I got laid off a few months ago. All in all, I was unemployed for about three months before landing a new position.
Whenever I checked Indeed or Monster, I saw lots of positions that required extensive J2EE or .NET skills, plus a bunch of webdev and a handful of mobile jobs. None of those I have. I have lots of Java experience, sure, but it's all core Java and thoroughly divorced from the web. I was passed up for some jobs I thought I was going to get because the internal recruiters were really excited about me only to get shot down by the hiring manager because I had no webdev background.
My background is half in core Java and half in Linux platform and Python development; almost nobody in Dallas wants either. And, no I'm not interested in leaving Dallas, and even if I was, I certainly wouldn't move to the Valley. If I ever set foot in California at all, it'd be SoCal.
What finally saved me was when an old friend of mine found a position open at his company and put in a good word for me. I got lucky. If not for him, I'd be staring down another two-year period of unemployment like I had in 2010-2012.
- there's a shit ton of programmers on the market now, with universities producing more and more like sausage factories
- the job market is getting super-specialized - once they'd ask for JavaScript programmers, now they ask exclusively for "Angular experience" or "React experience" or "$random_two_weeks_old_framework experience"; whether demanding such specific skillsets buy companies anything over asking for just a $language programmer is arguable
> the job market is getting super-specialized - once they'd ask for JavaScript programmers, now they ask exclusively for "Angular experience" or "React experience" or "$random_two_weeks_old_framework experience"; whether demanding such specific skillsets buy companies anything over asking for just a $language programmer is arguable
Honestly, this just aggravates me so much. I'd like to learn some of these technologies! But, no, even though I'm a solid programmer and I have a history of picking up new things as they get thrown at me at a company I'm already working at, nobody wants me if I don't already have a lot of experience with that one specific library under my belt.
Also, on a similar note, I've noticed this being done with IBM software for years. So many job descriptions I've had to pass on because they want specific experience with WebSphere and other software. I've seen this as early as 2010...
I... honestly didn't know they had offices here. Never saw them post anything on the job boards, either, at least not with the search terms I was using.
I'll keep them in mind if I find myself unemployed again or if I ever decide I want to leave this company.
I'd say even inside the Valley too, depending on your tech stack, major, university pedigree, or stars on your open source github project.
But then again, the market is not on the side of employees in general - we are many, positions are few. AFAIC, programmers, developers, hackers, etc. still have it pretty good relatively.
It's definitely a myth. There may be a lot of companies with job postings and interviewing, but not a lot of hiring. Sure, HN posters will tell you all about the mythical "shortage of engineers" and how everyone is hiring. Also, everyone on HN has $200K salaries, can get their next job in 1-2 days max, and has a supermodel girlfriend. In reality, the hiring market really just doesn't seem to be that healthy. Still much better than the market for textile or factory workers, but not great.
I got laid off a few months ago. All in all, I was unemployed for about three months before landing a new position.
Whenever I checked Indeed or Monster, I saw lots of positions that required extensive J2EE or .NET skills, plus a bunch of webdev and a handful of mobile jobs. None of those I have. I have lots of Java experience, sure, but it's all core Java and thoroughly divorced from the web. I was passed up for some jobs I thought I was going to get because the internal recruiters were really excited about me only to get shot down by the hiring manager because I had no webdev background.
My background is half in core Java and half in Linux platform and Python development; almost nobody in Dallas wants either. And, no I'm not interested in leaving Dallas, and even if I was, I certainly wouldn't move to the Valley. If I ever set foot in California at all, it'd be SoCal.
What finally saved me was when an old friend of mine found a position open at his company and put in a good word for me. I got lucky. If not for him, I'd be staring down another two-year period of unemployment like I had in 2010-2012.