HN Explorer

Help HN: Today I Just Became Homeless & I Need Your Help

164 points by christmasgift ↗ HN
Hello HN, I am a UI designer/front-end developer, I worked for many high profile startups and fortune 500s, but for some reason in the past couple of months I lost my job, and all my side gigs. To add to this I was working on couple of startups before the job I recently had, those startups made me lose every last penny I had saved up. I don't have immediate family to help me out, grew up without my parents in boarding schools. I really need someone's help here in finding a job ASAP so I can pay for a place to stay at. I will give you a serious discount for the first month or 2 of working together. If you are interested email me at fffseek@gmail.com and I will give you all my personal info and portfolio.

Thank you HN you are awesome!

Edit: I am located in Los Angeles

50 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 93.7 ms ] thread
adrockdust
Wow. Looking forward to updates about the response you've gotten and your improved situation (hopefully).
dhackner
If you pass along your info to me, I'll be happy to ask around to some of my prospective/current clients. See profile - good luck!
suyash
Where are you located and why can't you post the link right here for your LinkedIn/Github?
christmasgift
Sorry I feel uncomfortable about this situation and didn't want to show who I was publicly. if you email me at the above email I will gladly give you more info about me.
jtheory
That's sensible, as this would be part of your permanent (online) record, of course.

Still, you should at least mention what city you're in/near (presumably in the US?), and if you'd be willing to relocate - if that's even a possibility, at the moment.

Someone who otherwise might not respond might change their mind if they realize you're nearby.

Beyond that, best of luck; don't hesitate to ask for help from everyone around you; try to keep your emotional stability (this too shall pass); and fight hard to avoid too much debt (the credit cards will happily suck the life out of you, and right now they're about to raise your APR, if this hasn't happened already).

adrr
Sent you an email for a job opening at my company. I'll pay for an AirBnb place for a week or so and i can find some more people to help chip in. You'll be back on your feet in no time.
dguaraglia
I know this is not the kind of stuff we are supposed to post on HN, but: you are a good man. Kudos.
j45
Doing what others will find reason not to is just as valuable to post. We're governed as much by, and with our hearts as our minds. Those who don't get this and belittle this and those who do have narrow views through which they see and experience themselves, and through that narrow view, others.

Life is short, and it's a small world.

suyash
Sounds very shady. I would not trust this post.
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christmasgift
I feel really uncomfortable having my name being public, I would appreciate it if you deleted the comment mentioning my name. I really appreciate the help though.
[dead] LilValleyBigEgo
Time to look for a normal people job.

I heard wal-mart is hiring.

sardonicbryan
My company is hiring UI/UX Designers. Feel free to send me a link to your info. See my profile.
lnanek2
Sent you an email. Hacker bunk beds/couches off airbnb are super cheap here in silicon valley and I always need enough graphics work to help you make that amount any time, heh.
hncomment
I wish you luck, but there are warning flags in your appeal.

Do you have someone to talk to about the "some reason" that your other leads/gigs/contacts have gone cold?

delano
You can find some background if you read through the comments. It's reasonable to not want to have your history right up at the top.
benatkin
There are also things in the appeal that make this sound legit, in particular the part about running out of money working at startups. Sure an outsider could figure this out and make a false appeal (like is often done on reddit) but they usually aren't that clever.
hncomment
I do believe that chrismasgift probably needs help after hitting a rough patch, as can happen to anyone. But there's enough vagueness/disconnection in the info given to be concerned that the help needed may be more than just another paying gig.

To christmasgift, I would again suggest being sure to have a deep conversation, with someone who knows you well or is an expert counsellor, to understand how things reached this point. To those offering work, I would suggest checking references.

Whether this is a rough streak of bad luck for an earnest and talented person, or something else, such considered steps will help all involved.

einhverfr
In my experience a couple of really good freelance gigs can be enough to cause all of these problems. The problem is there aren't enough hours in the day and so if a project starts getting behind you work at it harder, forego things like marketing yourself (because you can't commit anyway to anyone else) and pretty soon your presence is down. It's a painful lesson and I have been through it. When you combine this with a sluggish economy, what might have been a moderately painful lesson before can be quite devastating.

I do, however, agree with the recommendation to talk to other freelancers, etc because this really helps with the learning curves of this sort.

ddmf
exactly this, if you're a lone worker it becomes so easy to be consumed by a project and forget about the things that bring in work after the project has ended.
einhverfr
Its not just this. The time that happened to me, the project got behind and so I made the mistake of putting the customer as the top priority and dedicating more and more hours to try to get things back on schedule.
thoughtcriminal
It can happen, I've done it myself. It's not that difficult, especially when you live paycheck to paycheck, your rent is high and you don't have savings.

It's all too easy unfortunately.

dikaio
Have you found a job yet? I can probably get you some side work or at the very least shoot you a little dinero as a temporary solution, email me at don@dikaio.com - Donovan Dikaio
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flexxaeon
Now i'm interested in the maven thread...
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eric970
I don't have anything to offer atm other than a sincere wish that you find something that makes you happy and sustains your financial needs. I'm sure you'll find something soon-- hang in there!
qiqing
Hey, if you are interested in relocating to the SF Bay Area, contact me on the Chez JJ contact page: http://chezjj.com/contact

We've taken more than our share of residents who come to Silicon Valley without much of a plan and found free-lance gigs or full time work by staying with us. A bunch of startups also been housed in our hacker house network.

brianbreslin
If you are interested in Miami, I have a few companies hiring UX right now. email me your portfolio, might be able to throw some freelance stuff your way immediately.
benatkin
First, I know someone who's in a similar situation. Second, email sent!
derrida
I can't offer work, but I am happy just to chat if you are having a hard time and need someone to talk to, my email & XMPP details are in my profile :-)
alrs
Poster previously requested help after death, coma, physical rehabilitation, and drug abuse.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2312566

danshapiro
To clarify: he requested advice on HN once. His request included a description of his history, including all the above-entioned points.

I read this comment to mean "he asked for help finding work four times, with four different reasons" until I clicked through the link.

twentysix
After reading this comment I did a cursory check and from what i could gather there is nothing to suggest any malicious intent in this request. The information he was written in this thread matches with the information found online, namely he is a UI designer located in Los Angeles that worked at some start ups.

The reason I am writing this is because I up voted this comment before checking in detail and now I cannot take it back.

salemh
Mayhaps with that much trauma (if true) some mental dysfunction is at hand, and some Cognitive Behavioral Therapy along with a Psychiatrist would be in order.

Else a repeating pattern of self-destructiveness (self-sabotage) would continue.

guynamedloren
Am I missing something, or are the usernames of the two posts different? How do you know it's the same person?
hardik988
The OP has said that he doesn't want to be outed publicly just yet - it would be great if you could remove this.
jaequery
being in LA, i think you'd have a hard time getting any help. seems like you may be a fit for SF.
flexxaeon
being from LA, why do you think this? (not challenging you, just wondering)
segmond
what are your skills? working for high profile startups and fortune 500s means nothing. you could have been a janitor. i mean, google, ibm do have janitors right?