HACKER Q&A
📣 jeantherapy

Been job hunting for two years. No luck. Do I need a personal project?


I have a degree and was a professional full stack .NET for 10 years. I used to think I wasn't getting hired because I looked like a job hopper but now they tell me it's because I haven't been working as a developer in two years. I am still just as knowledgeable and I don't apply to jobs that require me to know the latest tech anyways. So I am applying for things I am qualified for and know how to do.

I'm pretty much on my last limb and really need a job at this point. I don't know why I can't convince anyone to hire me. Like, I've seen your guys' code, lol. Like, I can't even find work fixing someone's junky windows forms app. I can program, really.

I am considering doing a personal project. I don't know if that will even help because I suspect 9/10 hiring managers aren't even considering me.

I don't have any friends or a LinkedIn. I just know how to program. I will do a great job wherever I find work. How do I trick these people into doing their job good and recognizing a good developer?

  👤 PaulHoule Accepted Answer ✓
I've had painful job searches where I nearly succumbed to despair. Reading Bob Firestone's writings on the subject turned my psychology around

https://job-interview-answers.com/

I have no fear of job interviews anymore.

For me a good side project "changes my life" in about 18 months. For my current project, I started out printing anime characters on a cheap inkjet printer and soon it was art reproductions, then photos I took. I realized I couldn't give them away without explaining where the images came from so I started adding a QR code that links to a "web side" and invented the "three sided card".

Somebody asked me to explain my motivation for choosing images and when I thought about it, 90% of my thinking was about the system itself and the needs of the system. Sometimes today I feel the cards work through me, just because I practice so much when the opportunity arises I can take 70 square inches of vacant space and make it mine.

That's what a "life changing" side project looks like to me and it's how hard you have to throw yourself at it and even possibly lose yourself.

👤 moviewise
Just want to offer some encouragement and to second the advice to create a LinkedIn page to follow the accounts of companies/groups you are interested in, as well as try to connect with people in the same field and/or similar educational background. This way you will receive notifications on new positions available and sometimes can directly apply pretty easily.
👤 imwillofficial
Get a LinkedIn, get a professionally done resume, practice interviewing skills. Most of all, don’t give up.