Comment on How did you get your job? Any advice?
PlanetOfOrd@lemmy.world 10 months agoI used to get more interviews. I’ve had my resume looked over by probably over a dozen professionals and nonprofessionals. My work history is definitely spotty. Early on I got fired from most companies I worked for (unmanaged ADHD & I chose companies I wasn’t a good fit for) so it looks like I job-hopped.
When I did get interviews I wasn’t able to pass any of the coding challenges that companies seem to have a hard-on for these days, no matter how prepared I was for them. I get test anxiety due to a processing disorder, and am unable to perform even at an average level. But when I ask for companies to compensate for that, none are willing to do it. All I can do is just move on.
Arxir@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Why don’t you just leave the companies out, where you got let go and worked at for only a short time? How does leaving them in add value, if you think that recruiters think that you are flaking? Maybe a more minimalist resume (education+last job) would do you better? Let’s be honest here for a moment. Everybody stretches the truth on their resume a little bit. Why not extend the periods of your prior work experience to make them seem less spotty?
What do you usually tell recruiters, when they ask, why you left those companies? I hope you don’t mention your untreated ADHD. Firstly recruiters want to know, that you add value and that you are loyal. How do you communicate these qualities?
As a suggestion, you could communicate the first by phrasing your time there as the completion of a project/product and a subsequent move on. Additionally you could be honest about the companies not being a good fit, which makes the decision to leave after a completed project seem mature and reasonable. Playing a misfit with start-up-spirit when interviewing at conventional companies and vice versa could help too.
Regarding the coding challenges. It’s never about the solution, but all about the way to get there. They want to see how you think, how you approach a problem. Go from broad to detailed, from raw to refined, start simple, and talk with them, explain what you do and why you do it.
Another thing I feel that needs to be addressed are your sicknesses and disorders. Would a compensation really help? What would you need, to be compensated for your disadvantage? How much time is that compared to the base time you would be given?
PlanetOfOrd@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That must be the problem. I am VERY nonlinear in my problem solving. If you let me go about my task without question you’ll see me come up with a solution (and at least ten ways to improve it), but if you look at me doing it you’ll wonder what the heck I’m doing.
Not sure how that can be trained out. Or faked. Or explained. Any thoughts?
And, yeah, I’m not sure what compensation would help. In college when I was diagnosed with ADHD (during like my last year) and got additional time on tests, but still struggled to pass them.
I think the compensation would just need to be a crazy messy situation–like a problem the company has been working on for a long time and can’t find the answer to, or an open source bug in the wild. Maybe my ADHD brain just get bored in the sterile interview environment. Anyone else have any take?
Nonameuser678@aussie.zone 10 months ago
It’s all about how you word it. For instance I’d call this out of the box problem solving or lateral thinking. ADHD can often give you hyperfocus on whatever you’re interested in which I would describe as passionate and creative engagement with projects.
I’m in the opposite end from in the tech industry (people industry) so I could be wrong here. But I do have ADHD and have learnt a thing or two about how to frame certain traits.