Comment by readme | Hacker News Reader

Comment by readme | Hacker News Reader

Are you letting the potential employers know that you are homeless or letting them see any indication of it? It's probably not going to help if you are. People will judge you for being homeless. Don't let your prospective employers find out, even through inference.

Have you figured out what you're doing for your address? Do you have a nice set of clothes, haircut, and shave before interviews? If you don't put a residential address on your resume, it isn't going to help you.

I am sure you're already getting enough advice on the technical aspect of finding a job in this thread. You can know anything, but if you can't get through the door because humans are superficial you're still screwed.

I would do this: hit up freelancing websites and make enough money doing small gigs online to get an apartment or rent a room with somebody. Those sites have a bad rap, but I promise you I've done well enough on them to say it's worth your time. Accept a low rate at first to get feedback and ratings on whatever site you choose. Better freelancing companies also poach people from those sites. If you have a good profile, someone will ask you to come work with their clients instead. It happened to me.

Worry about creating a marketable image: your online profiles personal website, github, stack overflow, linkedin etc, your appearance (fitness will make you more marketable), and your sales pitch. Write a pitch and rehearse what you're going to say in interviews. They're going to ask you what you've been doing! My advice: don't tell them about your recent misfortunes. It might be true, but would you want to buy a car that had mechanical problems and was found abandoned on the side of the road, three years later? You'd want to buy a shiny new car. You need to become a (good) used car salesman and you will find yourself in a job.

Good luck in your search.

I do not let anyone know I am homeless hence the pseudonym. Since I am in this ultra-liberal city. This resource bought me very nice and new interview/work outfits. I am working on the haircut part, but I can shave.

I have never had a problem with my address not being on my resume. Though I am having problems making contact via phone as 1) My phone is an old junk Android. 2nd Gen 2) I can only make and receive calls over wifi (had to cut cell service)

I am planning to work on my stackoverflow and other online profiles.

Thank you for all of the advice.

I'm not on any social media, but found a good job. Probably the social media advice is sound, and you can pursue it, but also focus on just being very fast and accurate in technical interviews. Consider making an account on hackerrank (not linked to your main email, so recruiters don't find it) and doing the python and javascript Cracking the Coding Interview or other problem sets for just a couple days of study. This is a fast way to ramp up! This way you focus on actual technical skills, and not on your appearance (at meetups) or recruiter spam (linkedin).

Also, don't worry about companies or recruiters bad-mouthing you to one another. It rarely happens for legal reasons.

About phones:

For phone issues, consider using google voice on your laptop with a headset ($10) and fixed Google voice number instead- this will be hard when you're on the move (can forward calls), but it will make sure you can occasionally have high-quality phone calls. I almost never needed to accept or make non-scheduled phone calls during my job search. To sign up unfortunately you'll need at least temporary access to get a verification call on a mobile or landline (but hopefully the shelter or a public phone can help with this).

Depending on how big a volume of possessions you need to carry with you, scout out all the Starbucks (which now allow use of their wifi and bathrooms without purchase) in a reasonable distance, to find one or two with quiet corners where you could take an interview. If the interviewers hear sound in the background, tell them you're in a Starbucks. If they ask why, say your roommates are loud so you tend to work from Starbucks. There shouldn't be any further questions about that.

Many libraries have study rooms where you should be able to take phone calls without disturbing anyone.

I think putting a full address on a resume is dangerous. Portland, OR should be enough for anyone. Resumes get passed around, posted everywhere, and who knows who will get their hands on your full name and address. It's especially dangerous for women who often have stalkers. This has been my experience. And anyhow, why would a potential employer need an address before hiring you? No reason. This coincidentally helps with finding jobs in a new city, even if one doesn't love there anymore.

I second this. Do not, under any circumstances, do anything that would evoke sympathy from others. The fact that you are posting this indicates to me that you are in the danger zone of feeling sorry for yourself. I’ve been in your situation too, and who knows, might be again; the most important thing to internalize is that nobody cares about you. I wish I had someone to slap me in the face every time I mentioned any hint of misfortune.

This fellow has been abandoned by a society and by a government that doesn't invest in its own people. It's not a law of nature that no one cares about him (OP's situation would be different in almost any other "developed" country) and what you call self-pity is a natural human reaction to misfortune.

Unfortunately, though, @jl2718 is right that many employers won't look upon OP's situation positively, and it's hard to tell if any will (except @leesalminen, who apparently will). Therefore some strategic non-disclosure of circumstances is advised.

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