Hello there! Finally, I have the opportunity to work on self-improvement. This blog was born under unique circumstances: I found myself with a surplus of free time at my new company, leading me to discover an interest in writing. While I'm not particularly skilled in writing, I decided to put down whatever came to mind. My hobby involves collecting various items, ranging from manga books to video games and steelbooks. This blog is a collection of stories from my life, beginning at the age of 35. Looking back, my 30-year-old self would never have imagined creating a blog. I aim to write as frequently as possible, even if it's just a few posts each week.

What's Up with 2023

The first half of 2023 went quite well. I secured two part-time jobs and landed my dream job at Appman where I could work remotely, the work was interesting, I got to try new domain and the pay was excellent, allowing me to purchase a car since I frequently visit my hometown every four weeks. I got a Mitsubishi Xpander. We also welcomed our second son into the world. It seems like good karma is on my side, granting me two sons. I spent a lot of time playing and achieving platinum trophies in numerous games; "trophy hunting" is another hobby I'm passionate about. Life continued in this fashion, and I even contemplated staying at Appman for another 5-10 years.

In the second half of 2023, after the birth of my second son, Appman required us Vietnamese developers to take a test for an offshore company. There were concerns that this might lead to changes. Frankly, I didn't perform well on the test; it was quite challenging. We were worried that this might lead to job losses, but, fortunately, nothing happened. We continued our regular tasks, which included daily meetings at 10 am and bug fixes. On the other hand, my other part-time job didn't go well either. There were times when I had no assignments for 2-3 weeks, and though I still received some income, it gradually decreased.

Do you believe that bad things can happen all at once? Well, I do, and I doubt I'll ever forget it. This was my first experience being laid off from a job. IT layoffs occurred sometime in 2022, but they didn't affect Asia much, focusing on America and the EU. Now, it has reached Appman's doorstep. On the last day of June, an unexpected message arrived from the HR Manager.

HR: Steam, can we talk for a moment?

I felt uneasy but agreed, hoping it was just some routine HR matter.

HR: (Request for a face-to-face meeting)

HR: Hello, Steam, how are you? (Formalities)

She then discussed the project I was working on.

HR: We've just reviewed our strategy and have some news to share.

A chill ran down my spine.

HR: Based on that, we regret to inform you that we'll be terminating our contract with you by the end of next month.

My worst fears had come true, and I was at a loss. She went on to explain various reasons, but I couldn't recall the details. Essentially, they found excuses to discontinue our collaboration and gave us a month to find new employment.

For the first time in 11 years since 2011 I am about to be laid-off, this was a lot to process. I reached out to my other part-time job to inquire about full-time positions, but no luck. A week later, I received news that my third job was closing all positions to cut costs. A dispute arose with my second job, leading me to resign because I couldn't tolerate the CTO's management style any longer. That's how I lost all my jobs in the same month. It's incredible how multiple setbacks can happen at once.

Job Hunting in 2023

The job hunt was incredibly challenging. In just two months, here are some statistics and facts:

• I had interviews with 12 different companies.
• I sent out 20 job applications but received only 5 responses on iTviec.
• Most job interviews required at least 2 rounds.
• I received a job offer over the phone, had a final round with the VP and CTO, but ultimately got nothing.
• Another opportunity involved a six-week process, including a final round with the COO, but still no job offer.
• I went through three final rounds with offshore companies, with no success.
• Live coding tests were a common part of interviews.
• Fluency in English was required everywhere, which is no longer an advantage.
• Take-home assignments were a standard part of the process.

Even after all of those hurdles, I still could not land a single job offer. Then, a person from my old company contacted me. This is my fourth company in my work history. I left it four years ago due to not fitting into the offshore development style. I hesitated a bit to accept an interview from them, but I didn't have any other choices. The interview didn't go so well in my opinion. The person who interviewed me asked a lot of questions about databases, deployment, DevOps, and microservices, which I rarely had experience working on. Surprisingly, a few days later, the recruiter told me that it went very well, and they were considering an offer for me. We then moved to the salary negotiation round. Compared to my previous job, the pay was significantly lower, but I have my family to take care of, so I happily accepted it. That's how my job search came to an end, with so many challenges.

The feature

Here we are in October, the time when I'm writing this article. Only two months are left until the end of the year, and there's no bonus salary for this year either. The economic meltdown continues. I heard from somewhere that some people around my age couldn't find any jobs after a few months, so they had to take up other jobs, such as becoming a Grab driver. It's so bad that even my friend, who is a Senior Android Developer, had to switch roles to become a Frontend Developer and move back to his hometown. I hope that the situation could improve after Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. I also need to think about what to do in the next 5-10 years. Anyway, this post has been too long, so see you in another post.