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Ask HN: Facing unemployment – what now?

48 points octo888 | 2 comments | 16 May 25 18:36 UTC | HN request time: 0.407s | source

Hey everyone, I could really use some advice.

I’ll likely be out of a job soon — whether I’m fired or I quit first. Health issues, silent breakdowns, being on the spectrum, poor social skills have caused me to damage my work relationships beyond repair.

So, I'm planning my next steps.

Some context:

- I’m 40.

- I struggle with networking, so I have no professional connections.

- My savings can last about two year, and a part-time job could stretch that.

- I haven’t interviewed in years and get extremely anxious in interviews.

- I'm a tech generalist

- I'm quite disillusioned with tech + corporate world, and a bit burnt out. This AI hype, Agile, having to fake excitement about the latest shiny new thing, KPIs etc.

People say I'm pretty good with 2 non-tech things. There are some relatively easy (but not free) qualifications/courses I could do in those areas (I don't want to dox myself here with specifics). I'm open to being self employed.

I also would like to use this time to focus on my health (I have things I need to escalate with my doctor and I need to work on my body), see more of my family, and work on my mental health. I'd also be interested in using my skills for something other than making a rich person richer - something local, for a charity perhaps.

...or am I dreaming and this an indulgence I can't afford?

If you have advice, ideas, personal experiences, etc, I’d really appreciate it.

Show context
MaxGripe ◴[16 May 25 20:16 UTC] No.44009429[source]▶
Create 2+ distinct LinkedIn profiles optimized for maximum SEO. No generalizations - focus on highly specific skills (omit irrelevant ones). Do not duplicate names, for example, use only the first initial in one case (must be real but not a 1:1 copy of another account). Fully complete the profiles (100%), adding comments and tags wherever possible. Then, prepare an epic CV that stands out from others (if someone has 100 CVs on their desk, they should pick yours without even reading it).
replies(1): >>44009532 #
octo888 ◴[16 May 25 20:28 UTC] No.44009532[source]▶
Thanks for your reply. Could you ELI5 the reason for 2 distinct profiles? Just to increase the chances? Ie 3 would theoretically be more beneficial?
replies(1): >>44009722 #
1. MaxGripe ◴[16 May 25 20:51 UTC] No.44009722[source]▶
My experience is that sending out CVs and searching for job postings didn't yield any results in my case. All the recruitment processes I've been through came from someone finding my LinkedIn profile and reaching out with a job offer. So, if you have general skills but lack specialized ones, I think the best approach is to tailor your profile to specific job offers and wait for someone to contact you.

I've never done more than 1 profile myself because I have just one strong skill —good knowledge of SQL Server — and my profile is built around that. If I had more skills, I wouldn't list them all, instead, I'd precisely target specific job postings.

Besides SQL Server, I obviously know the basics of other things and have decent general IT knowledge, but I don't mention those skills on my CV or LinkedIn at all.

Simply treat your profile and CV like you're optimizing a website for SEO, targeting specific keywords. That's my advice.

Imagine an average recruiter from a foreign country looking for candidates for a specific position. Make your profile in a way that, first, it appears in their suggestions (through the algorithm/keywords), and second, when they visit it, even without deep IT knowledge, they can easily see that you're a fitting candidate for the role they're trying to fill.

replies(1): >>44009795 #
2. octo888 ◴[16 May 25 21:00 UTC] No.44009795[source]▶
Ah I get it. Thank you