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41 points amathew | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source

I am a 39 year old with cerebral palsy (use a walker due to mobility issues) who lost their job in late January 2025. I worked as a senior data scientist in the past and have been applying to analytics, business intelligence, and data science roles.

Six months later and I am still without a job.

How have those of you with disabilities overcome the difficulties in this market?

I'm totally lost and don't know how to proceed.

I've rewritten my resume and do get interviews

There were 4 instances where I went through the entire process and they ended up hiring another one of the candidates

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abraham-mathew-21221b29/

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leakycap ◴[] No.44567483[source]
Even during great hiring times, the roles you're seeking are often slow to hire and sometimes don't get filled even when there are qualified applicants.

There has to be a hand-in-glove fit to the team for these roles to be effective, which means interviews often get delayed because someone key can't be there... then later, another key person is out, and the cycle turns into a crisis and finally interviews happen and the role gets filled.

But, as you know, AI has seriously cut into your niche and hiring has been very minimal for over a year in data-related roles. Non-data people can do so much more with the help of an AI that can read CSV output from common data sources that I'm seeing people get more benefit from directly being able to work with the sources themselves and ask questions rather than get a report made from the BI team.

I would consider widening your search into other domains, adding AI to your workflow and make it front-and-center.

I clicked on your LinkedIn profile and you are wearing the most casual outfit I have ever seen on a LinkedIn profile, so I would consider finding or taking a photograph that looks like a typical job seeker. I would then remove any recent activity from my profile: without logging in, your first post is about difficulties you are facing and the third is a "hot take" that some companies would not appreciate. I'd cut all personal information that wouldn't get me hired.

Lastly, I'd make a more memorable and higher resolution main graphic. Right now, if this is an example of the quality of your work output, it is very blurry on my 15" laptop and doesn't give a great impression in that regard. None of this is a complaint or attack - I heard your desire for input and am sharing my feedback as a person who has been in hiring roles for 2 decades.

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scyzoryk_xyz ◴[] No.44568379[source]
I would not follow the advice on changing photos because since when does that matter in software related work.

But not seeing that profile myself, and assuming you don’t look like dogshit, the rest of the above advice definitely rings true. “Difficulties” and “hot takes” sound like the profile directs someone’s first impression of you in a sour direction. With LI it’s all about conformity and optimism.

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1. badestrand ◴[] No.44568542[source]
About the profile photo you said it yourself, conformity is important and the photo is part of that.
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2. scyzoryk_xyz ◴[] No.44570402[source]
There is a lot of nuance in a profile photo.

Like, it’s clear to me that someone on an executive/salesy biz dev brand will probably present best with a professional studio headshot in a suit. That’s the look. But then someone who is being hired to say, code, that same choice may give off the wrong vibe.

Reason why I’m pointing it out is that on LI folks will over-compensate. You’ll see kids presenting themselves with magazine cover headshots that sort of thing.

So yeah, conformity matters - but it’s very context specific and nuanced. It’s worth asking the question who is looking at this and what should they think at first glance? What are the values?