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points by dominotw 3 days ago | 0 comments

Market is horrible even for 'best employees' . Best employees arent that different from mid employees these days because everyone is slinging the same slop.

[–] siva7 3 days ago

Not true, the market is exceptional for the best in tech. The problem arises when some employees think they are the best - despite the facts not lining up.

[–] hn_throwaway_99 2 days ago

I think you're both kind of right. The market is exceptional for the best in a very specific niche of tech.

Yes, people with specific, real AI skills (and by "real" I'm specifically excluding the "let me show you the secrets to a good prompt!!" LinkedInfluencers) are making obscene amounts of money. But there are other folks who were experts in their fields and truly the best are now having a mighty difficult time getting hired. There was a front page HN post recently by a guy who headhunters used to trip over themselves to contact, who wrote a number of programming books, who was considering leaving tech because he couldn't get hired. Now, granted, a big reason he couldn't get hired is because he was looking for a fully remote job and that world is largely gone, but I think another big reason is that he was a technology expert in specific programming languages, and that is exactly the type of expertise that AI is making less valuable.

[–] theossuary 3 days ago

I don't believe you. I literally can't get an interview, but I joined a mature startup through a subcontracting gig to make ends meet, and a month in they're asking if they can just hire me. The hiring process is broken.

[–] siva7 3 days ago

You were promoted to perm employee a month in. How does that contradict my earlier statement? The broken hiring process in tech is something entirely different - it was broken 10 years ago, 20 years ago, nothing new

[–] dominotw 3 days ago

> You were promoted to perm employee a month in.

having to get "promoted" to even get a perm job is not 'exceptional job market'

[–] theossuary 3 days ago

Ten years ago and five years ago I could interview for a job and be hired. Now I can't get an interview and the only employment option came through a contracting referral from my network. I don't see how that points to hiring not being weirdly more broken than it was? I don't consider friends-of-friends as the normal interview/hiring process, well at least till now.

[–] musebox35 3 days ago

> Now I can't get an interview and the only employment option came through a contracting referral from my network.

The more senior you are, the more you will need to rely on network referrals. Most HR processes are designed around filling average positions and filter for it especially when the number of applicants are high. I switched jobs around 2024 and all the interviews I got was through referrals or directly reaching out to the founders. I got zero callbacks from applications to HR.

Also five years ago, we had a once in a generation pandemic that forced all retailers to go online at global level, pushed remote work to be the norm and the tech workers suddenly had access to a growing global job market. That was the exception not the norm.

[–] palata 3 days ago

Are you one of the best in tech?

[–] dominotw 3 days ago

isnt everyone

[–] bushbaba 3 days ago

Yes and No. If you are a citizen and have “AI” experience there’s plenty of startups offering base salaries in excess of the average Microsoft total comp.

[–] blitzar 3 days ago

9 figure signing bonuses are a horrible problem to have