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What part of your life could be improved with software? (lemm.ee)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I think many of us have noticed the trend that modern tech just... Doesn't make things better. There's little to be excited about, because anything even remotely innovative is going to be filled with tracking, ads, etc.

Let's say you had a bored software engineer or 2 at your disposal and the goal was to improve something you do often, by creating an application or website that isn't owned and enshittified by a megacorp looking to extract maximum short term value - what would your project be? Is it something you'd be willing to pay for, maybe with a free tier available?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm a software engineer and in the current hard-ass market, while I'm lucky enough to have a stable job, I know that experience alone isn't cutting it anymore in the recruitment process. You need to be able to show side projects too. Plus I have an unemployed software engineer friend who also has no interesting projects to show. So if we make any money out of it, that's awesome. If we don't, it's just something for our github accounts. Probably the latter.

PS: Yes, I know this is not a tech community - I want ideas from regular, non-techy people too.

PPS: This doesn't have to be something in your personal life, it could also be something that would help you at work if you had it.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Job hunting.

Standardize the application process so you don't have to reformat what's on your resume for some shitty website for each job application.

Standardize the details like pay and remote work and make it mandatory in the listing - no guessing or negotiating, no bullshit.

Auto-match jobs and candidates - if your qualifications match, you can schedule your interview via click calendar. No "wait and see".

Notifications for jobs you're qualified for, with the pay and details listed in plain sight, so even if you are already employed you always know what other opportunities there are at a glance.

[–] shalafi 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Mostly agreed. I'm on the hunt for the first time in a decade, yuck. At least many applications make a fair attempt (oftena good one!) at parsing your resume. Wasn't a thing last time I was in this rodeo.

Remote work should absolutely be listed, right on top. The job is WFH, office or hybrid, nothing inbetween, so say it out loud. The pay, meh, not so much.

Suppose I'm hiring and interview an applicant I really like, but they don't bring the experience called for, I have the option to take a chance and offer less. And remember, negotiations work both ways! This is Sales 101, you have to ask for the money. People don't hand it out for free, because... it's money. Hit 'em high! You never know, may exceed your wildest expectations. They're not going to come to your home and kick your ass. They'll simply make a counter offer. But FFS, give me a range here (most do) or I'm not applying.

While you can "auto match" a bit, employers need a moment to look at the whole picture you're representing, and they can have 100+ pictures to look at. No sane company is letting candidates control their calendar.

Not sure what you mean by "notifications", I'm overrun. Maybe give us options to dial our interests in a bit? Sick of bullshit emails for "installer" or, FFS, "sales rep".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

While you can “auto match” a bit, employers need a moment to look at the whole picture you’re representing, and they can have 100+ pictures to look at. No sane company is letting candidates control their calendar.

As the applicant, I think I should get the whole picture as well. Pay (range, at least), WFH, flexibility of hours - I should know what I'm applying for, not waste mine and the company's time to find out in an interview. Regarding the calendar, if they're interviewing qualified candidates anyway, what difference should it make to let those qualified get the interviews on a first come first serve basis? The ones who really want that job will be all over it. The company can still reserve timeslots to interview hand-picked candidates if they want. The whole runaround of waiting for a response to then set an appointment for the interview is a pain imo.

Not sure what you mean by “notifications”, I’m overrun. Maybe give us options to dial our interests in a bit? Sick of bullshit emails for “installer” or, FFS, “sales rep”.

Emails, or a little bell icon on the website, somewhere you can check and see "here are some jobs that fit your filter, and your qualifications are a match, click one to book an interview". I agree, I am overrun with emails about job postings since I started looking. I would say less than half are of any interest to me at all, and many of them don't have those important details that we should know about (the pay, WFH etc).

For the points I made, I noticed Indeed has some of these capabilities, but it's still half-baked and full of junk listings. Their "Apply Easily" autofill thing is great, when the poster has set up the application that way, but many don't. I also notice a lot of postings seem to be scams and it can be hard to tell if I'm applying for an actual job or giving away personal info to a scammer. There's no accountability on Indeed to vet the postings afaik. Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm asking for is realistic for OP, but figured I would brainstorm with a real-life example to their question. Good luck in your search, it's ridiculous out there!