Comment by dworks
1 month ago
A few times in my life I have found job opportunities that would have been my dreamjob and I was uniquely qualified due to a cross-disciplinary background, previous experience and education, language skills and such. I was an SME with technical skills and I had so much knowledge of the company's products, industry and competitors that I could have done their marketing strategy and product strategy in a couple of weeks. Maybe it wouldn't all have been correct from the start, but I had so much knowledge that I could have done this by heart.
I spent a lot of time on targeted applications for these places, re-doing my CV and spending weeks iterating on my cover letter. I never heard back from any of those places.
Instead I've been hired into industries I knew nothing about. Sure, I was a decent candidate, but I was just another candidate. This has worked out fine.
Why did these places hire me and not the others? Because they were growing so they had a need to hire. The former places did not.
So for me the only real advice is to apply to places that are growing. When places are growing and really need to hire to expand, all the bullshit in the process is eliminated. Decisions are made fast. It's easier and more pleasant.
> So for me the only real advice is to apply to places that are growing.
Or sometimes when people are leaving and they need a replacement ASAP. That's how I was hired, but it was also quite lucky that there were not many applicants.
1 sell everything.
2 turn 18.
3 move to highest gdp location, capital city, largest city, that you can get to, or that your chosen industry, if you have one, is focused in.
4 make list of growing companies.
5 apply to growing companies.
Simple, yet so few will actually do this.
1)I need things, unless you want a naked homeless woman without a laptop to apply to your startup
2)Great, still have no job experience or degree
3)I sell everything and show up to the valley naked. I'm suddenly homeless looking for a job in a place where I have no connections, no degree, and no laptop to actually apply for a job or do remote gigs
4)AI startups number 1-4 are doomed to fail, 5 and 6 expect me to work 12 hour days with little pay and no benefits, and 7-9 won't hire me without a degree or nepotism
5)In the extremely unlikely chance I get hired given the circumstances described, I'll be laid off when the company goes belly up or the shareholders demand a new yacht
GeE i WOnDer whY PeoPlE DoN'T dO tHis
> expect me to work 12 hour days with little pay and no benefits
This is not how it should be, but sometimes when you have no other opportunities this is what you need to do to open doors.
Capitalism is vicious and not participating because you (rightfully) find it demeaning is your prerogative, but it is also poor local optimization.
I joined the military and walked with PTSD not because I’m a patriot but because I needed to pay for college. I got out and took an internship well below the poverty line. I turned that into an entry level job, climbed the ladder to build a cushion. Started several side businesses trying to improve my lot. One was successful enough now I can live a comfortable life.
The world sucks but you’ll be eaten alive if you wait for it to become fair. Some obstacles are stepping stones.
1 reply →
Plenty of people do this. Go to New York, SF or LA and you literally can't get a cup of coffee without running into someone that is stuck in a dead end service job, often for years, because they tried what you suggest.
Take risks, sure, but step 0 is have a resourced backup plan, and know when to execute it.
Loads of people do this! It's a big part of why accommodation is so expensive in major cities! It's just that it requires capital upfront, many have a degree filter, and it's still easy for the number of young people to outpace the available jobs.
I like how the most drastic steps 1-3 are performed before you even get to 4
I could use some more detailed guidance on step 2. I managed it once, almost by accident, but have not been able to replicate since.
this is sarcasm, right?
[dead]