Have you considered that the bitterness that drips out of your posts here might be part of the reason you're having trouble finding work?
Half the interview (ideally) measures technical competence. The other half is "would I like to work with this person?" I don't know what you're like in person, but if I looked you up and found your HN comment history, you'd be a no hire. Sorry.
> Have you considered that the bitterness that drips out of your posts here might be part of the reason you're having trouble finding work?
Bitterness? Have you considered that you're reading my posts wrong? Having a different political opinion than you does not equate to bitterness. No - I'm not bitter at all.
And as I've made quite clear on linkedin, I want nothing to do with an employer who tries to strong arm me out of my freedom of speech and expression, so I wouldn't work for the likes of you.
"Having worked for a startup and lost my job to remote workers in a foreign country because they were cheaper and being told "we can hire 3 or 4 of them for the price of you" has left a bitter taste in my mouth."
Thanks. Having a "bitter taste" in this metaphorical sense does not necessarily mean that a person is inherently bitter. I am not a "bitter" human. Nor would I say any of my posts are "dripping" in bitterness, as Schnitzer claimed.
But again - if someone wants to pass on a hire because of that post, be my guest. I wouldn't want to work for such a petty individual.
These people are just suffering from ODD right now. They can't handle a world-view that makes them bad or evil, and so they will do anything they can to make you look evil/crazy/unhinged/depressed or bitter.
I believe thst it's just socially inept trolls who don't like my political statement. They're demonstrating their lack of ability to judge character - basing their whole assessment of my personality on alleged red flags in a few sentences that were made in response to their backhanded "advice". Typical internet incel behavior. I am not deterred.
Its quite strange. I'm being piled on for saying that I support American workers over immigrants (which is literally Trump's position) and I am accused of being bitter. I'm actually doing great considering. Would love to have a job, but if society won't allow me, then I'll simply use the system and continue building video games, not my fault. Blame Elon etc.
You can take this any way you like, but I'm genuinely trying to offer constructive criticism. Whether you mean to or not, you come across as bitter and angry.
...also a little socially awkward? Why use my last name in this forum? Not that it bothers me; I deliberately maintain a public profile. But the convention here is to use each other's usernames, and you had to click through at least a couple links to see my name. Do we know each other? I presume not, or you would have used my first name.
There's something a little strange about it; either you aren't picking up on community social conventions, or you're deliberately trying to break them. It's just a small and almost insignificant data point, but if I had to take a totally wild guess, these sorts of subtle social issues are what interviewers are picking up on.
You're spot on. Thanks for drawing this out and making it clear that, no matter what might be going on in the industry, the original poster's issue obtaining (and probably keeping) a job is about their contrarian attitude and lack of social skills.
What a goofy thing to say. I have excellent social skills and I do not have a contrarian attitude. The original post isn't even about my personal experiences. I've asked others what their experiences have been. Would you mind pointing to something outside of this post that would make you claim that I have a contrarian attitude and lack of social skills? Would you mind pointing to a specific job in which these alleged defects affected me negatively?
I recall holding down many jobs for many consecutive years and being let go of only one. I related why I was let go: the owner was able to hire cheaper foriegn labor - were you aware of this? The president said in 2016 that hiring h1b just to save a buck is something he would permanently end.
Here is a link to his statements. Were you aware of this as well?
I fail to see a contrarian attitude in this thread, but I do see internet trolls who smell blood and are attempting to bait me into a fight that won't happen. Good luck.
You have your full name linked in your profile. Look Jeff, you've offered up backhanded advice twice now in this thread. I'll offer up my honest feedback to you: you come across as rude and obtuse. We are having a discussion in this post about H1B, job shortages etc. Nothing I've said in any of these posts or comments is bitter or angry. You're free to read my words however you wish, but you might want to take a step back from your emotions, because they seem to have gotten the better of you.
I'm a pretty happy guy. I'm not really sure where you're getting any of your intel from, but you're wrong. Now I've corrected you twice. Anymore insisting on your part is just trolling. Your "constructive criticism" has been rejected.
I had a free minute to look over my posts. They aren't bitter. If someone reads these posts as bitter or sees red flags that prevents them from hiring me, that is a petty employer with poor reading comprehension who is too involved in my personal life and I wouldn't want to work for them regardless.
Furthermore, I haven't offered up enough information about my situation or experiences to make a real judgement about my personality. Anyone who hires or fires or makes other judgment calls in such a rash manner would make a terrible coworker, employer and business owner. Again - not someone I have any interest in spending time with.
I need no education on the hiring process or sly backhanded tips that are meant to degrade and belittle me. I have no time for such people or their empty words, and I won't be baited into a ridiculous argument. If you would like to stay on topic and post information about your recent experiences in the job market, by all means, do so. I didn't make this post seeking advice or help. I'm looking for information for research purposes.
Offering one's advice when another hasn't requested it is condescending, especially when one knows absolutely nothing about the other person.
If you wish to imagine me as a bitter person sitting around cursing immigrants for my woes, so be it. You'll be wrong and dumber for it, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince some idiot otherwise.
I have nothing to hide. I shared this whole post on LinkedIn. I don't care if a potential employer reads it.
Just to reiterate: they don't like it? I don't care. I like working with people who aren't petty and obtuse. Having no job is better than walking on eggshells and being strong armed out of a political opinion by trolls like Jeff under the guise of "creative criticism".
Non sequitur. Do you have any real points to make or is your goal to simply paint me as a racist via logical fallacies?
I recommend taking a break from the internet, your own predjudices are shining through.
Nothing is supposed to be inferred, I've been very blunt. The post plainly states that I am seeing many people claim there is a racism problem in tech that disproportionately affects white males. I have personally experienced some of this, but one man's anecdotal experience does not speak for the entire tech industry.
I have asked others for their experiences, as the post concludes:
> I'm looking for people's personal experiences. Do they match up? Are you having a hard time finding employment? Have you been fired in favor of foreign workers? Is this racism / ageism / sexism at play or is that being overblown by political actors?
YOU stated that I have claimed that I am unable to find work due to racism. This is incorrect. I've never once made that claim.
YOU have stated that I disregard discrimination against minorities. This is incorrect. I've never once made that claim, and I reject your speculation, you're wrong.
YOU have implied I'm an Obama birther conspiracy theorist. That is incorrect. I've never once made that claim, and I reject your idiotic false logic.
YOU have a hang up, not me.
I have linked you to a comment I made that said I don't believe the overarching job shortage is related to being a white male. Interestingly, Bloomburg has posted stats that contradict my statement - tech jobs have actually disproportionately gone to minorities and people of color in 2023.
Your goal is to paint me as a racist, you've failed. You seem to have a problem, stop trying to hoist it on me. Go find something else to do with your time, I'm through with you.
I have never even thought who was replacing me or worried about my job being replaced by “foreigners”.
I’ve had 10 jobs over almost 30 years and I’ve been laid off twice - once when a company got acquired and once this year and I got Amazoned last year. It’s never taken me more than a month to get a job once I started looking.
I kept my skill set and resume up to date, always prepared to interview and I have a great network.
Yes I am a minority and I’m damn good at what I do - strategic cloud consulting with an emphasis on application development. Yes I’ve worked for a FAANG (direct hire).
Trust me, companies didn’t just hire me either at BigTech or a strategic hire at startups or to lead million dollar+ projects because I’m Black.
Good to know. Thanks for your feedback. It certainly isn't fun to hire, train and then be replaced by foreigners. Going years without being hired is especially difficult. Being raised poor, white, hyper religious, kept out of college and forced to teach myself everything from high-school onward made the struggle even harder.
I can imagine that being black as you say made your struggles different than mine, but difficult none the less. Keeping ones skills up to date certainly is essential. I too have never worried about foreigners replacing me.
I do not have a great network. People most certainly don't hire me solely due to being white.
Interestingly, the current issue isn't so much getting hired as it is getting an interview at all. This has started after the rise of chatgpt. No one has bothered to ask me what the issue is and has instead jumped to conclusions which I'm personally quite entertained by. As I said in my original post: my situation is unique.
I can tell you that i have faced some extremely difficult adversities. I don't talk about it online or to people outside of a few that I hold very close. I didn't have an easy upbringing or life in general. I got lucky a few times, and I've pushed myself as hard as possible the rest of the way.
I'm not surprised by the stats you shared. The most discrimination and workplace harassment / bullying I've recieved is from white people. Me and the Indians, Russians and black people I've worked with got along great -- and some of the white people of course.
Half the interview (ideally) measures technical competence. The other half is "would I like to work with this person?" I don't know what you're like in person, but if I looked you up and found your HN comment history, you'd be a no hire. Sorry.