from Hacker News

Gen Xer with MBA can't get job despite 1,500 applications. Degrees useless

by stefap2 on 9/8/24, 2:54 PM with 6 comments

  • by al_borland on 9/8/24, 5:51 PM

    He got a MBA and went straight to CTO? Is that normal? It sounds like after that his expectations were set too high, and still seem out of whack. It mentions he’s overqualified, but after 14 years, I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

    I have to question if there are also some personality issues at play that lead to him not keeping jobs when he gets them, or not making it past the interview. He talked to BI for the article, so I assume he supplied the picture. He is looking for a job and had them post a picture of him hanging out in a recliner wearing a tank top. That screams poor judgement to me. This article could have helped him, but I don’t think that picture is going to do him any favors. It doesn’t look like he’s taking this seriously. He doesn’t need professional headshots, but put on a proper shirt and have a semi-professional photo taken.

  • by bell-cot on 9/8/24, 3:05 PM

    Skimming details in the article, this guy is really not your typical MBA. 48 years old, but has a total of 3(?) years at managerial jobs. And he's focused on remote jobs, since he lives 30 miles from the nearest city.

  • by ossm1db on 9/11/24, 8:28 PM

    "However, he wanted to progress his career, so he enrolled in an MBA program in technology management and turned down positions."

    Why not both? Perhaps if he had accepted a job offer from an employer with educational benefits he could have put himself in a favorable position for later life challenges.

    At any rate, this story is a single data point and can't be extrapolated.

  • by al2o3cr on 9/8/24, 7:43 PM

    Sounds like this dude's had a rough time, but I feel like "14 years of job-searching" needs to be balanced against "was an alcoholic for the first half of that".

  • by stefap2 on 9/8/24, 2:55 PM

  • by cranberryturkey on 9/8/24, 2:56 PM

    i don't have an advanced degree but i have 25 years experience as a software engineer and recruiters stopped calling me sometime in 2022