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Ask HN: Am I searching for jobs wrong?

10 points by nkangoh ↗ HN
Hi peeps:

I'm a senior in college (graduating in about a month) and I still haven't managed to get a full-time position. I'm starting to become confused to what areas I need to work on.

First, I thought my resume was bad, but then I got interviews at most places I applied to, so that's good. Then I wasn't getting through the first phone interviews. I developed myself some more and now I'm getting onsite interviews, but still no offers. Clearly with this trajectory I should become employed soon, but I'm wondering what I am doing wrong.

I'm applying mainly to places I see on Hacker News, is this a mistake (they don't hire junior developers) or do I just need more experience (I had a late interest in computer science and blasted through the entire major in 3 semesters)? I'm starting to wonder if I will get a job by the time I graduate. If I don't will this hurt my long term career prospects?

My email is in my profile, so if you would like to help out email me and I will give you a copy of my resume for your review. Also, if you're an employer looking for a junior developer please email me, I have 2 internships and several projects under my belt.

10 comments

[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 27.5 ms ] thread
BorisMelnik
One piece of advice I like to tell people when interviewing: make it a point when you are at the "are there any questions" phase to take the bull by the horns.

Let the interviewer know that you are interested in _their_ company. One of the biggest mistakes I see is people letting on the fact that they are interviewing at multiple places.

Mention things about their culture that might be a little harder to find out. Bonus points for casual name dropping of blogs you read from the company blog etc.

lastly make sure to let them know this is the company you want to work for, and really do not want to work anywhere else.

aquark
I agree with letting the interview know you are interested in their company. Inquisitiveness is a key character trait we look for and asking intelligent follow up questions is a great sign rather than someone that has just thought of a list of pre-canned questions beforehand and is going down them.

But I wouldn't view letting on about other interviews a major problem -- knowing there is some competition both ways isn't a bad thing. I want great candidates to work for us, but I also know great candidates have choices.

UK-AL
If they want you, and they know they have competition. They're probably send you a bigger offer than otherwise.
theaccordance
Few thoughts:

1. Don't fret about not getting offers, especially since you're just getting your start. It can take a while. The important thing is that you're getting the interviews; this makes it a lot easier figuring out how to adjust your strategy.

2. Your long term career prospects won't be hurt if you don't get a job right out of college. If this were the case, changing careers wouldn't be a normal thing.

3. Don't limit yourself to just companies you see on HN, there's plenty of startups that are't on HN's radar for numerous reasons. A few suggestions on where else to look:

- Reddit. Our company has found several quality candidates by posting in the appropriate subreddits.

- Recruiters. They'll be good about giving you feedback to help you refine your approach.

- Other online startup communities. Here in Chicago, we have builtinchicago.org, your locale may have something similar.

- Venture Capitalist Websites. Some VCs have recruiters to help source talent, but at the very least, you'll probably be able to get some leads by browsing their portfolio of companies.

As far as resume feedback, I'll point you to a comment I left earlier this week for another individual asking similar questions. While my feedback there is more tailored to his situation, you may find some value in the thoughts I shared: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9450177

[dead] SmokyBourbon
Don't apply at Reddit. Their CEO is a crook who filed a frivolous lawsuit against her former employer to try to cover losses from her husband's Ponzi scheme. The reason many people haven't heard about this before is because she orders her employees to delete posts about it. They also have questionable hiring practices (screening candidates for political beliefs) and Pao has banned salary negotiations during the hiring process. Nobody with a conscience could work for a company engaging in such behavior.
enoch4gor
Couple of my thoughts. 1. Don't forget the power of volume. Use all job searching channel available online and offline. 2. Freelancing site is always a good options if you are building your portfolios if you have time. 3. Maximize all your network. Think creative how you can reach the contact you need. Go to places recruiters hangout. Linkedin Group is also a good place to find those people. 4. Most important part, be able to answer the questions "How can I help your company/How can I help you make more money", bottomline is if you can bring value to a company that can justify the cost of hiring you, there is no reason they won't hire you (Usually salary (eg. 50,000) should equal to 1/5 (250,000) to 1/10 (500,000) of your productivity)
[dead] zubairq
Send me a copy at zq at nemcv dot com
JSeymourATL
>I'm starting to become confused to what areas I need to work on.

Some unconventional advice-- understand that your job search is really a sales & marketing process. Recommend reading Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling to help frame your approach. There's great advice on why people buy (hire), prospecting, networking, elevator pitches, and handling objections.

Reading this book will put you far ahead of your peers-- and will have career-long applications > http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75890.Little_Red_Book_of_...

soham
It'll help to separate the two problems:

1. Getting enough interviews 2. Clearing them

From my experience (http://InterviewKickstart.com), if you go to 5-6 onsite interviews and still don't clear any of them, then you have the second problem. But until you do/get 5-6, you should focus on the first one.

If you are not clearing onsite interviews, then what you need is a video-recorded technical mock interview with someone knowledgeable. Then dissect that video interview with a 2nd knowledgeable person, who will be able to point a finger on the problem, if there is one.

Good luck!

lscore720
You should definitely diversify your job search, as most HN jobs are not geared towards junior developers. Generally-speaking, young start-ups' first hires will need to have at least a few years of real world engineering experience.

Don't worry about interviewing yet, sounds like you're doing OK on that front - really, just get your resume to other companies because being too picky may backfire.