w4ffl35

If you really believed there's nothing wrong with your public image, you wouldn't have changed your account name from w4ffl35 to vbi8iBEX and removed the link to your GitHub profile at https://github.com/w4ffl35. You did those things because you're afraid potential employers will come here and see the real you.

Now this is some good advice.

> I came to similar conclusions from your public profile. The defensiveness of your response would be a 7th red flag.

This website is part of my public profile. Allowing people to shape an incorrect narrative of myself on this website is not something I will be doing. Especially when it is coming from anonymous posters who haven't shared their professional credentials.

> you have to correct your online appearance

Obviously I am continuously looking to improve my "online appearance". I disagree with the feedback I've received here. People's emotions are running high on a hot-button topic (immigration and job market woes) so in other locations in this post I'm being called a racist and a conspiracy theorist - I am taking everything here with a grain of salt and doing damage control as anonymous accounts sift through my various online profiles and offer up unsolicited advice. Defending one's position is pretty standard in this situation.

Correcting disinformation ("complaining on linkedin", "no expertise in technology", "political posts", "you're a racist", "you're a conspiracy theorist") is part of maintaining a public profile on the internet.

Lastly, as I stated in my response to the alleged hiring manager with regard to my expertise in technology:

> I guess this isn't shining through on my profiles. Will have to find a way to fix it.

Their feedback was the last push I needed to motivate me to delete my LinkedIn account. I'll take my chances and apply to jobs without one.

I completely agree that we need a disruption on the hiring front. The entire hiring process is broken.

Very far. I'm a fullstack web developer. Independent game dev has been my hobby for 10 years, and game dev is what got me interested in tech when I was a kid. I started teaching myself at a young age with qbasic.

Building interfaces and menu systems etc feels very similar to frontend web development. Much of the domain knowledge transfers when it comes to programming. Mainly my skills transfer to gameplay development and debugging. I make small games and only just recently released my first commercial game, which has only sold two copies.

Weird that you went strait to racist conspiracy theory.

Idk was just being specific, no motivation other than that. They were incredibly cheap though. I was told 3 or 4 of them could be hired for 130k~ total.

Good feedback thanks.

> how to evade high-paying tech salaries. Set the parameters to discourage Americans from hiring, create a bottleneck so that your open reqs last longer, then use their extra-legal powers (unfettered access to congresspeople) to claim they are falling behind profitability, but if they just had those wonderful H1Bs everything will be ok.

Yes that's what it seems to me based on many of the things I've read (not in this thread)

I'm seeing stats that show very few jobs have gone to white people as of late, and many people online are stating its an issue, but I personally have not felt as though being white is the issue for me. I am trying to get a read on other people's experiences with ageism, racism and sexism. I have experienced being replaced by foreigners who were cheaper, but I doubt being white was the issue.

How did you get your company off the ground?

This has been my problem as well. I didn't want to say too much in the original post as I wanted to see if others would say the same. I've seen a few comments mentioning this. I noticed the inability to get interviews right around when chatgpt dropped, so I think it might be AI screening related.

Good feedback thanks.

I believe much of what i see online is politically motivated. I'm looking for insider info and personal experiences so this is good feedback, thanks.

Thanks for asking - I tried to start my own small business and it was just before the economic downturn so i now have an employment gap - this has been the main point of contention with hiring managers. I also let SEO on my site slip and my resume needs to be cleaned up. However, I think the market is oversaturated and this is the main problem. I'm also not great at leet code challenges, but landing interviews in the first place is currently the challenge.

White males according to Bloomberg and others are disproportionately affected by the economic downturn. Thr majority of the American workforce is no longer white males (allegedly).

Correct, but over simplified. I'm looking for people's experiences based on gender, age and race, as I stated in the post. This doesn't make the post inappropriate or racist. It might make some people uncomfortable, but it isn't a racist post.

That's not racism. I encourage you to research the term, you seem to be very confused.

Agreed that AI hasn't replaced jobs but i think that AI driven hiring tools have shifted the landscape.

I actually didn't ask for feedback on my personal situation. But since you've decided to dig into my profile and offer up advice from a throwaway publicly i will defend myself publicly -

1. > No expertise in technology:

Strongly disagree. I'm an expert in python, javascript, c#, application development, object oriented programming, agile, communication, and much more. I guess this isn't shining through on my profiles. Will have to find a way to fix it. There are many companies who value a generalist skill set.

2. > 2016 "gigs"

I had health issues starting in 2016 which derailed my career. I took what I was able to get and was still able to progress. I was promoted from eng I to eng II prior to the health issues. Later I was able to land a job as VP of engineering.

3. The lead engineer (VP of engineering) role that I had was a complicated situation - I performed my duties well and was rewarded handsomely. Working for startups doesn't always end well. From there I took time off to work for myself and you're correct, that's when the downturn started. Had I known AI would be released and jobs would dry up, i wouldn't have taken the risk of starting my own company at that point in time.

4. I havent worked for huge companies my entire career, much of it has been for start-ups but Enova, DoubleClick and Threadless are actually well known. Enova is a huge corporation and DoubleClick (one of my first jobs) was purchased by Google which is what lead to them becoming an ad company. Threadless has declined in popularity, but at the time it was extremely popular and well known. Other than that as I said, startups. Idiotic to judge a person based on whether or not the company is well known.

5. I haven't "complained" on LinkedIn. Regardless, i have deactivated my LinkedIn account, which I had planned on doing for the last month. Thanks for giving me the motivation to do so tonight. It is a silly echo chamber that has never lead to anything positive for me. I didn't even have an account until a few years ago so it will not be missed. It's clear that maintaining a LinkedIn social media account is a career hazard. That's the most useful thing your unsolicited feedback has turned up.

6. > political posts

Political posts online prevent me from working? That's absurd. My politics haven't even been stated aside from my position on H-1B and globalism. I should be allowed my political opinions without fear of reprocussion from a biased hiring manager such as yourself, but i really haven't even put any out there other than this post.

I have political opinions, and I am registered to vote, but I'm "socially apolitical" aside from a small amount of activist work I've done which hasn't been broadcast on the internet.

I don't bring politics or religion to the workplace.

OP most certainly is not looking for confirmation bias. OP is looking for other people's experiences, as OP asked for in the original post. OP is quite happy working alone making video games, but would prefer to be working full time with a paycheck.

It's really fun (no sarcasm) watching all of you people jump to the wrong conclusion as you judge my motivations and reasons for posting this though.

Aside from seeing a few posts and knowing he's right wing, I don't even know who Jack Posobiec is. Politics isn't my main thing. As I stated above, I am "socially apolitical". I have my opinions and my affiliations and I mostly keep it to myself unless it benefits me to do otherwise.

I think this is the most interesting and telling comment i've read. Inflation destroyed the world economy.

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.

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.

(Edited some words for clarification)

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.

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.

Asking questions != "Blaming your lack of job opportunities on being White". You seem to be very confused.

And this:

> I bet anytime a minority talks about unfair treatment you are dismissive

is called an ad hominem logical fallacy. What was the point of throwing that in?

Anything that abuses loopholes in order bypass American workers for cheaper labor. This was a position Trump himself took during the 2016 election and during his first term.

I've made it abundantly clear that I am against this practice. H-1B is the current hot button policy that everyone is discussing. I would also like to see all other programs and policies involving the replacement of American workers with cheaper foriegn workers reformed, replaced, or repealed.

Yes, and you're a ball of sunshine.

Point me to the post where I blamed lack of job opportunities on being white, I'll wait.

You're free to infer what you wish about my view of minorities. I believe my "minority" wife would disagree with you.

Fair warning, before you go implying I'm racist again, you might want to read this comment:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42532586

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.