Ask HN: Looking for a job after layoff and burnout. What should I focus on

[jacAtSea]

Hi everyone,

I spent about a decade working in the finance industry as a software engineer. Most of my experience has been on brownfield systems, using technologies like Java, Python, and React. I’ve worked on a mix of things — building data pipelines, dashboards, and web applications — as well as doing a fair amount of maintenance and incremental improvements on existing systems.

I was laid off in 2024 and have taken a gap year career break. I’m now planning my next move and aiming to look for roles as either a Senior Software Engineer or Senior Data Engineer.

During this time, I’d like to upskill and strengthen my profile, but I’m unsure where to focus my effort for the best impact.

The online material is too trivial, talking about syntaxe rather than concepts or patterns. I also felt kinda bored like I already 'knew' them but didn't challenging enough.

What are the suggestions for good read to refresh and upskill?

[CoachBrian]

Step 1. Reach out to prior bosses that valued you. One email can lead to a win-win situation (huge de-risking for a company with a known quantity, and you would know your boss as well). Ask them to submit a recommendation on LinkedIn.

Step 2. Network like crazy with prior colleagues, simple coffee chats is fine (virtual is fine); anyone who can vouch for your work. Ask them to submit a recommendation on LinkedIn. If you see a job opening at their company, ask them directly for a referral.

Step 3. In parallel, get your Full Stack Eng experience sharp again (so that when a colleague opportunity does pan out, you feel closer to ready for interviews). Be sure to include AI tooling in this, you want to demonstrate proficiency there (expected these days).

Step 4. If you want deeper 1:1 guidance feel free to DM. I can spare a few minutes.

[jacAtSea]

Thank you for the steps

I am a super social anxious so the first 2 steps felt a bit daunting. I moved (family reason - caregiving) so my 'best work buddies' are in another city/country. I did reach out to 2 or 3 but no leads there. I am from a company that people 'used' to stay there a very long time.

I joined a local mentoring group in STEAM and expanding my network.

For step 3, I put in

Side Project: Python Coding Agent AWS cloud platform

Practice Interview: LeetCode SD BQ Story writing

I am still looking for a side project

[jacAtSea]

Thank you everyone for your kind comments.

I didn't 'code' or read any CS related for almost a year. I agreed that now I didn't need more 'input' course material, but rather a 'learn and output' way to rebound.

Since last October, I have been using github co-pilot(because its free, unemployed) to write little python project helper for my finance admin and other daily stuff. Initially I had to 'plan' with AI, broke tasks into smaller tasks and modified a few things. I haven't 'written' a single line of code since January as the model is so powerful they can step thru the changes and debugging. Granted this is a very small project.

I aslo think contributions to the opensource projects would be helpful, for the sake of mental health and having 'real' practice.

I am also thinking about might be start with some opensource project that I have used, e.g. like pyarrows, pandas, jupyter for python, and spark for scala. However, I think I am actually more interested in building a system together, rather than writing 'libraries'.

Do you know how I can find one? I had tried searching via google but its not effective. I guess I don't know how.

I have also tried to find 'volunteer jobs' but not very successful. Again, I think I might not know 'where' to look.

I think my mind is still all over the place after the burnout so would need some brain power from the community.

Thank you!

[judahmeek]

Pypy is looking for contributors. There was a recent HN post about it.

[jacAtSea]

Thanks for the heads-up.

I have never worked on compiler. More on application level. I did have a lot of benchmarking experience on architecture choice so might be that is a skill I could contribute.

[raw_anon_1111]

Upskilling won’t matter. Any technology you upskill to thousands of others will have the same skill and every open req will have hundred of applicants in the same day.

The answer as cliche as it sounds network and figure out something that sets you aside from the unwashed masses.

Say you did upskill, why would a company hire yoh based on a side project over someone with real world putting things in production experience?

[jacAtSea]

Upskilling is showing I commit to learning and improving myself, and getting a shot in the interview by not 'lying' to list the skills on my CV. I had an interview the other day and the take home assessment was actually fun for me. Though the vibe of the company didn't really click so I kinda show in the interview. Ouch... another story.

I actually think if given some ramp up time, I would learn the skills while on the job. Because decade in tech meant that I have done that multiple times.

[softwaredoug]

Most important thing: you need to absolutely feel rock solid working with an AI coding tool (Claude Code, Open Code, Codex). It's the biggest shift in the industry in decades, and has become more real in the last few months.

People can debate the merits of LLM coding, but that's something every hiring manager will want you to know.

[codingdave]

Only in some industries, and only on modern stacks. Those of us who work on legacy platforms in enterprise environments don't need it at all. On the contrary, the younger folks who use it can't get good info out and are trashing systems when they try.

I do use basic LLM assistance, at a chatbot level. It is close enough and quick enough to give me a good head start when writing something new, and its problems are fairly quick to see and fix. But the fully baked tools are overkill for the value they offer, at least where I work.

I'd say that you need to know your environment, know what AI tools are available, and know which ones work best in your particular slice of the industry. Because if I ever go back to modern stacks, I know the AI tolls will have far more value.

[jacAtSea]

Sometimes I wonder if my timing is really 'bad', to be out of work in a year that the learning curve become so steep.

Then when I worked with AI coding tool, it's like coaching a new junior. Though their 'way of coding' bought a lot of 'surprises'.

[rkomorn]

100% agree. I'm currently out of tech (and not all that likely to return) but this is the one thing I feel certain about if I do decide to come back: there will not be a place for me as some sort of artisanal, non-"AI-first/fluent" engineer (whether I like it or not).

Even in adjacent roles (design, PM, etc), I'm confident "how do you leverage AI?" will be one of the central evaluation questions.

Edit: for emphasis, again: whether I like it or not.

[ahmed-fathi]

A decade on systems that couldn't fail didn't teach you syntax it taught you consequences. That's rarer than any skill on your resume. You need harder problems and primary sources not more material. Kleppmann's Designing Data-Intensive Applications if you're going data. Ousterhout's A Philosophy of Software Design if you're going engineering. Then pick one system you respect, read its internals, and form opinions. The next level of growth doesn't come with a syllabus. You have to construct it yourself. That's not a gap. that's what senior actually means.

[-1]

thanks chatgpt

[JSR_FDED]

Some good advice in the comments. Perhaps you could take some important open source systems in the data science space, and then use AI to help you deeply understand how they’re built and why they were built that way.

That will give you hands-on with the new AI tools, and deepen your understanding of key open source systems - far more than going through online tutorials. That might even lead you to making some contributions to the projects, which in turn will help you answer the interview question “so what have you been up to?”

[jacAtSea]

I just want to add I am interested if there are any opensource or volunteer project contributing to medicine/health/public good area.