I can gain reputation to have more context or more access to repos to take on more batches.
This would make my life easier.
Minimum $20 per task
Unfortunately, Linkedin is where the recruiters and many of the hiring businesses are - and a subscription did seem make me more visible. I was fortunate enough to be able to afford it, and subscribed for three months before reverting to the free tier when I found a role. There was a two week free trial.
May be useful for those who, like me, don't have much of a personal "network".
(Developer, UK, no connection to Linkedin except as a user)
* BigTech experience
* BigSchool degree
* Direct experience in a niche domain or interest area
* A degree, and good (5+ yrs) experience that looks modern
You will be passed over on most (not all) direct apps otherwise. The degree part is more important the more non-tech the company is.
Referrals mean a lot, especially for the best jobs that pay well have WLB or are remote. If you’re not pulling everyone you know who might vouch for you, you’re not doing it right.
Practice leetcode + hello interview, as almost every place will have some sort of leetcode round and system design round.
Yes I worked at BigTech and saw that most people there couldn’t work in greenfield environments. I was also 46-49 at the time.
You still have to leverage connections at BigSchool and your previous BigTech though, many ex-FANG fail to do this.
People without these obvious advantages should be looking into other industries outside of direct tech. Oil/gas/energy, Supply chain/logistics, Automotive (Ford etc), Retail tech (Walmart Global Tech), and so many other industries where they still need SWEs.
Many people overlook these options. Pay may not be big tech level but being jobless is worse.
The real trick is to not even interview. Just call someone you know and call in a favour. Very unpopular and controversial but this works for certain.
I am not talking about referrals. This is more direct and blunt.
Buddy works at X company : "Hey buddy, I need to join you at X company ASAP, I have been out of work"
Buddy pulls some strings and gets you in the next week.
I actually had this happen to me one time, and my buddy was the CEO, got funding, and we worked together in the past. I don't think it would happen in any other setup.
Most don't know this but people in business/operations/HR roles in tech companies have a lot of pull and direct access to CEOs or even boards.
Regional Directors/Heads are also very influential and can get you in e.g. Head of EMEA, Director of APAC, for big tech I have seen these roles based in Ireland, Switzerland and Singapore.
In the AI/ML world, senior researchers can make this happen too, if you were together during research days at university or the senior researcher was your PhD advisor etc.
say a team is working on some core product, consisting of PMs, Engineers, etc. If you are the senior most engineer in that team, you could go up to the right person and say "Hey, someone I know really well just applied and I need that person on this team to make this product a success. No questions asked."
Remember, reputation is everything here. If you get hired this way and not perform, you not only ruined your reputation but the reputation of the person who vouched for you.
pepperball•3w ago
Remote is dead, except for the lucky, so it’s best not to waste time and effort on those roles was my experience. I had a much higher callback rate for jobs that were on-site. Even my current job started hybrid, before it was snuffed out.
The general vibe appears to be this is the direction society is moving towards in general. Condolences to those who aren’t schmoozers and don’t have a network to crutch on.