I feel like everybody is all too familiar with the current state of the job market these days. I have a couple of things that compounds the usual ...
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
Omg hi David. It's been so long. Hope you are still kicking around!
I would love to hear more all about it, but I am quite busy. I would love to be able to tune in and hear updates about it!
I think it's a great idea since it makes it more refined instead of recruiters seeing various social sites to find the right person. Makes it much easier imo.
Still kicking (and a little screaming 😅)!
If I can get a pilot going I can write update posts about how things are going and the dev-lens if I see there's interest. I'm still working out the details, so I'm open to feedback.
I have enough built out to start taking on the first set of candidates. I'm going ultra focused on the scope to give this the best shot I can. I figure I'm in the job market, so other's like me.
Comment got deleted question mark?
nvm caching issue
Invisible
I posted this wanting it to stay high-level. Now that there's clear interest in it I'd like to further clarify that I'm pretty strongly against integrating AI into any part of this.
I don't hate AI or anything. I'm just disillusioned and pretty fatigued on the topic. Objectively speaking, I can only see a single area that it could even help with and it's only marginally. Basically low ROI.
I have a prototype ready to accept the initial pilot members and I'm open to DMs with interest.
Edit: looks like there's no DM mechanism on here (let me know if I'm wrong). You should be able to reach out on my Substack. Let me know if you have problems with that, too.
Hey David. Raise the issue on GitHub about this and it's currently on hold: github.com/forem/forem/issues/23624
Thanks for letting me know! I put a comment on it - I hope that's what you meant! 😅
david, as a 12-year-old building entirely on a $150 phone, i am the exact "non-traditional" candidate that a standard ATS would instantly reject. the idea of a reverse job board where my actual shipped projects and capabilities speak louder than a 2-page resume is incredibly appealing.
regarding your blocker: hussien mentioned hired and wellfound above. the biggest reason those reverse models struggled was the classic chicken-and-egg problem: hirers won't pay for access if there aren't enough candidates, and top candidates won't stay active if hirers aren't reaching out.
instead of charging hirers for "access" upfront, have you considered a different wedge?
the traditional job market is broken, and flipping the script is exactly the kind of disruption we need. rooting for your mvp! 🐯
I'm so happy to find you! I love hearing other non-traditional SWEs career journeys!
I am all for exploring other monetization models! I saw on a similar platform that it costs hirer's money to reach out, so that was instantly on the table. I like your suggestion most so far. Get users on both sides in the door with a bit of a "trial" runway.
If this platform has a DM feature and you're interested in helping pilot this, feel free to reach out!
david, i would absolutely love to help pilot this! the "trial runway" approach is exactly how you build trust without gatekeeping non-traditional talent.
i will reach out to you via DM shortly so we can discuss how i can put it through its paces. let's build! 🐯
Amazing. Love this energy!
I'm so early into this I don't have any single way to chat to people. Let me know here if you have any issues reaching out!
david, no worries at all! early-stage is exactly when feedback is the most valuable, so i'm more than happy to work with whatever process you have right now.
whenever you're ready with a link, a demo, or just a specific scenario you want me to test, just drop it here or send a DM. excited to see where you take this and happy to help stress-test the "trial runway" concept! 🐯
Ok, spinning up a new Discord server is stupid-easy. I have a single-use link for you to join: discord.gg/kSxZHrkw
It also expires in 24 hours. 🙂
I would spent a weekend developing all of the AGENTS.md files and then assign it to my workers over the course of a week. In one week you'd have a proof of concept and a rough draft. Revising it would be a matter of fine tuning it, but how specific your AGENTS.md file is, and how helpful your skills and resources to the agent are, and what mcps are connected truly determine whether or not the idea that you have - which I like - could be built in a faster and more efficient way than asking for 10 senior leads to help you. I myself am 10 senior leads but I will give you the tools to do it yourself, but not do it for you. I built roc to help you isolate a worker into a container so your system is protected. dev.to/andreimerlescu/a-roc-for-yo...
That sounds awesome! I'm not asking anyone else to help me develop this, but to be the first users. I'm keeping the scope of the initial candidate pool very narrow/niche. Then I'll pitch the pool to hirers. You're 10 senior leads? Because of your agents?
If you're a senior/lead and looking for work, do you have an interest in signing up for the pilot?
Also, I already have the prototype up and running. I move fast. 😉
The line that hit me: "I've always felt misunderstood and like I can't properly articulate my value in a 2-page resume."
I'm on the other side of this. Three weeks into learning Python. No CS degree. No years of experience. Just 26 articles published on Dev.to and a portfolio that proves I can write.
And I've already felt the thing you're describing — from the candidate side, with no leverage at all.
I've pitched 8 companies for paid writing work. Sent follow-ups. Built a tracker. Tracked every move. Zero replies so far. Not even a "no." Just silence.
I don't say that to complain. I say it because your post made me realize the resume isn't the problem. The problem is that the hiring system filters for the wrong things. My resume says "self-taught" and "beginner." But my Dev.to profile has 26 published articles, 16 Python tutorials, and a pitch tracker that proves I show up every single day. None of that fits in a PDF.
I'm not a senior engineer, so I can't join your pilot. But I'd use this if it existed. Not because I think I deserve a shortcut — because I think there are people like me who get filtered out before anyone sees what they've actually built.
Rooting for this. Hope it works.
Oh, dude. It's like seeing my younger self - only smarter. 😅
That self-drive and the discapline it requires is exactly what everybody overlooked over the decades. Like, nobody knows what to do with it or how to actually read non-traditional career trajectories.
Please keep in touch! Assuming this idea of mine gets traction, I'd love to have you onboard!
Good, Hired and Wellfound tried similar reverse models, so studying why employers left them could be your edge. Rooting for you, and for remote-friendly filters front and center.
I've tried both. Got a contract from Wellfound last year, but nothing since.
I've been discriminated against for medically not being able to drive, so the remote/hybrid/onsite thing is prominent in my mind.
I need 10 senior+ engineers to help me pilot this. With a hand curated pool I can actually market this to prospective hirers.
I’ve been building something around the same problem from the candidate side. It started as a Telegram job-search app, but I also built in application tracking and a reputation layer around the hiring process itself - basically letting candidates review how companies/HR handle applicants.
I’ve also been thinking about an opt-in reverse flow where candidate profiles are published for employers to discover directly, so your post felt very familiar 🙃
Love this! I love the idea of a reputation mechanic, too! Let the market decide how a hirer (or candidate?) is doing. I feel like that's definitely worth exploring after the pilot! 😍
Hi @hubedav, I think I have stumbled upon platforms that has some similar features where the hirer would just pick from a certain pool of job-seekers. Frontend Mentor does this as a side feature and daily.dev too. Hope this helps!
Definitely good to know! I appreciate you sharing!
FWIW I'm building something around this idea, instead of as a side-thought. 🤷♂️
I really like this idea! Traditional hiring often puts too much emphasis on resumes and automated filters instead of actual skills, experience, and problem-solving ability. Letting employers discover candidates based on their capabilities could make the process fairer and more efficient for both sides. I think the key will be showing employers the value quickly and giving them a reason to try a different approach. Good luck with the MVP!
Thank you so much! That's where the majority of my focus is at this point.
I have a prototype and one user on the candidate side already. I'm aiming to approach hirers with a couple handfulls of strong tenured software engineers to trial run this thing.
Honestly, validation is two-fold for me on this.
1) Hirers are willing to sign up
2) Hirers are willing to pay for this (however that ends up looking)
Hope to see more!
Thanks! I'll definitely post about this more if it get's traction! I need 10 senior/lead/staff engineers to help me pilot things before I can make any discernable progress.
david, i would absolutely love to help pilot this! the "trial runway" approach is exactly how you build trust without gatekeeping non-traditional talent.
Love this! I'm staying super niche in candidate scope to give this its best chance in the pilot. Are you a senior, lead, staff, or just tenured software engineer?
I have a discord server for the pilot users, too.