Ask HN: Job seekers, what's working / not working?

[Jabbs]

I've often been in the market for new software engineer opportunities and have found some untraditional ways of finding new jobs. But with so many job search tools, AI and ATS matching I'm curious what job search strategies are working for you today? Also, what has been a waste of time?

[taurath]

I found work in 2025 with almost every disadvantage other than having experience. The front door is broken unless you have:

* BigTech experience

* BigSchool degree

* Direct experience in a niche domain or interest area

* A degree, and good (5+ yrs) experience that looks modern

You will be passed over on most (not all) direct apps otherwise. The degree part is more important the more non-tech the company is.

Referrals mean a lot, especially for the best jobs that pay well have WLB or are remote. If you’re not pulling everyone you know who might vouch for you, you’re not doing it right.

Practice leetcode + hello interview, as almost every place will have some sort of leetcode round and system design round.

[raw_anon_1111]

BigTech and BigSchool no longer works. I’ve interviewed and passed on two people that were laid off from BigTech because I felt they were incapable of working with high ambiguity and a place where they weren’t coddled by having a lot of processes.

Yes I worked at BigTech and saw that most people there couldn’t work in greenfield environments. I was also 46-49 at the time.

[karakoram]

BigTech and BigSchool most certainly get you in the door.

You still have to leverage connections at BigSchool and your previous BigTech though, many ex-FANG fail to do this.

People without these obvious advantages should be looking into other industries outside of direct tech. Oil/gas/energy, Supply chain/logistics, Automotive (Ford etc), Retail tech (Walmart Global Tech), and so many other industries where they still need SWEs.

Many people overlook these options. Pay may not be big tech level but being jobless is worse.

[taurath]

I assume ppl aren’t looking for big tech money, there’s enough posts out there telling you exactly what to do to get in at those places.

[tb17]

I’m curious, was there anything you recall from those posts that differentiates the general experience with applying to those places versus big tech?

[andyjohnson0]

It pains me to aay it but, during a recent redundancy and lengthy job search, subscribing to Linkedin Premium was a big help.

Unfortunately, Linkedin is where the recruiters and many of the hiring businesses are - and a subscription did seem make me more visible. I was fortunate enough to be able to afford it, and subscribed for three months before reverting to the free tier when I found a role. There was a two week free trial.

May be useful for those who, like me, don't have much of a personal "network".

(Developer, UK, no connection to Linkedin except as a user)

[nikhizzle]

I’ve had luck getting higher rate of interviews for remote jobs by applying first. To that end I built a site which shows job postings as they are posted - https://tangerinefeed.net

[TurkishPoptart]

Great tool! Would be nice to add a simple search feature, too!

[nikhizzle]

Will think about it, trying to keep it running snappy with minimal cost since no clear path to monetization

[Ocerge]

I am employed (which, fair or unfair, seems to always look better to recruiters) but opportunistic. So far I have interviewed 3 times in the past year, every single one being a referral. It's definitely advantageous to have experience/a real network these days, as it must be a relief to all involved to not have to wade through a mountain of AI-generated resumes. I genuinely didn't know what to tell my intern last year when she asked me for advice on how to get a job. Telling her jobs were free when I graduated in 2012 is not useful, but because that was the case I don't know what to tell somebody without a network.

[karakoram]

Connections, Connections, Connections. Also nepotism.

The real trick is to not even interview. Just call someone you know and call in a favour. Very unpopular and controversial but this works for certain.

I am not talking about referrals. This is more direct and blunt.

Buddy works at X company : "Hey buddy, I need to join you at X company ASAP, I have been out of work"

Buddy pulls some strings and gets you in the next week.

[undyingtrillion]

What level does your buddy need to be to successfully pull these strings?

I actually had this happen to me one time, and my buddy was the CEO, got funding, and we worked together in the past. I don't think it would happen in any other setup.

[karakoram]

Yeah a CEO can obviously make this happen but VPs of departments, principal/senior engineers, even senior hiring managers can make this happen.

Most don't know this but people in business/operations/HR roles in tech companies have a lot of pull and direct access to CEOs or even boards.

Regional Directors/Heads are also very influential and can get you in e.g. Head of EMEA, Director of APAC, for big tech I have seen these roles based in Ireland, Switzerland and Singapore.

In the AI/ML world, senior researchers can make this happen too, if you were together during research days at university or the senior researcher was your PhD advisor etc.

say a team is working on some core product, consisting of PMs, Engineers, etc. If you are the senior most engineer in that team, you could go up to the right person and say "Hey, someone I know really well just applied and I need that person on this team to make this product a success. No questions asked."

Remember, reputation is everything here. If you get hired this way and not perform, you not only ruined your reputation but the reputation of the person who vouched for you.

[chargedup]

I am thinking about freelancing or github bounty style work What do you guys think about that

[kbrannigan]

I want a market like doordash or uber for dev. I see a backlog, i implement i get paid instantly, i move on to the next.

I can gain reputation to have more context or more access to repos to take on more batches.

This would make my life easier.

Minimum $20 per task

[raw_anon_1111]

Every platform like this is a race to the bottom.

[muzani]

Fiverr? Upwork? Or Toptal if you're going for minimum $20 per hour.

[pepperball]

“Nepotism” worked pretty well for me. A year out of work, only to be turned around when I lucked out and a family member referred me to a company they had just started at. This was around 2022-2023 though, things may have changed significantly since then.

Remote is dead, except for the lucky, so it’s best not to waste time and effort on those roles was my experience. I had a much higher callback rate for jobs that were on-site. Even my current job started hybrid, before it was snuffed out.

The general vibe appears to be this is the direction society is moving towards in general. Condolences to those who aren’t schmoozers and don’t have a network to crutch on.