Finally, a blog
CW: I will say swear words
I know that nobody asked for this, but it’s here anyway - I guess we’ll all have to deal with whatever repercussions
come.
Realistically the final kick in the ass that motivated me was https://keysleft.com/ and Scott Hanselman’s own blog post/semi-TED talk on the general idea of cutting down responses, conserving email, so on.
I don’t have any particular purpose in mind for this blog
It will exist for me to write about my current projects, get my thoughts out, and maybe a little more if we’re lucky.
I’m 25 in October, which for most people is young, but I feel a little different about it. Unfortunately, the only professional job I’ve been given the opportunity to work was as an EMT back in Gaffney, SC. Unfortunately, that career field was taken from me thanks to this fun little thing called epilepsy.
The professional jobs I’ve interviewed for since then have all been strokes of oddity.
- Was going to be hired, but COVID hit the US causing everyone to work from home; they didn’t want to train new employees in that period.
- Interviewed by people 2 years younger than me… then ghosted
- Immediately denied for positions that I perfectly match, and then some.
It’s getting old, but I’m getting older
I have a partner in a doctorate program, a dog, bills to pay - it all adds up and makes you wonder:
Are people actually hiring? Or are these false advertisements…
I hear everyone is hiring; there’s a job crisis – Is that really true?
I applied for a GitHub job last night and no joke - 30 minutes later I was denied. I’m not the type of person to be pissed about being denied all too often, in some sense I get it - but what really gets me worked up is the potential employers that leave you hanging for weeks. It happened to me recently in-fact, with my dream employer of 15 years - I hope you’ll be able to see how upsetting it is that I started the process over two months ago, and the recruiter asked on behalf of the testing team to clarify my code two separate times, almost three weeks apart.
After not hearing back for an additional two weeks, I’ve simply had to say:
If there are no updates, then I would like to formally withdraw my application – although I am overjoyed to have received consideration in the first place.
The runaround that potential employers are giving us really needs to end
I totally understand that recruiters and engineers alike will be busy from time to time, probably more often than not. It’s their full-time job to do stuff.
Generally speaking - I’m not always included in stuff.
And that is okay
but hop in your email portal
Hey Charlotte, we’re kinda busy right now; we’ll get to you around (X,Y,Z)
Or, crazy thought, call me. You have my number, it’s on my resume. I have no problems taking a quick call.
A small amount of transparency into the interview process says a lot about you and your company, and puts people like me at ease.
But hey, if you prefer treating me like your side-chick: keep doing what you’re doing.
I know I mostly complained in this first article here, but hey - I just told my dream job I was withdrawing my app! Let me have this!
And here, i’ll let you have this.
If you made it this far, thank you :)
Edit: it’s worth mentioning that I would not have made this if not for having come across the user Chad Baldwin and his blog template. I was aware of GitHub pages of course, and have used it extensively - but I didn’t quite realize to what extent it could be used until now.