Ask HN: Employers of HN – Would you hire a career changer without experience?

I know you meant "directly-related experience" - but having unrelated/indirectly-related experience can, at times, be a phenomenal addition to a given team

I care far more about behavior, attitude, personality, and how eager/able you are to learn than any specific related experience

Show me how you think

Show me how you solve problems

Show me how you address 'problem people' (customers, coworkers, etc)

Show me how you interact with people you just met (me and the rest of the interview team)

I have seen many people from indirect or [apparently] unrelated previous career fields make a jump very successfully - it may be "harder" for them than someone who is already 'on the track', so to speak, but they have been great examples of Osterhout's adage, "a little bit of slope makes up for a lot of y-intercept"[0] :: by jumping in and demonstrating their willingness to learn (loads of questions, creating metaphors and analogies to previous work / different fields, etc), a motivated individual can become a top-performer (and bring the whole team up by sharing from their background new/different ways of thinking or approaching problems, issues, and challenges

One more thing: do NOT lie to me - be honest with not only me, but yourself in the whole process

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[0] https://briankeng.com/2015/07/a-little-bit-of-slope/

He turned out to be one of my best hires.

The latter often mean “I’m willing to fake pretend because I want to be employed, not because I have any passion”