johnward

> You don’t know what you want, what the job really is, the or application process isn’t properly structured.

I interviewed at Google. The position description versus what I was interviewed on were two worlds apart. Like the position mentioned front end CSS and HTML. I was grilled on SQL in two of the 4 interviews. This wasn't a SWE position, it was more of a client support role, but I was given a coding test. I did poorly on the test, but I still consider it difficult for a role that was not a SWE.

It didn't even seem like Google knew what role they were hiring for they just wanted "someone technical" to do something. I left this process feeling pretty confused and turned-off at their hiring process and questioning if I really wanted to work at a place like that.

> Workers that were unable to commute to a physical office were forced to leave the company.

I was at IBM during this time. As a consultant, my boss fought to keep us remote.

In some cases people were told to go back to the office but physically couldn't unless they packed up and moved. They were hired remote, so they lived in an area that had no office.

I left IBM by choice to become an IBM sub-contractor. I was paid better and had better benefits. I don't really see how IBM is saving money here.

The potential US civil war that is unfolding before our eyes.

I'm happy finding a mixture of medicine that seems to work for me and has been for a couple years now. It took me over 20 years to get to this point though. Most of this time was just me actually realizing a problem then taking a couple years to actually find a decent doctor.

The problem seems to be that we don't really understand enough about how to brain works and how these medication work with the brain. So many psych meds are like "we don't really know how this works, but we think it might do this".

I think that's why there so much trial and error with psych meds. Plus don't get me wrong, the wrong med can be devastating to certain people. I ended up in the ER a during my trials due to bad reactions.

I still try to exercise and watch my diet. I don't have any studies or anything but low carb seems to keep me more mentally stable.

> Medication cures symptoms of depression but cannot fix the underlying problems causing it.

Sometimes those underlying conditions are brain chemistry though. The pills work for a lot of people. My Bi Polar depression doesn't seem to stem from any trauma or anything. I've done therapy and it did nothing. I've tried exercise, it helps for a short period. I tried diet, seems to help a little. If also tried about 15 different medications before a found a combination that keeps my mood fairly stable.

I almost killed myself before I found the right combination of meds. Meds work for some people we shouldn't be so quick to discourage it.

Does anyone think this will start a trend of de-centralizing Silicon Valley? I'm just wondering what the world looks like if these companies continue to have remote employees. Will there be a need for an HQ in such a high cost area?

My experience is similar and I'm pretty certain it's because I'm friends with so many people from my hometown who are all mostly conservatives. So I get a lot of conspiracy theories and stuff. I guess I should just start unfriending people. I decided to just quit using FB for a while and see how it goes. So far my anxiety levels are down.

The sad part is that I don't really have real life friends, so seeing what people are up to on Facebook was kind of cool. Until it turned into just a big political echo chamber.

I also disagree. If you are able to pass leetcode style test you have a very good chance at getting into a FAANG. It seems to be all they really care about.

"If you have a professional job, your plan will typically be pretty good".

Define good. I'd say 80% insurance, 20% co-pay is good in the US.

Is working for Amazon really worth a slight pay bump? I feel like MS would at least recognize you're a human.

Seattle seems about like Pittsburgh with less snow and more job opportunities. It was beautiful the times I've worked out there. I could probably live there. https://www.bestplaces.net/compare-cities/pittsburgh_pa/seat...

These are entry level salaries? I guess the cost of living in Ohio is dirt cheap but I would guess an entry level salary to be half of that now. Edit: I guess the cost of living is way less than half though.

I bought a dumb Samsung in like 2006 as a display model that still works and you have a presumably newer smart TV that is basically broken because of a software update. Ridiculous.

Yeah. Text captcha/Recaptcha can be solved by spammers. The more advanced the more cpu time it burns up but it still does little to stop them. It just makes it super inconvenient for me to solve. Sometimes they aren't even human readable.

I use a mixture of both. My meds are definitely the key but I do feel better mentally and physically when I eat low carb. The combination is working great for my bi-polar depression.

The value of LinkedIn is getting contacted by clueless recruiters and "wealth managers" /s

> I need to brush up for nauseating leet-code hazing trivia dumb shit

I know this isn't your main point but as someone who is interviewing this really hits at home. These leetcode interviews kill me.

"Everyone would have to sit two meters apart, which means two times the square feet, which means two times the rent."

Ugh. If the office isn't already sitting me 6 feet apart from someone then I don't want to work there.

DDG is good enough for me usually. I very rarely find myself using !g to go to google. Usually, when I do it's to see where my own sites rank on google. I do find google better at local search, which makes sense since they know more about me. Like if I want to look up my pharmacy's phone number. It's always the first result in google but I get mixed results from DDG. Overall, Duck is pretty good though.

>"LinkedIn is pretty much useless for my level of contracting. I get tons of inquiries and the second I mention my rate they either laugh or think that I'm being difficult."

I've found this to be the norm for me also. I have highly specialized skills and I know I'm top 5 in the world in my skills with this specific software. I know this because I know basically everyone that does this type of work. When these recruiting firms contacted me they always wanted like $60 an hour rate when the company I used to work for would charge up to $300 an hour for my time. I would always start at like $120/hour, which I feel is actually kind of low for an enterprise software consulting, and they would either try to get me to $60 or ghost me. I finally took a job as a full-time employee doing gov consulting work at a pretty good salary for me.

I'm the opposite. I think it's just a personality trait. I'm more introverted and socially anxious so I feel much more comfortable at home by myself. I've been remote for 8 years now and I hope I never have to go back to an office.

I actually left IBM to become an IBM subcontractor. I was treated better, paid better, and had better benefits.

I've done transcranial magnetic stimulation for my bipolar depression. Didn't seem to help. It's a pain to try to work and go for treatments every day. Meds work better for me.

I was pushed several times to get a patent when I worked at IBM. I never did it because I didn't think anything I really did was an "invention". I think they have a whole team dedicated to ghost writing patents.

IBM has so many generic patents. I wonder why they don't sue more companies? I guess maybe they settle under the radar.

I'm the same way. 10-12 hours of sleep is optimal for me. I also have apnea.

Haven't had a thinkpad for a few years. Are they still dimpled? edit: doesn't look like it

So, Google blocks me from automating my rank checking. Will this apply to google now?

I didn't do some kind of deep analysis. I just saw that separations rates were unchanged. I Googled the unemployment rate at the same time and it's unchanged. So I made some assumption, possibly not a very good one, that those jobs were not filled by employed or unemployed people.