Feels like the only way I'll get a job is if I make it myself.
This post is just me trying to vent publicly a bit, I suppose, in the hope that it might somehow help with some kind of intrinsic motivation. Feel free to scroll on and ignore this post.
I'm a long-term unemployed and borderline homeless person who thought he could become more employable by climbing the learning curve for this web dev stuff. Sadly it hasn't worked out. After so many years of trying to get a job I've gradually become more and more convinced that my best shot is to just start my own thing.
I won some awards recently in a game jam but early results are that it hasn't really helped my response rate at all when applying for jobs, so I've been struggling with getting my mindset right about the idea of just saying screw it and trying to make my own thing instead.
I have a few people on Patreon who support a video game project I've been working on, which is nice, but I keep hearing and reading on this site and in the podcast that the effort required and the return on investment is better for a website than it is for a video game.
I think that the biggest issues for me with regard to this idea of going the indie hacker route are just overcoming the self-doubt as well as the opportunity cost of doing algorithm puzzles and applying for jobs versus trying to create more content for my portfolio by going down the indie hacker route.
I think it's just the financial insecurity and the insecurity of my living situation that prevents me from being able to shy away from taking on a new project to try and go on with this indie hacker idea. I have the time and the inclination to do this stuff but often during the times that could be spent working on a project I often just find myself procrastinating.
Sorry for the dumb post.
I don't think this is a dumb post at all. It's meaningful and worth talking about.
Sounds like there are three problems:
how to get better results from your job applications
how to make money independently
which route will get you out of your present circumstances faster
Hard to give personally useful advice without understanding how you apply right now, but there's a few general tips you can keep in mind.
Great answer!
First off, I want to say that you came to the right place, and i'm glad you shared this with us. I'm a freelance web developer and have been job hunting for years - more time than I've worked Fulltime (but not more than my work as a freelancer, which is ongoing)
I've done lots of interviews, lots of code tests and been through lots of ghosting and other unsavory hiring tactics. It does wear on you, make you question your own sense of value and direction.
The thing that's helped keep me going is having sideprojects that, maybe, i can turn into a stream of income. I at least yield a greater degree of control over the outcome than the umpteenth job interview.
Nor am I alone in this experience. People way more talented than me have had equally turbulent experiences with getting a job.
So go for it, totally! But don't bet on it. Yes, websites are less effort and offer better ROI; but if you're a game dev and you've got people interested and awards to your name, I'd chase that! A new game I really enjoy, Raft, was made by only 3 people. How far away is your video game from being something people can use?
but do what you can to be more financially secure. It's hard to be creative when the basics are a mess. And divest your interests overall, as failure sucks a lot less when you have other ventures in the works.
And lastly, don't be a stranger! We're here to help.
It's easy to get down when things aren't going your way. Not being able to find work is not necessarily a reflection on your skills. Could be a confluence of many factors including location, communication, corporate culture (ie cliquey companies that only hire people like them regardless of skill levels), etc etc.
It sounds like you've half made your mind up already to go the indiehacker route. You are obviously self-motivated and proactive. I would consider focusing on a niche set of problems you know how to solve and offering that on a freelance basis. It will require lots of sales initially to get going but could provide you the necessary financial stability to then work on your indiehack project.
I sat and thought about what I would write to you for a few minutes
as I made some coffee and actually re read your post several times .
I thought about my life...growing up in group homes & foster homes...about selling dope in 1970s Harlem as a street kid , because the runaways all either sold dope..or their ass .
Thought about standing on a soup line..with a pistol in my pocket
screaming at me like the Emperor in Star wars " Don't stand on a soup line....seize YOUR destiny "
( If you don't understand that..then go to youtube and play TUPAC " Me & my Girlfriend " )
As I sat thinking about what I could ever possibly say to you...
something in your post caught my eye .
YOUR NAME..you spelled it dke…. make it BOLDER
DKE !
My name here is SUPERVILLIAN , because I have a PLAN for worldwide global Domination , using my intellect & skills to create ,
launch & deploy my website to drive my competitors into the dust .
September 8th 2018 .
Because , basically your post said..I am in a bad situation and I need a better plan .
So...1st , create a company name..something like
DKE ENTERPRISES
When explorers discover a new land,,,whats the 1st thing they do...they plant a flag....DKE ENTERPRISES is that flag .
A decent smart phone & a laptop is all you need these days to become a worldwide company .
2ndly
While you may not have physical resources in starting your company ....there are resources you can access .
You can find.. free hosting & domains...
For instance...these 3 open source libraries have some ideas for a product you can build to make some money ….
look in them...learn what they offer...
Then figure out what your NON game product is and build it , launch it .
NO Television , dedicate yourself to launching a product
D3js.org
Codenpen.io
Threejs.org
https://developer.ibm.com/code/open/
http://www.nocode.tech/early-stage-users.html
https://www.eggradients.com/startup-directory
You can do it DKE
Sincerely , SUPERVILLIAN
Hey @dke, It was brave of you to share all this. Side-projects is definitely one way that has worked for people in situations, and if you wish to explore this option, I can help you out on marketing and traction. Message me on email on my profile if this is something that you want to go for.
As someone who's employed as a software engineer as well as an indie hacker by night, I can assure you, in 99.9% of cases, it will be easier to make money from an employer than your own business. Firstly, software engineers command high salaries, which you'll get off the bat once you're hired. Startups are a slow burn, you might get $10/MRR your first month, then $100, then $200, then $400, etc. so it could take months before you've built something substantial enough to cover modern costs of living.
Of particular omission is your location. This has a lot to do with your success in the job market. If there's not a lot holding you down (which sounds like there isn't if you're unemployed and broke) consider moving to SF or NYC. I had trouble finding an engineering job when I lived in San Diego, but since moving to NYC I scored a high-paying engineering job in 6 weeks, and currently get 5+ messages on LinkedIn each day by technical recruiters for great companies.
Without knowing too much information about your situation, I would recommend getting a job as a developer first. That way you could improve your tech skills and learn on the job. You can also pick up some basic marketing & business skills by trying to start small projects on the side. Also you can avoid the algorithm puzzles all together by networking, directly talking, asking for referrals or freelancing (this is a good option because you'll pick up business skills as well.)
I have a solution to one of your problems - how to increase the response rate on your job applications.
I'm not sure what strategy are you following but a few times in my career I've tried this - I use to write personalised emails to the founder of a startup that I wanted to work with and instead of just sending in my resume (most of the times I didn't even send a resume), I use to send an additional pdf detailing out 10 low hanging fruits that they can take advantage of in their marketing.
I use to dig into all the marketing channels of the company and curate these suggestions which took quite a bit of time but it increased the response rate significantly.
Now that I have my own marketing team, I value this approach and always give preference to people who try to stand out by going a step further. This approach reflects proactiveness and is mostly appreciated by recruiters and founders.
Johnathan Dane of KlientBoost also used this strategy to start his marketing agency which he then grew to $1 Mn in revenues in less than 12 months. You can read his story here - https://growandconvert.com/marketing/grow-digital-agency/
I'd be happy to share the email template I've used for outreach. Let me know if you want it, I can fwd it to you.
One thing you need to understand people will always respect result rather than effort, so once your effort start showing result everything will be history.
Hi, I feel sorry for your situation.Have you tried joining social media platforms like LinkedIn? You'll have higher chances of scoring a job or a side gig from on there. If that doesn't help, maybe perhaps seek out an internship or volunteer at an organisation or company in your area of specialization.I get that this won't pay the bills, but the organization or company that decides to take you on board might recognize your web development talent and decide to hire you full-time.Also, register on freelance platforms like Fiverr and Upwork and see if you can score a job there.
Not a dumb post. I was out of tech for about 5 years due to a number of reasons and getting back in was tough. What worked for me was contributing to open source projects and building stuff so I could put a link to my github profile on my CV. That worked well in getting me both interviews and freelance work.
Have you considered trying to ramp up your Patreon somehow?
Maybe it can't become your only source of income, but in combination with other work it could become enough to sustain yourself.
Definitely not a dumb post. I think the comment about better ROI on a website vs a game might need some clarification. Rather than focusing on ROI, websites & games, I'd recommend that you start looking for opportunities to use your current skills in unique ways to solve people's problems. It might not be in video games or in websites, it might be in motivation for job seekers, building a job board, doing some online teaching on running a video game project etc
Sounds like you've got a tonne of skills and just need to find the place where people are going to get the most value out of them.
Go get em'
I feel your pain on the coding puzzles. So tired of doing leetcode.com every time I want a raise. I wish they'd just give us an official licensing exam, so we don't have to study this useless crap for the rest of our working lives... or we could just create our own jobs like you said. :)