Bit of background: Went to an okay uni, got decent grades, and have about 3 1/2 years of industry experience. 2 1/2 of those years were spent working on low level C stuff (a few device drivers) and a bit of C++/Python application work (largely for system level tools - think PCIe device access and NIC configuration). After producing a few solid deliverables I figured it'd be good to make a horizontal move towards C++ application development and get broader experience. That ended up moving me to a FAANG subsidiary where I was bait and switched. A bit more on the bait and switch- the conversation (before I was hired) started as:<p>- We need a C++ person to develop applications<p>to (after I was hired)<p>- We need a C++ person to maintain our soon to be depreciated C++ apps<p>to (after I was being underutilized due to no real need for maintenance)<p>- We expect you to adapt and take on JavaScript/React/Next.JS work to help depreciate the C++ apps<p>This all happened in ~2 months.<p>Given that this company made a sizeable investment in me I agreed to take on some of the work (I was thinking maybe 6-8 months to try it out) and then wanted to transition to some back end service work using Go. They outlined a need for this and agreed to make some kind of transition, eventually.<p>Flash forward 6-8 months later:<p>- I'm producing half of what the junior front end engineers are producing<p>- After getting my head wrapped around the front end space and their tech stack I'm realizing it's not for me<p>- I'm not generating any notable projects that could help me adopt more responsibility in the space (likely due to my first point)<p>So I gave them a hardball and threatened to quit. I outlined my major concern: I wasn't hired to do front end work. They suggested I try to transfer teams internally- gave that a whirl and got absolutely jebaited with another team (ended up having to do a full 8 hour panel just to be rejected on something that wasn't outlined in their job description). Asked more about the back end work they initially offered to which they responded by sending some crude unfinished docs... This really highlighted that the work, more or less, wasn't really scoped or understood. To me, all this seemed like a losing situation. So... I quit and not in such a graceful fashion.<p>As a side note: while I was quitting I found out ~85% of the previous C++ team quit due to a similar bait and switch. Smells like ugly politics to me which really pushed me to leave sooner than my two weeks.<p>So now I'm in this weird position of having some interest in the front end space but not enough decent experience to actually do anything with it. I have enough low level experience to attract decent work but would have to likely relocate (which I'd like to not do unless I have to). And, sadly, I don't have any bridge to connect these two skill sets.<p>I tried getting back into the interview loop and flopped pretty badly- mainly for back end work.<p>So what are the next steps? I'm definitely planning on taking some time off. I figured getting some opensource work knocked out in a more upcoming language could be good. Doing some leet code practicing, maybe? In either case I would love to get some input to help navigate this mess.<p>Also, I've started using some platforms to look for more work (namely LinkedIn) and I'm discovering how awful the recruiter spam is- any suggestions on better job boards would also be greatly appreciated.
I’m a backend engineer. I can do frontend, have done it, and know my way around. However, I have no eye for design and all my frontend looks like shit. So I stay away from it.<p>We are hiring at Automattic and it’s 100% remote with a couple of weeks worth of travel per year (spent one week in Lisbon and I’ll be in Denver for a week later this year). Send me an email from my profile if you want to chat.<p>I’m currently on my 5th year sabbatical, but I can answer questions and even do a mock interview — I don’t have much going on atm so I’d be happy to help a fellow engineer.
Recruiting is no different from any other sales pitch, bait and switch, promises of interesting work, promotions and bonuses in the near future are all pretty standard stuff.<p>Its best to ask detailed questions in the interview and do your own research to find out what's really going on instead of believing everything at face value.<p>Once you are in a job, you can't really play hardball / threaten to quit, as you found. If the job is deprecating some old thing, documentation, etc, then no amount of negotiation will turn it into an interesting job, those decisions have already been made higher up a long time ago.<p>You need to focus on how to get the job you want. Try to identify people doing what you want to do, look at their qualifications/background, and try to follow a similar path.
It would have been better to secure a job while you still had the old job. But given your situation.<p>See if you can find some contract work or temp to hire work where you can utilize the exact skillset you want. This will position you for the job you want.
First: There is <i>nothing</i> wrong with not being a front-end developer. Nothing. (There's nothing wrong with knowing who you are, either.)<p>Indeed.com may be a useful place to look. Monster.com used to be; I don't know if it is any more.