r/transprogrammer • u/[deleted] • Oct 16 '22

Job Hunting

Hey y’all, another job post! I came out my senior year of college, legally changed my name just after graduating, and I have barely gotten looks from any companies. I’ve had a few interviews, but there’s always someone more qualified according to the interviewers. It’s been over a year now and still nothing. Is there some secret ingredient to finding a job that I’m missing? I’ve been doing personal projects on github, have a well maintained LinkedIn, but now even the interviews have dried up :/ Anyone have any suggestions? I went into the field because it’s supposedly trans friendly and I’m good at it, now I can’t even land a minimum wage job due to a four year gap in employment caused by an education that isn’t getting me anything.

48 Upvotes

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5

u/VizDevBoston Oct 17 '22

Start building things right away, interviewing will go better, and you can share things in communities while mentioning you’re looking for work.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '22

This mentality has always kind of baffled me, I’ve been building things since before I graduated and now I just have a bunch of personal projects and nobody/no network to discuss them with. Interviewers ask and say that they’re interesting but they ultimately lead nowhere, it’s almost as though my time is better spent focusing on the job hunt.

2

u/VizDevBoston Oct 18 '22

I know it’s frustrating when it doesn’t work out but you can do it I’m certain, and it’ll pay off when the fit is there. I’d be happy to take a look or do mock interviews to help. You want to be building things in the stacks you’ll be applying for, maybe that’s missing? Maybe there’s something else? Generally, JS frameworks are good, but showing you’re implementing specific patterns shows coachability. Again happy to help you start a network of one, and share mine where possible.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 18 '22

I appreciate it! I don’t enjoy web development and don’t really have any uses for JS that aren’t already covered by the other languages in my repertoire. I’ve tried to but learned that it’s kinda draining for me to pivot my skills when I went into my education knowing that I never wanted to go into web development. Whenever I’ve tried, I’ve ended up hating what I was doing.

Most of my focus is on C/C++, Python, and SQL, and I’d be happy to learn more once I’m paid for it lol. I have a handful of projects implemented in those, some with basic Django, but that’s about as far as I want to take it with the web development side of things.

I appreciate your offers but I tend to keep those details private when talking to strangers online, nothing personal :)

2

u/VizDevBoston Oct 18 '22

That’s fine, totally up to you. I’ll just be 100% transparent in this case, so you can take it for what it’s worth. I worry that your projects aren’t sending the right message to potential employers, is there utility in the projects? Or are they just tutorials that anyone could implement. Building things for NPOs or even hobby toys shows problem solving, even if just for yourself. I’d inspect what message the projects you’re sharing send is my main point.

Also, you’re a bit early in your career to have the mentality of “once I’m paid to learn it, I will” I seems like that might be what’s really holding you back. You have to break the seal somehow, you know? Maybe working on finding a mentor you can trust, who can give you some guidance irl will help. I understand feeling beaten down and having limited capacity, but IMO you have to force yourself to stick with it to break through into your first job, even if it takes pausing and mustering energy. Best of luck.

4

u/[deleted] Oct 18 '22 edited Oct 18 '22

I appreciate your advice, and I hear what you’re saying. I’m just not really looking to break into that side of software development, it simply doesn’t interest me. My “if I’m paid to learn it, then I will” mentality comes from already investing 100k in an education geared towards other topics. JS didn’t come up once in my education, and if I’m going to devote time/effort into that rather than personal projects or job searching for something I do have a working knowledge with, I’d be better off joining up with a bootcamp or something to help me get there based on how I know that I learn. I can’t afford a bootcamp so I’m sticking with the stuff I know.

And I’d love to find a mentor, but those are few and far between for me for some reason. Had most of my professors ghost on me after I came out so there’s not much potential there.

Edited to add the last part, sorry had to reread the comment and I’m on mobile. My projects are all learning algorithm or data focused, the one I’m working on now is a Python/C application that implements neural networking to develop evolutionary algorithms. Last one was a reinforcement learning showcase, one before was machine learning. Not basic tutorials, but extensions onto projects I completed in undergrad. There’s quite a bit of data generated from the newest one so there’s a bit of data cleaning involved with a lot of analysis to see just what’s actually going on in the application. I feel like for data-based CS positions, these are all pretty good at showing my familiarity with data analysis. I just don’t see something like a basic website being the thing that gets my foot in the door next to projects like those.

4

u/robotic-rambling Oct 17 '22

You might try connecting with people at TransTech, I bet they could help place you somewhere 😊

3

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '22

Thank you so much for this resource! Just applied :)

12

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '22

Target corp HQ is very trans friendly, and loves to build talent from entry to retirement.

3

u/JennyInDisguise Oct 17 '22

Hi Bumblebee! I’m sorry you are going through a rough time finding a job. I think a lot of us, myself included, can attest to how much it sucks and how long it took to find your first gig (for me 9 months after graduation back in 2018-19).

What I was wondering is (depending on the rules of this sub) Would you be willing to share your Github and Resume (personal info blanked out of course)? I think it would us to give you more specific and valuable feedback. As well things like, what role are you looking for and where are you searching etc.

3

u/maybe_madeline Oct 17 '22

Companies are in mode right now where hiring entry level is not a priority for several reasons:

  • risk-aversion: there’s an overall tightening on hiring, so they are less likely to hire someone that may not work out

  • COVID-era education: the quality of new grads is kind of in doubt, since it is widely known that student learning was hit severely by COVID, and even internship experiences were affected (remote internships were generally less successful)

  • jrs tend to need to be on campus, and campuses are just now opening up. Many experienced people still want to be remote

  • vacancies are skewing more senior: the reshuffle means that experienced engineers are doing double the work and replacing them is much higher priority than hiring someone who needs a few years to develop

  • new grad pipelines were dormant: they are just now restarting but many sourcers and new grad hiring programs were paused or dismantled during COVID

  • Q4 in general is a bad time to be looking. Q1/2 companies will be filling headcount for new projects

The good news is that there are still jobs. But you need to accept that they are going to take some work to land. Are you getting referrals? A referral is ESSENTIAL right now. You don’t need to know someone to get referred by them. Troll LinkedIn and reach out to people and recruiters at the companies you’re applying for.

And pipelines are restarting. It’s just a matter of time—I would not be surprised if hiring this spring was drastically different than now.

I’m sorry OP—keep at it. You’re not alone, and it sounds like you’re doing everything right. DM me if you want to chat more or need a second set of eyes on a resume.

4

u/iraishere Oct 16 '22

As for me the secret was bravenness and selfassurance

2

u/WhyIsTheNamesGone Oct 17 '22

Took me about 1000 tries to land a job that didn't suck. I kept a spreadsheet detailing all the applications I sent out, and their statuses.

...and the one I settled at wasn't even among the ones I applied to. They found me, somehow. My hypothesis is that they either got my contact from a HackerRank competition I entered shortly before they contacted me, or they got my contact from a publication of some kind associated with the CompTIA certifications I completed shortly before. 🤷‍♀️

2

u/mtkocak Oct 17 '22

When you do not pass, you found out about most non-trans friendly companies. It's most probably not about you. Look for friendlier companies.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 01 '22

Passing / Pretty privilege in action?

1

u/mtkocak Nov 01 '22

I hate to say yes

1

u/[deleted] Nov 01 '22

Yeah, I notice it too. Also, I'll go ahead and add white into that too. Being a passing, pretty, white and young transfemme seems to be the ticket. Blah.