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Who Y Combinator Companies Want

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Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#191

Post by rguzman »

lackbeard wrote: post #22

This is interesting data. I liked what Joel Spolsky said a long time ago. Basically that companies should want two types of engineers. 1. You want a few who are experts in the company's tech stack. 2. The bar for everyone else is just that they're smart and they get things done. I guess the core problem is that we don't have a good objective measure of the latter. (Maybe an IQ test for smarts, if that wasn't politica…

The best way to show that you get things done is to have a record of things you've done to point to.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#192

Post by kod »

throwaway456789 wrote: post #63

I'm an "enterprise" programmer because I write in Java... I'm also older than the average age of a start-up employee (late twenties). I've never written a line of Ruby, and I've never written object oriented JavaScript or used Node.js. However, I'm a really good programmer. I just happen to write the majority of my code in Java. If tomorrow we decided to use a new language, I could pick it up in a few days... I have…

> If tomorrow we decided to use a new language, I could pick it up in a few days...

If all you've written is OO code, this is probably false bravado.

Chances are you're not going to be productive in Prolog or APL in a few days without some prior exposure to those concepts.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#193

Post by moron4hire »

rowborg wrote: post #103
api wrote: post #16

> "Second, companies dislike programmers with enterprise backgrounds. Our data shows that companies are less likely to hire programmers coming from Java or C# backgrounds." This I totally understand. Enterprise software is systematically horrible in almost every way: terrible UI/UX, insane degrees of over engineering, high footprint, high cost, and usually at least two to three generations behind on every technologic…

I posted this as a comment on the original post, but will make the point here... Large organizations are often more dysfunctional than small ones, yes, especially when it comes to building software. But that doesn't mean they aren't filled with very smart people. The fact that enterprise programmers can't get hired at startups is not, in my opinion, a reflection of the dysfunctional nature of software development at…

There is also a bias against enterprise developers in that most often their work is on proprietary systems, leaving no code artifacts to view on Github, which a lot of companies have started using in their recruiting process.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#194

Post by sillysaurus3 »

ryandrake wrote: post #161
vonmoltke wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem you're working on can be fake I'm assuming if it was a fake problem, it wouldn't be something the other company could actually use.

It's not about what they could use. It's about what they own and where it's going. If your employment agreement states that any code you write belongs to your employer and that you're not allowed to share company code with others, then a work-sample test essentially asks candidates to violate their current employment agreement.

Employment agreements like that are certainly frustrating. I've had experience with a few.

One thing to realize is that your employer can't really retaliate. The hypothetical iOS app I mentioned is set up for one purpose: to let candidates show they can do work the company is looking for. Not only will the code be thrown away, but it wouldn't make any sense to use it.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#195

Post by cgh »

eropple wrote: post #120
toomuchtodo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ask for five weeks/year, even if it means I have to forgo some pay. I have yet to be told no. I don't think you've ever experienced the passive aggressiveness that comes with using "unlimited" vacation time.

Yup. Before I went into independent consulting, five weeks was a non-negotiable point for me. And I largely went into consulting specifically to take more time off. Life's too short.

That's why I went into consulting as well: six weeks off a year was priceless to me. But I've recently accepted a permanent role again, with less time off than I've had in years, simply because of the huge salary.

It's a little humbling to realize that I had a price, after all.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#196

Post by jcadam »

ryandrake wrote: post #8

> "We’ve seen that most engineers only have the stomach for a limited number of interviews. Investing time in the wrong companies carries a high opportunity cost." I suspect in addition to not having the "stomach" for an unlimited number of interviews, they don't have the vacation days to burn for them. Let's say you are working already and have 10 days a year vacation (pretty standard). With these ridiculous all-day…

I'll use myself as an example -- I work as a programmer in the Defense industry. I've wanted out for years. So every so often I start sending out resumes and going on interviews.

After wasting about half of my vacation time on (multiple) rounds of interviews with each prospective employer (that ultimately lead nowhere -- most often, a potential employer who inexplicably stops communicating with me), I give up.

Then, when I need to find a new job (project/contract ending, etc.), I do the safe thing and apply to other defense companies, because getting an interview almost always results in an offer (and no multiple-rounds of white-board hazing either). After a while at the new job I'll start looking outside the industry again --- and promptly get pounded back into my pigeonhole :)

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#197

Post by noarchy »

LordHumungous wrote: post #165
ryandrake wrote: post #8

> "We’ve seen that most engineers only have the stomach for a limited number of interviews. Investing time in the wrong companies carries a high opportunity cost." I suspect in addition to not having the "stomach" for an unlimited number of interviews, they don't have the vacation days to burn for them. Let's say you are working already and have 10 days a year vacation (pretty standard). With these ridiculous all-day…

I've made the mistake in the past of overcommitting myself to interviewing with multiple companies at once. The time commitment wasn't the worst part, the real factor I didn't for see is that interviewing is stressful and mentally exhausting. On top of the interview itself, there's the hours of studying you have to put in. It's extremely hard to do while doing your full time job. Now I have a rule that I will intervi…

>On top of the interview itself, there's the hours of studying you have to put in.

Yikes, are people really doing this, or feel like they must?

If I'm interviewing, I expect to be asked about previous projects, maybe my Github portfolio, and so on. I also expect to be asked how I might approach a given problem within my area of work. I can't imagine studying that - I'm paid to do this stuff every day.

So are we talking about stuff that isn't related to my area of work, like brain-teasers and random algorithm questions?

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#198

Post by taurath »

ryandrake wrote: post #8

> "We’ve seen that most engineers only have the stomach for a limited number of interviews. Investing time in the wrong companies carries a high opportunity cost." I suspect in addition to not having the "stomach" for an unlimited number of interviews, they don't have the vacation days to burn for them. Let's say you are working already and have 10 days a year vacation (pretty standard). With these ridiculous all-day…

This is exactly why I decided to resign from my last job instead of looking for work while in it (in addition to the crippling stress that caused me to look in the first place). There simply isn't enough time to find the right fit if you don't really quite know what you're looking for - even being remote on a very open schedule the time it took to take recruiting calls, do resume and code test work was very high. Granted, I already had an offer outstanding when I decided to do that, so I was reasonably sure I would be able to bridge the gap to my next job using savings I had accrued. Now I've found an interesting job paying MUCH better than I was expecting which will in the near term greatly overmatch the investment of some of my savings in the time to look.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#199

Post by scarmig »

kelnos wrote: post #110
scarmig wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience in the Bay Area, jobs fall into one of three categories: 1) No paid vacation at all 2) 15-25 days of vacation a year 3) "Unlimited vacation," which is usually a hip facade for 1 or 2.

2) 15-25 days of vacation a year Really? 25 days is 5 weeks; I feel like the standard for PTO is 10-15 days, and often it's 10 days, but you get bumped up to 15 after you work at a place for a year or two. 3) "Unlimited vacation," which is usually a hip facade for 1 or 2. Is that really true? I have very limited first-hand experience; only two of my employers have offered unlimited vacation. For one of them, it was a…

I feel like the standard for PTO is 10-15 days, and often it's 10 day

Just my experience, but yeah, what I've seen is a 15 day minimum, and I don't explicitly filter out places that offer less.

Perhaps it's the type of companies I go for? If I recall correctly, Google, FB, Amazon, MS etc. all offer 15+ days for new hires, and most other large companies try to at least match them.

Re: Who Y Combinator Companies Want

#200

Post by throwaway456789 »

tinco wrote: post #174
throwaway456789 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny you say that. I can't name one factory pattern off the top of my head... Never needed to learn one. I should clarify -- I'm in my late twenties, and I've spent my entire career (10 years) writing Java code. I don't understand how that negatively hiring managers against me.

Well sorry to be crude, but it just signals that you're all talk. You say you're a great programmer, and could learn to program in Ruby in a few days, yet in 10 years you've never done it, even though you are apparently applying for jobs that are interested in that skill. If you can't even bother with learning the language that's requested in the advert in a few days, why should a hiring manager be interested in you?…

Who ever said I was interviewing for a job? I was commenting on the state of the industry as a whole. Read some of the comments (and the article). The article mentioned that one person who multiple companies thought was the best they have ever seen got rejected from the first company he interviews with because he didn' write tests. Hiring is so subjective.

This comment in particular really illustrates the sad state of our industry, and why I don't usually write comments on the Internet and why I wrote this under a throwaway account. Thanks for making my point:

To repeat: "You're all talk." "If you can learn Ruby in a few days why haven't you done it yet over the last 10 years?"

Here's why: I made well over 400K this year at my job. I am not jumping through hoops killing myself to learn new things I may not even need. My time away from work is too precious to me.

By the way, I am paid 400K because I am a really good programmer and problem solver and can use whatever tools I need to to get the job done. It doesn't matter if I've never used the language before. I will figure it out.

Plus: most places won't even talk to me because I make more than what they are willing to pay. Oh wait; I guess this is all talk too.

PS: If patio11 is reading this comment, I will happily verify these facts with him via my real personal email. To prove that this comment isn't just "all talk". I really hate the Internet sometimes.

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