I check if the person is brazilian. From time to time, I'm here scrolling and then... Oh, the soneca guy again. Same with the atum one, and some others.
rapfaria
Congratulations! There are also several meetups here in São Paulo, which are great to grow your network!
atum47
yes, the company I'm working for also is very present on meetups and workshops. soon I'll be too
yingw787
Congratulations!! Hope you keep making things and posting them here!
atum47
yes, I have three projects that people will love. Each one of them is half done (I do the programming first, then I do the graphics/UI then write some sort of documentation and release)
honkycat
It's good to know the classic method of getting hired as an engineer still works! Congrats!!
leetbulb
Congrats! Glad to hear! HN also helped get me my dream job -- this community is amazing!
emersonrsantos
Congratulations, and have a wonderful time in Sao Paulo! You rock!
atum47
thank you and thank you also for the referral, I was kinda committed to this company I'm now, but maybe we can be co-workers in the future
RobRivera
Wow this is such an accomplishment and a testament to a healthy culture of encouragement. Congratulations to you and best of luck on your future endeavors!!
axaxs
Very nice story, glad you've found some success. One thing I try to be mindful of, admittedly not as well as I'd like, is paying it forward. Remember the feeling, the struggle, the journey, the people who've helped you along the way, and try to be there for those in the future who will fill your past shoes. Best of luck.
leonidasv
Congratulations!

I've always wanted to publish interesting projects on Github, but I find it hard to get inspiration. Do you have any tips?

atum47
I always liked computers even when I was a child. So when I decided to go to college for the second time to study software engineering I was very eager to understand how things work inside a computer. I remember not knowing how numbers can represent an image. So I took digital image processing. I like to get to the basics so I can try stuff later on. I also especially like to solve problems. Even if a problem is well solved by a genius of the past, I think: how would I solve this if I didn't have Google to provide me with the algorithm? Many projects came from this two things. The third thing o really like is games. So I'm always trying to come up with interesting mechanics, concepts, ways of making the computer plays against humans... I also watch a lot of good people on YouTube, read a lot of what people post here... all those things poke my curiosity one way or another and I end up writing code.
paul7986
Congrats and Where were you living before?

Im here in Washington DC but might be getting a similar job opportunity(similar circumstances) in San Paolo too.

How is it there?

atum47
I graduated in Rio Grande do Sul (federal universities are free in Brazil and with one test you can apply to any of them), then I went to Minas Gerais (Where I'm originally from) to write my final thesis and to take an internship. São Paulo is huge, there's an app for everything, especially for ordering food with discount. The "Ibirapuera park" is great and so is the "centro cultural", there's a lot of other things to see here but I'm kinda busy finish renting an apartment and stating my new job (today was my second day). I think you'll like here. if you need anything you can contact me. victorqribeiro on LinkedIn
paul7986
Ok great, thanks and congratulations!

I'll connect with you on LinkedIn and reach out if this opportunity pans out.

keyle
There is undeniably a positive energy around HN. It has enriched my life in many ways and opened my mind to many different fields, niche communities and many historical facts.

The world is truly filled with good people.

I'm not surprised and very glad to read about this story.

rohan1024
Sure HN crowd is far better than rest of platforms but we can't undermine OPs efforts as well. Dude has like 70 Show HNs on his profile!
mannykoum
yeap it's all his doing :) HN just helped make that work visible which isn't that easy (even within the HN community)
gigatexal
Congrats!!!

HN is a place I check all the time. There’s so many smart people here and the conversations are often very civil and super informative.

wallawe
Well, this is refreshing. Congrats and keep your attitude of gratitude, it will serve you well.