8 Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job

Re:8 Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job by awillen on Wednesday December 28, 2022 @11:39AM (#34162725)

I've taken time off between jobs without taking on any meaningful projects, and I generally haven't found it to be an issue. When I tell recruiters I just wanted time off to relax, they're sometimes skeptical, but hiring managers more often than not either respond with some variety of "Oh yeah, I did that too and it was amazing" or "Oh man that sounds so great, I'm jealous."

I do apply almost entirely to smaller startups, so that may skew the response vs. what you'd get in the more process-oriented recruiting flows of a larger company. Also it probably helps that my resume has a couple of jobs where I was a very early employee at startups that went on to be extremely successful.

I also really like to just be left alone and read books, so it's something I enjoy - I recognize that many folks need the structure of work, and that's fair.

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Re:8 Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job by reaperducer on Wednesday December 28, 2022 @11:53AM (#34162912)

hiring managers more often than not either respond with some variety of "Oh yeah, I did that too and it was amazing" or "Oh man that sounds so great, I'm jealous."

This only works if you get to even talk to a hiring manager.

Most applications are filtered by automatic systems. Many of those will penalize or discard your application for gaps.

The same AI bots we built when we were employed are now being used against us.

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Re:8 Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job by awillen on Wednesday December 28, 2022 @12:47PM (#34163604)

True, though I don't think it has anything to do with AI - the filtering mechanisms are much simpler than that.

That said, I like early-stage startups, so less of a problem with that kind of thing.

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Re:8 Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job by anon50118810 on Wednesday December 28, 2022 @12:07PM (#34163105)

It's important to quantify how long your time off was for this anecdote to be meaningful. No good employer will bat an eye if you worked at a place for five years then spent three months on a tropical beach. A year spent job searching with no luck like the OP is a different situation altogether.

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Re:8 Hard truths I learned when I got laid off from my SWE job by awillen on Wednesday December 28, 2022 @12:46PM (#34163590)

I actually don't think that's as much of a problem as you'd think - I did nine months off after 2.5 years. I just wouldn't say you've been searching and not getting jobs - much better to say that you've interviewed at a few places, but you're very focused on finding a company whose mission and team you're excited about (particularly if that's true). If they accept that as true, then you're creating a positive sort of scarcity of yourself, as opposed to framing it as jobs being scarce and you being desperate for one.

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