Post: #1

So my skills include programming, web development, and project development. Currently looking around for a job, such as C#, .net, C++, and even web development. However, been on the market for a couple of months. Did a few interviews, but continue to have them fall through. Has the tech market become competitive since the six years I've had to apply to any job? I continue to get the "stronger applicant" rejection notice. Maybe some developers on this forum can shine the light on the current industry status. I remember a time when my type were in high demand.

Post: #2

What region are you in? My experience of the major markets (NYC/DC/SF/LA) is that it's hard to land qualified hires at any price.

I'm wondering if there's a shortcoming in your interview shtick that you aren't aware of. If you're getting interviews, your resume is probably fine.

Post: #3

North Dallas area is where I'm currently reigning. There is a higher population of middle eastern/ indians around here, so maybe that is driving the market competition up.

Post: #4

What is your experience, and do you have a portfolio? I am looking for a couple designers to work with me and a computer science graduate to build a pretty cool project. PM me.

Post: #5

(05-04-2018 04:20 PM)BlueResolute Wrote:  So my skills include programming, web development, and project development. Currently looking around for a job, such as C#, .net, C++, and even web development. However, been on the market for a couple of months. Did a few interviews, but continue to have them fall through. Has the tech market become competitive since the six years I've had to apply to any job? I continue to get the "stronger applicant" rejection notice. Maybe some developers on this forum can shine the light on the current industry status. I remember a time when my type were in high demand.

Pasting what I wrote elsewhere:

don't be the average guy thinking bottom up:

- "what are my skills?"

- "what's in it for me?"

- "what job postings are out there?"

- "i know x y and z items"



instead, be the expert-from-afar consultant ready to bring results and think top down:

- "what businesses are out there? can i triangulate how well they are doing? how can i add value?"

- "what's in it for them? how can i portray that? i can easily charge a cut of it."

- "how can I tell they have budget and are serious?" (triangulate pricing info, operational info, and any info from meetings)

- "how can I suss out the email of any key contacts at this business, ignoring any job posting/hr stuff"

- you strategize, get trusted subcontractor(s) to handle x y and z, and manage the project and contribute as needed (and learn the expertise of account management + consulting + implementation + adapting to chaos)



Try to be the guy GETTING THE WORK.

Use your development knowledge to do some of it, but more importantly to set off some delegation to trusted devs who are good and communicate well but Do Not Know How To Get Clients.

W2 means they own you 40 hours a week.

Contracting (with subcontractors) means you can find multiple long term engagements and charge more results based. I'm compacting this too much, but think outside just "jobs" if you have decent experience already.

Post: #6

(05-04-2018 04:51 PM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:  What is your experience, and do you have a portfolio? I am looking for a couple designers to work with me and a computer science graduate to build a pretty cool project. PM me.

6+ years in the business. Mixture of web dev and desktop/ embedded system applications.

(05-04-2018 05:27 PM)456 Wrote:  

(05-04-2018 04:20 PM)BlueResolute Wrote:  So my skills include programming, web development, and project development. Currently looking around for a job, such as C#, .net, C++, and even web development. However, been on the market for a couple of months. Did a few interviews, but continue to have them fall through. Has the tech market become competitive since the six years I've had to apply to any job? I continue to get the "stronger applicant" rejection notice. Maybe some developers on this forum can shine the light on the current industry status. I remember a time when my type were in high demand.

Pasting what I wrote elsewhere:

don't be the average guy thinking bottom up:

- "what are my skills?"

- "what's in it for me?"

- "what job postings are out there?"

- "i know x y and z items"



instead, be the expert-from-afar consultant ready to bring results and think top down:

- "what businesses are out there? can i triangulate how well they are doing? how can i add value?"

- "what's in it for them? how can i portray that? i can easily charge a cut of it."

- "how can I tell they have budget and are serious?" (triangulate pricing info, operational info, and any info from meetings)

- "how can I suss out the email of any key contacts at this business, ignoring any job posting/hr stuff"

- you strategize, get trusted subcontractor(s) to handle x y and z, and manage the project and contribute as needed (and learn the expertise of account management + consulting + implementation + adapting to chaos)



Try to be the guy GETTING THE WORK.

Use your development knowledge to do some of it, but more importantly to set off some delegation to trusted devs who are good and communicate well but Do Not Know How To Get Clients.

W2 means they own you 40 hours a week.

Contracting (with subcontractors) means you can find multiple long term engagements and charge more results based. I'm compacting this too much, but think outside just "jobs" if you have decent experience already.

Very good advice. It's a very proactive way to think about getting the next project. I've been thinking getting back into the contract business, too. There's too much HR clout that is making it hard for me to penetrate into a job like I want. I don't flunk on interviews, at least I believe I don't. I have good communication skills, tend to answer tech questions fairly well, and I hold myself well. I did get drilled on by a friend that I should have had a connection into a new business from my current one, but it's hard to do that when your last two jobs were start ups without much connections in the tech world.

Post: #7

You might want to peruse HRNasty's blog a bit and just see if there's anything obvious you're missing.

http://hrnasty.com/category/resume-writing-2/

I'm in the same boat of looking for a job but have much less experience. Not sure if it's gotten more competitive in recent years but my tentative guess is that there's no reason to believe otherwise.

Post: #8

(05-04-2018 04:20 PM)BlueResolute Wrote:  So my skills include programming, web development, and project development. Currently looking around for a job, such as C#, .net, C++, and even web development. However, been on the market for a couple of months. Did a few interviews, but continue to have them fall through. Has the tech market become competitive since the six years I've had to apply to any job? I continue to get the "stronger applicant" rejection notice. Maybe some developers on this forum can shine the light on the current industry status. I remember a time when my type were in high demand.

Is it possible that you're only applying for junior positions usually intended for fresh college grads?
How do the interviews go usually? Is it possible that you fall short on the soft skills side?
Are your salary expectations in line with the budget for the position? (Find the firm on Glassdoor, search for the exact title you applied and ask for the upper bound plus 5-10% for good measure)
Do you do research about the company AND the interviewer, if you know their name (search on LinkedIn) as pre-game?
When asked about your previous experience what do you do? Common mistake; is it possible that instead of simplifying it down to the level at which an outsider would understand, you babble too much about the tech and scare the interviewer off, since it's entirely possible (and very common) that the interviewer himself doesn't have that much experience and won't understand anything you were talking about?
Do you get coding questions on the interviews? If yes do you have this book on lockdown?
If you get stuck coding, do you stutter or do you ask for hints? (Completely OK and actually encouraged to ask since you'll most likely be working in a team)
While coding on the interview, do you go through the bottom-up approach that we expect on the interviews? Do you just write the code down and say "here" or do you first explain your thoughts, then begin writing your code explaining every single line, and at the end come up with test cases and run them by pen one-by-one?
After you're done coding do you take a moment to lock it in with the junior year computer science stuff? Do you talk about the complexity (big O notation) of the algorithm you just came up with, then suggest ways to improve it?
Lastly can I see your resume?

Post: #9

Is it possible that you're only applying for junior positions usually intended for fresh college grads?

I've applied so far for junior, mid, and senior positions. Of course, a lot of positions don't even list the level necessary, and often it's never said if a recruiter comes up to me. Through my analysis of all the job descriptions and tasks asked of me, along with work experience, I'm mininum mid level. I don't call myself a senior yet, only because I've only been in the industry for 6 years out of college.

How do the interviews go usually? Is it possible that you fall short on the soft skills side?
I've done speech training and debate training, so I've learned how to compose myself in front of people, look them in the eyes, speak with my back straight and hands not doing anything weird, glancing between people if there's more than one interviewer, and being generally upfront to let them know that what I can provide.

Are your salary expectations in line with the budget for the position? (Find the firm on Glassdoor, search for the exact title you applied and ask for the upper bound plus 5-10% for good measure)

Yes, most of the time. 60K to 80K is the range I am generally offered or offer. They never have a problem with it.

Do you do research about the company AND the interviewer, if you know their name (search on LinkedIn) as pre-game?

This is probably one of my weakest areas. I've been mostly applying for a lot of jobs, mainly cause I need to get one as soon as possible for financial reasons. So I haven't had the time to be specialized in what they all offer. The best I do is when I know there's a phone screen or an interview, I'll at least take time to study info on them.

When asked about your previous experience what do you do? Common mistake; is it possible that instead of simplifying it down to the level at which an outsider would understand, you babble too much about the tech and scare the interviewer off, since it's entirely possible (and very common) that the interviewer himself doesn't have that much experience and won't understand anything you were talking about?

I mix it up. I add a small story to it, but keep it brief so it won't kill the time. Some of my developer friends did the same thing and one of them got the job simply for telling a funny story. I also take cues from charisma-based learning on how if you want people to be interested in you, you need to tell things in an interesting way. At least, that's how I tend to do it.

Do you get coding questions on the interviews? If yes do you have this book on lockdown?

I got a lot of quiz question thus far at phone and in person interviews. They weren't full on coding where I had to sit and code something. They just wanted to make sure I know the intracacies of a language's syntax and features by asking random quiz questions.

If you get stuck coding, do you stutter or do you ask for hints? (Completely OK and actually encouraged to ask since you'll most likely be working in a team)

In one interview where I almost got the job, I was doing a object orientated sketch up of how I would solve a problem. The two programmers were discussing with me how I was coming about each class and function, and how the program flows. At the end, they said I did correctly by talking with them and thinking together. The funny part is that a lot of my experience is independent, but I have team skills mostly built from college jobs and just general life experience.

While coding on the interview, do you go through the bottom-up approach that we expect on the interviews? Do you just write the code down and say "here" or do you first explain your thoughts, then begin writing your code explaining every single line, and at the end come up with test cases and run them by pen one-by-one?

Since I didnt do any indepth coding, everything was always high level talking.

After you're done coding do you take a moment to lock it in with the junior year computer science stuff? Do you talk about the complexity (big O notation) of the algorithm you just came up with, then suggest ways to improve it?

Those things didn't come at the jobs I went to. There was a time in college where I was told such questions would be common, but I've yet to ever be asked them.

Lastly can I see your resume?

I'll DM it to you.