Well, what’s the most LW-rational approach to solving any problem? Define it, apply your known methodologies and ethics to discerning what you believe to be the optimal outcomes, and then engage in habits and practices which will be likely to produce that outcome.
In my case that meant investigating what skills I could conceivably acquire that would be emotionally satisfying to practice professionally—specifically of those that were in-demand. I did this by perusing job-listing forums of multiple types and further discussing with workers in said fields. I then sought out professionals in said career and asked them how they achieved their individual success, and attempted to model from that, general practices, and my knowledge of human cognition how to make that work for myself. That generally involved finding forums specifically dedicated to my type of job and of course listing myself in as many of those as possible, keeping the status updated (not neglecting “human networks” aka ‘networking’) -- and also placing myself with staffing firms that I had negotiated a position with.
There’s a lot of jargon in that, though, and it’s hard to go from abstract to practical. Basically I got myself skilled and certified with Linux because I love working w/ computers, talked to long-time sysadmins about how they got their jobs, and accepted lower-end work initially because it got me into ‘the industry’. I then put myself on forums like Dice.com and LinkedIn, and ‘signed up’ with about ten different staffing firms. After that it was just a matter of keeping the pressure on each of these while mitigating my costs to be within the means of what I could afford.
What’s the most LW-rational approach to job-hunting?
Well, what’s the most LW-rational approach to solving any problem? Define it, apply your known methodologies and ethics to discerning what you believe to be the optimal outcomes, and then engage in habits and practices which will be likely to produce that outcome.
In my case that meant investigating what skills I could conceivably acquire that would be emotionally satisfying to practice professionally—specifically of those that were in-demand. I did this by perusing job-listing forums of multiple types and further discussing with workers in said fields. I then sought out professionals in said career and asked them how they achieved their individual success, and attempted to model from that, general practices, and my knowledge of human cognition how to make that work for myself. That generally involved finding forums specifically dedicated to my type of job and of course listing myself in as many of those as possible, keeping the status updated (not neglecting “human networks” aka ‘networking’) -- and also placing myself with staffing firms that I had negotiated a position with.
There’s a lot of jargon in that, though, and it’s hard to go from abstract to practical. Basically I got myself skilled and certified with Linux because I love working w/ computers, talked to long-time sysadmins about how they got their jobs, and accepted lower-end work initially because it got me into ‘the industry’. I then put myself on forums like Dice.com and LinkedIn, and ‘signed up’ with about ten different staffing firms. After that it was just a matter of keeping the pressure on each of these while mitigating my costs to be within the means of what I could afford.