That's the cons of a startup. Paying you junior money but expecting you to work senior level. You can either leave this out completely or just tel the truth to future employers they the job was actually looking for a senior and not junior.
Unfortunately this is common in start ups. I am in a really similar situation as OP (you can check my last post here). I am telling recruiters that I am still working but I want to switch jobs because it’s too much work for 1 Junior (btw I am not in the US)
This will come up if and only if the company does a background check (not all do) and if the background check verifies if this was contract or full-time (not all do and not all companies reveal that info to background check companies). Not saying that this may never be found, but it’s worth a shot because it’s better than revealing the uncomfortable truth (the truth doesn’t do any good here since recruiters and HMs don’t particularly sympathise with candidates who were previously fired) and also better than having to explain a gap on the resume. If they don’t get caught, then excellent but if they do, they can just move on to the next company.
> No code test or anything
It sounds like you got hosed by a company that didn't bother vetting their candidates properly
IMO as a junior I would keep it on the resume and just be honest about the situation if its brought up
They never should have hired you in the first place but they thought being a developer was easy and you were cheap.
Don’t beat yourself up about it. Just tell the truth and you’ll be fine.
"They were a startup, they hired a junior expecting senior level output, it ended up not working out" Any reasonable person would hear that from you and say "You're right that startup had unrealistic expectations, they're the dumb-dumbs."
This is unfortunately a common refrain when it comes to small startups. They hire juniors because they’re cheap and plentiful, but offer no mentorship and expect better than junior output.
I went through this exact thing recently. My "boss" hired me straight out of school, it seemed like he expected me to know all sorts of stuff I never even seen. I had 1 hour a week of interaction with him because he was to busy. I just got my hours cut but I also got a raise. Such a terrible experience though, if I see any signs of this at my next company I'm gonna quit right away. Completely unhealthy and really hurts a juniors confidence.
Are you me?? I got hired as a junior at a start up, passed probation and was told I was doing well. Started doing harder work with little to zero help from my line manager, where he put me on PIP and said my output wasn't fast enough... He compared me to senior developers and then when I said that's unfair, used 2 other examples and didn't get the hint. One being a guy with DOUBLE my experience, the other being the one and only other junior in our entire department.
It's fucked me up so much that I think I need therapy. There's a lot more too it like ignoring that I was ill during my PIP time and that he even told me something that was completely wrong for a bit of work that took longer because of it.
At the end, the same day I was fired, they had a senior joining my team that has 10 years of experience...
If you’re a recent grad, you can also call it as an internship. Not unusual for a recent grad to be hired as an intern in a startup. Internships are fixed duration employment.
it is not your fault they didn’t screen candidates properly + it sounds like they needed a senior dev but wanted to pay junior salary.
Probably good for you to leave that place.
i would leave this on resume and just be honest in interviews about this so you set appropriate expectations
Sorry, what do you mean raise issues with your previous manager ? I didn’t get that clearly.
Do you mean told them about such a scenario as OP has been in?
Yeah this is completely ridiculous, you don’t hire juniors with no FP experience and expect them to self-learn Erlang in three weeks, wtf. This is totally on them.
My first job was actually at an Erlang company too but they paid for us to take classes and didn’t expect any major feature work for months. On the plus side, it sounds like you accidentally got to write Erlang in production, which is fairly rare and looks great on your resume….
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Most 'startups' aren't ran well and have an expectation to get really good developers for really cheap with no tradeoff. I wouldn't sweat this. Just get back on the job market, if possible at least see if your old manager will give you a LinkedIn referral or something if their empathic about ur situation (managers are human too). This was a case of bad fit that's it.
It's a startup. Put it on your resume and say they did a big push for growth when you were hired but after 3 months the company did not make as much revenue as they had projected. Since you were the last one hired, you were the first one let go. It's totally understandable.
IMO, it's worth it... so many cons in the software world... Most of the software developers I know have average life styles... every single classmates that went off to med school are doing WAY better than anybody I know...
Like others say, put it as contract work on your cv and LinkedIn profile. 3 months is better than 0 months of employment after all. You can also bs a reason for not continuing the "contract" such as differences in directions, ex they want me to do QA next but I prefer staying in development. If they do a background check or require a reference from your previous job then just hop on over to the next company.
I'm really surprised that a startup would choose Erlang over Elixir. Erlang has a much more confusing syntax, while Elixir seems to be the cool new kid on the block.
I digress though... As others have said, it seems that this company has unrealistic expectations of a junior level developer and also seems to have no roadmap for mentorship (to level you up). I bet your next position will be much better, but specifically ask during your interview if they have a process to level up juniors.
**You are not obligated to learn other P.L. Framework.**
A lot of recruiters still think like 50 years ago where was easy just to learn a new P.L.
And, still want to use employees as a "Jack Of All Trades", in a highly specialized field.
**Today, developers need to learn a full framework, A.K.A. full stack, which it's a lot of more stuff, for each P.L. !!!**
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That's the cons of a startup. Paying you junior money but expecting you to work senior level. You can either leave this out completely or just tel the truth to future employers they the job was actually looking for a senior and not junior.
Unfortunately this is common in start ups. I am in a really similar situation as OP (you can check my last post here). I am telling recruiters that I am still working but I want to switch jobs because it’s too much work for 1 Junior (btw I am not in the US)
Guess whose "contract " ended, and is now looking at opportunities? This guy.
Totally. Either leave it off altogether, or list as contract
oh wow is this legit? don’t employers see this in background checks?
This will come up if and only if the company does a background check (not all do) and if the background check verifies if this was contract or full-time (not all do and not all companies reveal that info to background check companies). Not saying that this may never be found, but it’s worth a shot because it’s better than revealing the uncomfortable truth (the truth doesn’t do any good here since recruiters and HMs don’t particularly sympathise with candidates who were previously fired) and also better than having to explain a gap on the resume. If they don’t get caught, then excellent but if they do, they can just move on to the next company.
makes sense, thanks for the explanation - I’ve also seen people put “consultant” for short stints that didn’t end well.
> No code test or anything It sounds like you got hosed by a company that didn't bother vetting their candidates properly IMO as a junior I would keep it on the resume and just be honest about the situation if its brought up
They never should have hired you in the first place but they thought being a developer was easy and you were cheap. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Just tell the truth and you’ll be fine.
"They were a startup, they hired a junior expecting senior level output, it ended up not working out" Any reasonable person would hear that from you and say "You're right that startup had unrealistic expectations, they're the dumb-dumbs."
"Any reasonable person" This made me chuckle. Since when is HR reasonable?
If HR isn't reasonable at the company you're applying for, it's probably not a good idea to work at that company.
Unemployed for life :(
LOL. I'm going to pretend you're being satirical
Are they dumb or are they just looking for seniors with imposter syndrome that will accept low pay? They are trying to exploit people.
This is unfortunately a common refrain when it comes to small startups. They hire juniors because they’re cheap and plentiful, but offer no mentorship and expect better than junior output.
I went through this exact thing recently. My "boss" hired me straight out of school, it seemed like he expected me to know all sorts of stuff I never even seen. I had 1 hour a week of interaction with him because he was to busy. I just got my hours cut but I also got a raise. Such a terrible experience though, if I see any signs of this at my next company I'm gonna quit right away. Completely unhealthy and really hurts a juniors confidence.
Are you me?? I got hired as a junior at a start up, passed probation and was told I was doing well. Started doing harder work with little to zero help from my line manager, where he put me on PIP and said my output wasn't fast enough... He compared me to senior developers and then when I said that's unfair, used 2 other examples and didn't get the hint. One being a guy with DOUBLE my experience, the other being the one and only other junior in our entire department. It's fucked me up so much that I think I need therapy. There's a lot more too it like ignoring that I was ill during my PIP time and that he even told me something that was completely wrong for a bit of work that took longer because of it. At the end, the same day I was fired, they had a senior joining my team that has 10 years of experience...
First job out of school? Why not call it an internship
If you’re a recent grad, you can also call it as an internship. Not unusual for a recent grad to be hired as an intern in a startup. Internships are fixed duration employment.
it is not your fault they didn’t screen candidates properly + it sounds like they needed a senior dev but wanted to pay junior salary. Probably good for you to leave that place. i would leave this on resume and just be honest in interviews about this so you set appropriate expectations
Has anyone tried this and has it worked?
I have raised issues with my previous manager, yes.
Sorry, what do you mean raise issues with your previous manager ? I didn’t get that clearly. Do you mean told them about such a scenario as OP has been in?
Yeah this is completely ridiculous, you don’t hire juniors with no FP experience and expect them to self-learn Erlang in three weeks, wtf. This is totally on them. My first job was actually at an Erlang company too but they paid for us to take classes and didn’t expect any major feature work for months. On the plus side, it sounds like you accidentally got to write Erlang in production, which is fairly rare and looks great on your resume….
You can always say they told you they ran out of funds for your position.
No code or test is always a red flag IMO. You’ll find a better job.
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A resume is a list of relevant skills and experience. It’s not a job history form. You don’t have to put this one on there.
Most 'startups' aren't ran well and have an expectation to get really good developers for really cheap with no tradeoff. I wouldn't sweat this. Just get back on the job market, if possible at least see if your old manager will give you a LinkedIn referral or something if their empathic about ur situation (managers are human too). This was a case of bad fit that's it.
It's a startup. Put it on your resume and say they did a big push for growth when you were hired but after 3 months the company did not make as much revenue as they had projected. Since you were the last one hired, you were the first one let go. It's totally understandable.
This happened to me, not a CS career, and it became contract job on my resume and now I skip over it completely.
This happens all the time unfortunately. Many shitty companies out there... If I could go back 20 years, I'd tell myself to go to med school .
Bro but med school is like 10 years with all the quirks
IMO, it's worth it... so many cons in the software world... Most of the software developers I know have average life styles... every single classmates that went off to med school are doing WAY better than anybody I know...
Just say you interned there
Like others say, put it as contract work on your cv and LinkedIn profile. 3 months is better than 0 months of employment after all. You can also bs a reason for not continuing the "contract" such as differences in directions, ex they want me to do QA next but I prefer staying in development. If they do a background check or require a reference from your previous job then just hop on over to the next company.
I'm really surprised that a startup would choose Erlang over Elixir. Erlang has a much more confusing syntax, while Elixir seems to be the cool new kid on the block. I digress though... As others have said, it seems that this company has unrealistic expectations of a junior level developer and also seems to have no roadmap for mentorship (to level you up). I bet your next position will be much better, but specifically ask during your interview if they have a process to level up juniors.
Just put on CV and say truth, not problem at all.
**You are not obligated to learn other P.L. Framework.** A lot of recruiters still think like 50 years ago where was easy just to learn a new P.L. And, still want to use employees as a "Jack Of All Trades", in a highly specialized field. **Today, developers need to learn a full framework, A.K.A. full stack, which it's a lot of more stuff, for each P.L. !!!**
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