throwaway20382 (u/throwaway20382)

throwaway20382 commented on Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off) · Posted by u/thunkle

Let me show you the backdoor:

Find a company whose open source projects you are interested in. Dive in and and start fixing things. Then if you really like it after a couple weeks start nudging around for a job. If you do good work they'll just give it to you, no bullshit funnel required.

I like this method because you aren't just doing l33t coding exercises to work on some sight unseen codebase that makes you suicidal and throw you into existential crisis.

In this modality you are test driving each other.

throwaway20382 · 3 years ago

This is exactly what my gardener did. One day someone went to my home and started mowing it. I watched. After 4 months of free mowing, he started doing my hedges. I started to talk to other people in my house: "hey we should hire this guy". My wife said "wtf for, he is free? right?" Eventually, I was worried he would start doing free work somewhere else so we hired him - but not for much. He is a great gardener. /s

throwaway20382 commented on Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off) · Posted by u/thunkle

brian-armstrong · 3 years ago

One thing people tend to miss here is that 2021 was a massive hiring year across the board. The layoffs in 2022, while regrettable, are something of a correction from that. The number of ICs just at Google alone is still massive.

throwaway20382 · 3 years ago

Yes. But that is where non-Faangs are hosed. IMHO Small companies see a Faang on a resume and toss the other ones out. Even though the Faang company tossed these people first layoff.

throwaway20382 commented on Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off) · Posted by u/thunkle

jlarocco · 3 years ago

Budapest is a strange choice for comparison.

Just about anywhere in the United States will be a lot cheaper than SF, too, without the huge inconvenience of moving internationally.

throwaway20382 · 3 years ago

Well yeah. And it isn't America, they will arrest you and throw you out of the country after a year.

throwaway20382 commented on Ask HN: How's the job hunt going? (For those laid off) · Posted by u/thunkle

throwaway20382 · 3 years ago

I have 15 years experience, run large production sites, our company sold for near a billion dollars to a foreign company recently, and they are doing layoffs based on "order by salary desc" . My days are numbered. I do SRE mainly, but I code all day and run teams.

Company 1: Terrible over-engineered music firm (no users). Full 7 rounds, exams (which were easy shit), but "VP" ghosted me, he was a former twitter guy, seems like he wants to hire a twitter guy.

Company 2: Credit card company. Full 5 rounds. Four hours of exams. The recruiter feedback from team was "too much of a people manager", then ghosted. Someone lied and said I was non technical - yet i passed the technical exams. I used the term "we" too much explaining projects.

Company 3 (automatic): Finished the exam in LUA for a openresty opensource project (didn't even know lua). Everything worked nicely. I was told he didn't like how i laid out the lua.

Company 4: "Not enough of a people manager."

Company 5,6,7,...: Recuriters make me do calls and exams then ghosted. I don't think they have jobs - just recruiting cause that is what they do.

Exams:

1) using openrusty to create a application load balancer in lua

2) using python to create a url shortener

3) using php, complex input file, then output file (sorting, hasing, parsing)

4) using ruby, connect to an oracle db then do complex queries (outer joins etc). Just for hazing sake, they named the tables keywords eg: "join".

I will say the take home tests at these companies are fun. I have a family and I am very nervous.

throwaway20382 commented on A drug that cures alcoholism may be the next anti-anxiety medication tus.ac.jp/en/mediarelatio... · Posted by u/rustoo

Quequau · 3 years ago

Given the extremely strong negative reaction to alcohol that patients who are taking Disulfiram experience and given that this is apparently the sole effect that alcohol abuse cessation treatment using it relies on, it is my belief that the treatment is unconscionable and inhumane.

I quit drinking after more than 25 years of problematic drinking using naltrexone (The Sinclair Method) and, given my experience with alcohol, it was the easiest thing I've ever done.

I urge people who have a problem with drinking and wish to quit, who for whatever reason do not feel that 12 step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous are right for them to find a doctor who is willing and able to prescribe naltrexone and have a serious discussion with them. Had I known it was effective as it is I probably would have been able to stop drinking 20 years sooner than I did.

throwaway20382 · 3 years ago

"I urge people who have a problem with drinking and wish to quit, who for whatever reason do not feel that 12 step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous"

I urge people to see an addiction specialist first. Do not see AA first. See a doctor asap. This disease is serious and has a high fatality rate. AA meetings are like a club after you have it under control (EG. don't attend drunk).

Disulfiram: An old military drug. This will stop you drinking but you need a significant other or parent involved. Each morning you must take the pill and your significant other needs watch to double check. Doctors are scared to prescribe this and the drug companies are ramping down it's production. Hoarding the drug is common.

naltrexone: This comes in two forms. The pill and the shot. When you first take this you should do the shot form. The shot lasts 30 days and there is not a possibility of skipping out on pills. Naltrexone will ruin the Euphoria feeling of alcohol and opioids (so it's a kind of two for one). No addiction specialists back the 'the Sinclair Method' but do back daily use of Naltrexone.

Rehab: Good short term, bad long term. Rehab failure rate is over %90. A normal rehab will run 10-30k per incident. Do not leave unless you had a Naltrexone shot. Longer stays will impact work, an unemployed Alcoholic is dangerous.

Alcoholics Anonymous: Very* difficult for people with social anxiety. People that succeed here find a sponsor which is like dating. You will be rejected literally by tens of potential sponsors until one says yes (hang in there!). AA has a very high success rate for extroverts who become a sponsor - caring over others going through alcoholism seems to rewire the brain.

Baker Acted/Marchman: If you have a family member (or a friend but you have family contacts) drinking to a point where they are unable to make decisions - you can file a Baker act. [Name varies wildly state to state]. A court can determine the individual needs intervention and can use state authorities to detain. Depending on your court appearance after 72 hours (don't be drunk lol) - the judge orders more jail time or programs.