HN Explorer

Ask HN: How do you get recruited?

8 points by JoeCortopassi ↗ HN
It seems like a common theme when I read threads about jobs/pay:

1) Most people agree that $40,000 a year is barely 'minimum wage' when it comes to programming of any sort.

2) Recruiters are always bugging them.

3) Right now is the 'hot market' for developers.

So what's a developer to do if they are making 'minimum wage' in the programmer's Bull Market? How does one get so lucky to have the problem of people calling them up for better jobs?

23 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 64.6 ms ] thread
MrMike
Just happened to a few friends of mine. They were pretty "anti-social-media sites", but I convinced them to set up a LinkedIn profile (as public as I could get them to set the privacy settings) and an about.me page... and set up reciprocal links between the two. They fully fleshed out their profile on LI including the technologies in which they are well versed. They happened to live outside of a hot market, but were looking to move to one, and they set their location as the hot market. Within a few days, they had a few recruiters that had reached out and several job interviews lined up or in progress. All this happened within the span on a couple of weeks. I'm not saying it's a recipe for success for everyone; the people I'm talking about are seriously amazing developers, with skill sets that reach far beyond just writing code.

Edit: I'm not a recruiter, but I'd be happy to take a look at your LI/A.me pages if you decide to set them up and give you feedback.

JoeCortopassi
Don't have an About.me, but here's my LinkedIn. Definitely appreciate any tips: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/joe-cortopassi/24/76b/5b9
MrMike
So, at first glance (sorry pressed for time right now), there are a couple of spelling/grammar issues you should tackle. More importantly, there is no description for what you currently do at Trinnovations. You list some of your specialties, which is great, but there's no context on how you use/used them in your previous/current jobs.

I would set up an about.me page and link to your LI. Link out from LI to your about.me. Start blogging if you think you can fit it in. Even if it's filled with entries about what you learned/did/achieved/figured out that day or week. The more technical the better.

And, as was mentioned in another comment: You're close to a hot spot already. Close is stretching it considering the drive from IE to Santa Monica, but, do it anyway. Do it on a Saturday. Go to Coloft in the morning, get a day pass, and work on something. Take breaks and meet others. Not sure what to break the ice with? Try something like "Hey, so is coloft always this energetic (/vibrant/quiet/boring/lively/productive/whatever)". Ask what they're working on. Listen. They'll ask you the same.

Don't let yourself make up excuses. You're close enough to a really hot market where companies are climbing over each other for talent. If you want it, make it happen.

codeslush
How good are you man? Your profile says Objective-C. Get out there and show some stuff! Startup Weekend, Hackathons, local meet-ups, pick an open source project for something and contribute, etc... BE SEEN in the REAL world.

Aside from the above: Do you have friends in the biz? Referrals are the best way to real jobs, IMHO. Do you respond to the monthly posts here on HN where people are seeking expertise? Where are you located?

EDIT: To answer your question: You get recruited by being good. You also need to be visible. Create value and you will be found!

JoeCortopassi
Zero friends in the business (besides the people I work with). Getting into programming came out of the blue for me.

Edit: For reference, here is a little weekend iPhone project I just started - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF1KcbNjZ7Y

codeslush
Seriously? You're in freakin' LA (or near enough to count - from your LinkedIn) - get your ass out of your house and in the streets. Go to Santa Monica. Go to CoLoft. Go to LASW (la.startupweekend.org). Go to any number of the numerous meetups out here. Get GOOD and get FOCUSED. You, my man, have no excuses! Not trying to be hard, but am being real. I would have thought you were from some remote area or something, but rather, you're right in the middle of the hot spot. Be seen.
MrMike
Aye. Listen to this guy.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
JoeCortopassi
Honestly didn't know LA was a big scene. It's a good 2 hour drive to get out there from where I live (Temecula/Murrieta) area, but if it's as strong of a scene as it sounds like, maybe I need to start going out there.
codeslush
Joe - there is a ton of opportunity near you - San Diego, Orange County, LA...I suggested Santa Monica because it's a hot spot of hot spots right now - at least for start-up oriented people. I mentioned CoLoft, because the owners are fantastic and have a lot of great events going on. Go to them and check it out. They have a website - get involved in a meeting or two. I know the drive is long, but it will ultimately be worth it. You may have to endure it for a few months, maybe not so long. The investment of time, if you can get from point a to point b, is worth it.

I looked at your iPhone app (via YouTube). Why is this not released yet? What's holding it up? It's a basic app, but it demonstrates you can write an iPhone app - and that market is REALLY hot, EVERYWHERE. You should be able to get remote gigs as a contractor pretty easily. Your best bet is to release it and then promote yourself. Release it and then post back here that you released it. You'll get good feedback (like: left align the categories, right align the totals, or something like that).

You really do have a lot of opportunity all around you. I was a bit insensitive in my prior post. For all I know you CAN'T get out of the house. Shame on me for that. If you need help, let me know. I will not hold your hand and give you every single detail, but I will provide enough info or suggestions to get you moving in the right direction so that you can get in front of the opportunities if you're willing and able.

JoeCortopassi
Don't even sweat the comments, I didn't take it as offensive at all. If anything it was super encouraging. I guess I kind of assumed that I was missing out by not being in the Silicon Valley area, but it sounds like I have more opportunity than I thought.

The iPhone app is close to being done, but I feel like it's missing a few things to be a true MVP (ability to export data). It's honestly just been a weekend project (<10 hours), that I made to help my wife and some of her friends. Sounds like I need to get it up ASAP though, if for no other reason than a resume builder that shows ability.

Appreciate all the feedback. It's hard learning in a vacuum, and it can be refreshing to get a fresh perspective.

diolpah
It's not a "big" scene, but it's a decent one. We're located in Orange County, and there are quite a few media-focused tech shops in LA proper.

You are at a bit of a disadvantage in that employers who require ass-in-seat time will necessitate driving the hell that is known as the 91. Perhaps you should consider making the short move toward the coast. Not all the way, bit a tad closer couldn't hurt.

As for your skillset, your preferred web stack has a high impedance mismatch from what we use, but we're always happy to talk to smart people. Contact info is in my profile.

MonkeyAttack
$40k doesn't mean anything. What does your market look like, and how much experience do you have? Depending on what part of the world/country you live in, how much experience you personally have in your specialty, and how hot your specialty is, that might be normal.

As for actually getting better offers, online social media is great, but also try going to local user groups, conventions, and the like. A person can better judge you than a keyword search engine can.

JoeCortopassi
Apparently, from reading the other comments, I'm within a couple hours drive from a hot market (LA). But I like what you mention about local user groups and such. Do you know of any tools for finding those kind of groups/meetings?
makecheck
For me (many years ago) it really helped to have my résumé posted online and linked from the site of the free software that I was working on. Sometimes these things are noticed.
JoeCortopassi
Have my LinkedIn profile setup, but I guess I could put my resume up as well. Do you mind me asking what software you were working on? Was it an open source project?
makecheck
Open source, yes. It was a terminal (MacTerm), it happened to be used by a hiring manager at a company.

I don't know that any employers ever looked at the source code. But publishing the source probably helps because they can see what your programming is like right from the start.

kennyma
Being in Temecula doesn't help much since there's hardly any tech companies out there. You are closed enough to LA that it's worth making a drive once a week to go to a tech meetup or work out of CoLoft to expand your network. Surround yourself with other smart people in the industry. The worse thing that can happen is that you learn something.
tdfx
I submitted a 3 line patch to Tornado and got an email a few months later from a Facebook recruiter. I'm fairly certain they would never actually hire me but if you're not getting any emails from clueless recruiters you must really be hiding yourself from the internet. Get out on GitHub and get involved in stuff.

Edit: If you're even mildly competent in the things you listed on your HN profile then you'd be one of the top 10 candidates I've interviewed in the past couple years for "PHP developer" positions.

malyk
Last november I was sitting around with time on my hands and decided to update my LinkedIn profile. I wrote a long-form, pseudo-essay resume. A week later I got a call from a recruiter who hooked me up with one interview. Another week after that I got called by another recruiter who put me in touch with 12 other companies. I got offers from three of them and I think I would have gotten a fourth if I hadn't accepted one of the first three before getting through the second interview.

I didn't think that my resume was all that special having worked for DC area government contractors my whole career, but everyone was super excited to talk to me and I went to second or third interviews for 11 of the 13 places I spoke with.

So...update your LinkedIn profile and give a lot of data. Get a github account (honestly, I had basically nothing there and still don't, but it's a good thing to be able to point too), and try and get active in some local development groups/message boards/newsgroups.

Good luck!