Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

571–580 of 794 posts

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#571

Post by scarface74 »

dominotw wrote: post #357
scruple wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Many seniors (actual seniors, not 3-years-of-experience seniors) have a network and can say "hey I'm looking" and instantly have multiple options that won't have them do more than talk to the team and manager for an hour or two. If that. Just wanted to back this up a little bit. This is exactly what happened to me on my last job search. I'm currently in between jobs, starting the new gig after the 4th of July holid…

really hope they cut out this referral stuff. These guys have turned all of silicon valley into incestuous bro-land. This needs to be made illegal.

Referrals mean very little at large tech companies. They basically just guarantee you an initial screen. I’m bombarded with enough recruiter BigTech spam for jobs, I’m sure getting an interview at another one wouldn’t be a problem.

I’m also much older and darker than your stereotypical “tech bro” and they actually put me in front of customers. Imagine that!

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#572

Post by 9k0feqvfn90jb »

kstenerud wrote: post #538

This is not directed at you, but rather at the poor hiring practices that have permeated the software industry for too long. We've been gaslighted into accepting abusive hiring practices, and it has to stop. When you're hiring an accountant, do you give them 4h take-home assignments? How about hours of interviews with your accounting team to suss out their accounting skills and critique their style? I mean, how DO yo…

IMO one solution to this problem would be to introduce some kind of industry wide licensing. Then we could pass the exam every 2 years or so and be done with all the current non-sense hiring practices.

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#573

Post by synaesthesisx »

I'm going to be blunt here - there is a genuine shortage of good senior candidates right now.

I would nix the take-home assignment, or drastically minimize the size, and ensure salaries align with, or are above the current market rate.

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#574

Post by foobiekr »

lbrito wrote: post #192
corrral wrote: post #21

> Take-home technical assignment (~4h) or similar at candidate's choosing If I can get a similarly-paying job at a place that doesn't do this, I'll skip you. Many seniors ( actual seniors, not 3-years-of-experience seniors) have a network and can say "hey I'm looking" and instantly have multiple options that won't have them do more than talk to the team and manager for an hour or two. If that.

>have a network and can say "hey I'm looking" and instantly have multiple options that won't have them do more than talk to the team and manager for an hour or two. Wow. I have 10 years of work experience, the last few being "senior". I have a few friends and many recruiters I could reach out to, but absolutely expecting a full fledged 30-round interview like anyone else. I envy you!

It goes away at year 15 or so if you have a good reputation.

I resigned my previous role out of sheer boredom and a desire to work on something new and have been flooded with no/fit-only interview offers, not that i'm going to follow up on them.

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#575

Post by scarface74 »

jitix wrote: post #100
AndyNemmity wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol, take home technical assignment. Why would I ever? I'd much rather have a comfortable conversation with someone who has worked with me in the past. I'm never, ever doing a 4 hour assignment for you.

But isn't the alternative to take home assignment leetcoding on whiteboards? Last time I was interviewing in the US market was in 2017 and it was literally just these two options. And the assignments tended to be long - like a week long. (tbh there were a few companies that pre-offered and just wanted one general discussion round with the team but they felt shady and desperate, and one was a literal consultancy) Coul…

If you are paying FAANG salary and giving real stock in a public company, you can insist on jumping through more hoops.

But if you are a medium size enterprise company that isn’t paying that type of compensation, you can’t.

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#576

Post by foobiekr »

mdavis6890 wrote: post #437
corrral wrote: post #21

> Take-home technical assignment (~4h) or similar at candidate's choosing If I can get a similarly-paying job at a place that doesn't do this, I'll skip you. Many seniors ( actual seniors, not 3-years-of-experience seniors) have a network and can say "hey I'm looking" and instantly have multiple options that won't have them do more than talk to the team and manager for an hour or two. If that.

This seems weird to me. I hear it all the time, but I don't understand. It's a few hours, even as much as a day of effort - to make a huge jump that might be worth hundreds of thousands of Dollars, or perhaps have other major lifestyle improvements. And "if I can get a similarly..." - sure, but is it not worth a few hours up front to find the best job for you? I would happily to 4 hours of work to get a 1% better job…

Most senior (in the traditional sense, not the "7 years experience = senior" sense) people are mostly in jobs where the problem is they are bored, not the compensation.

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#577

Post by ajitgoel »

jiggawatts wrote: post #314

POST THE SALARY. Senior people are senior because of their work experience, which they gain from steady employment. Almost by definition you are looking to entice busy, employed people away from their current jobs. They don’t have the time or inclination to trawl through job ad after job ad. Where your competition will ask for 15 years of experience and then only after hours of calls and meetings reluctantly make an…

Strongly agree, when I was looking for a job in the 2 month timeframe, perhaps only 5% of the jobs descriptions had a salary range. I am currently working for a FAANG company, where the first thing that the recruiter talked about was the salary.

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#578

Post by AndyNemmity »

abeyer wrote: post #212
vba616 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's set aside whether it's explicitly screened for or discussed. If, hypothetically, you knew what they were making, either as a dollar figure or implicitly because of their previous/current job description, what would be the minimum? I'm asking something which necessarily has an answer, even if you won't answer it. I'm asking about the limits to your imagination - where is the boundary between a plausible hire and…

> think of it as 4 lakh rupees per annum So is your question _actually_ "Will you/why won't you hire overseas remote, rather than in the US?"

Ah, sorry I didn't get that. The answer is this is a global team, and we do hire all over the globe. This particular position is for the US timezone, and that is why it's in the US.

Re: Ask HN: Having trouble getting senior applicants, wondering what to do about it

#580

Post by foobiekr »

Nothing about the hiring process laid out is specific to senior hiring and is basically time intensive. You are not the only company reaching out to them or that they are applying for, so your assignment is completely not going to fly.
Post reply on HN