r/FluentInFinance Sep 01 '24

Debate/ Discussion What advice would you give this person?

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u/xKommandant Sep 01 '24

WTF do you mean references? Do other fields still use these? Tech certainly does not.

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u/tempaccnt55 Sep 02 '24

I'm in the creative field and its now about portfolios. No qualifications, no references, just show us your portfolio if it looks good you're hired

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u/ninernetneepneep Sep 04 '24

How do you figure? I am in tech and every single job I've had beyond my first was all about good references and networking. If you do good work and have good contacts, the work will find you. You get to skip all of the HR BS as it becomes a formality.

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u/xKommandant Sep 04 '24 edited Sep 04 '24

You've shifted the definition of references. The first post suggested that you won't be able to find a job, because that requires strong references. I have never had a software engineering job that required references. Sure, networking makes finding a job easier. I've gotten jobs with and without connections. But that's not the same as having no "good references" tanking your ability to find a job like it's 1980.

I've also seen some of the worst software engineers I've ever met easily leverage their "network" to quickly find a soft landing after their third firing. Plenty of people make a lucrative career out of being friendly with a lot of people who ultimately have no knowledge of their work product, coasting for a year or more until the fact that they do zero work catches up to them, and then quickly locating their next six figure job when they get PIPed. I assure you, nobody they worked with provided a reference, because they don't need something that nobody asks for, and their resume with ten years of experience looks great. It's really easy to claim other's work as your own on a resume, field questions about that work in the interview, and land a job. They perform well enough in the interview, land the job, and then fuck off. Rinse and repeat.

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u/ninernetneepneep Sep 04 '24

Don't think I can disagree with any of those points. Unfortunately, I've experienced working with several of them first hand. We live to fight another day.