Job Hunting Sucks. This Programmer Filled Out 250 Applications to Find Out Why::Shikhar Sachdev wanted to reveal what made the process so draining—so he spent 11 hours filling applications. Now he has tips for both job seekers and hiring managers.
Or, hear me out, that brick wall is stupid in the first place. If you’re applying, you probably want the job. Just like if you’re listing for applications, you’re probably hiring.
There’s a saying Sachdev likes, from computer science professor Randy Pausch: The brick walls are there for a reason. Facing and surmounting hurdles can help a person discover how much they want something. But if an employer erects too many barriers, “is an applicant really going to think, ‘That brick wall is there for a reason?’ Or is the applicant going to exit out of your website and go apply somewhere else?” Sachdev says. “I think it’s the latter.”
It’s dumb in dating as well as hiring.
I mean, do you really want to limit your pool to people who are desperate enough to suffer such indignities?
I mean, do you really want to limit your pool to people who are desperate enough to suffer such indignities?
If you want the individual to be submissive, yes
That’s exactly what I was trying to say but you said it better. They’re negging.
If you’re applying, you probably want the job
In the sense that you would like a paycheck? Sure
In the sense that you are remotely qualified for the position or meet any of the requirements? Not necessarily. And I don’t mean “This entry level position needs twenty years of experience”. I mean “Understands that python is a language”
And a lot of those obnoxious timeouts and headaches are related to minimizing the “just apply for everything” impact on an applicant pool.
In the sense that you are remotely qualified for the position or meet any of the requirements?
Sure there are people who blanket apply, but those should be the easiest to figure out. Job posters post jobs that don’t exist at the company and salaries are inflated consistently, that’s why there’s a law.
You’re going to have to admit that the companies have the upper hand and neg the people looking for a job. During the pandemic, it was an employee’s market and now they’re trying to switch it back. That’s why the tech companies had agreements not to raise people’s salaries, etc.
This predates the pandemic.
I have been on both sides of things. I have had to deal with the literally hundreds of applicants that are completely fake CVs or so underqualified that I would be better off grabbing a random kid at a high school job fair.
And the reality is that if I have had to sift through hundreds of bullshit CVs, I am not going to be giving anyone “a chance”. Unless you specifically meet every single requirement AND look amazing on paper, you are in the bin because I already wasted hours of my life doing due diligence on the assholes.
I hate everything about workaday. I hate that it incorrectly parses my CV in new and exciting ways every time AND means I need a new account for every company, if not every opening. But I also understand what happens if you ACTUALLY make it as simple as filling out a template once.
And while the article is complete bullshit (gotta love the mysterious loophole of OPT as though it is some secret…), I do agree with the outcome. If you are a “skilled” worker going into a comparatively niche field, favor the openings that aren’t using workaday. My best interviews have been from using the automated linkedin application system that basically just sends an email. Hell, that is where my current job is from. But that is also because these were jobs in specific subsets of fields and not entry level positions or openings at Google.
I recently landed a new job where the salary range could be considerably higher than my last gig. Predictably, I was hired at the base of the range. It’s still more than my last job, but having been laid off from a struggling company, I felt no power to negotiate. Had I still been employed, it’s more likely that I’d have balked and said I want better than the base pay.
Job listings are lies like people on dating apps using filters on their photos.
Bad candidate experiences suck and Workday is the absolute worst.
In my most recent round of job hunting about six months ago, I had a pretty decent rate of getting a screening call with a recruiter at the company. Maybe around a quarter of applications got me there.
Despite my pretty decent odds of getting a call, it was never worth applying to a company with Workday.
I don’t want to sign up to their shitty candidate portal with another set of login credentials I have to manage.
I don’t want to repeat what I wrote on my CV, because their parsing is abysmal.
I don’t want to have to use a desktop because it doesn’t because feel like working on mobile that day.
I’ve had friends refer me for positions at the companies they work at. I’ve had talent acquisition reach out on LinkedIn, who’ve been professional, friendly and knowledgeable about the role and their company. But in both cases, if they ultimately needed me to create a profile in Workday I’ve told them I’m not interested.
Given how good ATS’ have become about highlighting potential good fit candidates to recruiters - there is no reason candidates should have to input anything other than their CV, basic contact info / screening questions and a cover letter (depending on role). And it should all work smoothly using a mobile device.
“‘I wanted to chop my head off’ Sachev says” relatable
What a noob. It only took me just over 100 applications to get a job.
/s
100 applications, 80 auto replies, 50 actual responses, 30 immediate rejections, 27 we are no longer hiring, 12 void of silence, 5 invites to fill out another battery of questions, 2 actual interviews one of which canceled while you’re in traffic.
I’m so frustrated right now with trying to find a new job. I’ve been promised about 15 interviews, only for them to be cancelled 24-48 hours beforehand. The market I’m in is saturated after the massive tech layoffs that have happened this year.
Disney hurt me the worst, I was laid off earlier this year. Unfortunately for me now, they’re a heavy Ruby on rails ecosystem. Which means a lot of more experienced developers got let go around the same time as I did and I can’t even get a fucking interview anymore.
Are you pre-pandemic me?
I’m pre-pandemic everyone
Can’t even be a programmer any more. Gotta be some kinda full-stack gigaengineer just to be looked at.
Part of the reason I’m glad I pushed myself to get a masters degree (graduated with both a bs and ms in 5 years) was that it truly feels like my resume floats up on the stack of resumes in part because of the degree.
These days my previous positions have more say in that sort of thing as I’m a decade into the industry but getting started it was a real boon. Still didn’t have quick and easy job searches tho
You have to really put effort in standing out in multiple ways
250…rookie numbers, gotta pump those up.
This only highlights a symptom of the horror. The malleability of jobs on offer make each application more deliberate and getting passed this phase, you likely have 1-2 Projects to do + a technical interview to get to an actual interview
https://archive.ph/T8y86 Down with the paywall.
