HACKER Q&A
📣 abdp

Am I doomed to always work at startups now?


I’m a full stack engineer that’s been working for about 5 years, I have worked at 3 different companies each for about 2 years (I’m coming up on a year at my current company)

The first company I worked at was a mid sized, well known company but the last two have both been startups. I left the last company I was at after 2 years because I didn’t agree with the direction the product was going, and now I’m in a similar position at the company I work for now, not really feeling like all the extra work and stress is worth it.

When I worked at my first company (the largest one) I would get recruiters asking me to interview from other similarly sized companies and bigger, but now since I’ve worked at startups the only recruiters messaging me are from startups, most of them being AI wrapper companies. I’ve tried applying to bigger companies but usually don’t hear back or am rejected.

It feels like I’m stuck having to work at startups which I’m not a huge fan of, is there something I can do to position myself better to work at a bigger more established company in the future?


  👤 dave4420 Accepted Answer ✓
The recruiters who are messaging you can’t all be internal recruiters. Explain to external recruiters why you’re looking for a slight change of direction and ask if they have something more suitable for you.

👤 tlb
Don't let recruiters drive your career. Apply for jobs at companies you want to work for, and ask friends in the business to refer you.