Ask HN: In San Jose for 2 weeks, how can I best use this time to aid my career?

1 points by CodeSgt ↗ HN
Hey all! Long story short, I (was) a Jr. Dev for about 9 months. I got consistently stellar feedback and enjoyed the job, but ended up putting in my notice for personal reasons. This was about two months ago. I still enjoy tech and tinker with personal projects, but I accepted a "fun" job outside the tech sphere as the bar manager for a travelling pop-up bar/stage show. It has indeed been a lot of fun and I've been to over 10 cities in the past 2 months all across the US. This job is also what's bringing me to San Jose.

As fun as it's been, the nature of the job makes it a temporary arrangement so I'll need to re-enter tech eventually and while I have some time in the tech capital of the world I'd like to see if I can use it to my advantage. I have very little social media presence, no linkedin, facebook, etc so digital networking isn't really viable. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to best make use of this time?

Thanks in advance!

4 comments

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If you get out there early enough you can find an open street corner to hold up a "Will Code For Food" sign.
Haha, jokes aside, I wonder how this would actually work.
Jokes aside, in the current tech contraction with almost every company laying off and freezing hiring, unless you have lots of experience, some rare skills, or a great network of contacts you face a rough road. Lots of people looking for jobs in the Valley. Holding up a sign on the corner may work just as well as sending in applications or trying to chat someone up on Santana Row.
If you have friends who live in SJ and work in tech, meet them. Learn about their experience. They might help you understand which skills you need, how to learn, how to present yourself, and they can also refer you