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Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

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Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#2
I usually hate posts about top job, top tech talent, etc.

This post was a lot of great stuff. The idea of pairing talented people of different levels is crucial. A senior lead with shit backup can only do so much. The right balance I think can turn two mythical 10x devs into 100x total instead of 20x. Of course, make sure those people are also compatible, as half the 10x devs I know are loners who don't mix well and work best when left alone.

Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#3
People who espouse remote work seem convinced that it’s the end-all way to work.

I don’t care if I have to go into an office. I like offices. What I care about is that you don’t mind if I work from home every once in a while. I care that it’s okay for me to leave early or come late.

Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#4

People who espouse remote work seem convinced that it’s the end-all way to work. I don’t care if I have to go into an office. I like offices. What I care about is that you don’t mind if I work from home every once in a while. I care that it’s okay for me to leave early or come late.

Most of my least fulfilling work experiences we're when I was remotely full time (3-4 years)

it sounds great in concept but in practice it gets really lame after extended periods of time

Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#5

People who espouse remote work seem convinced that it’s the end-all way to work. I don’t care if I have to go into an office. I like offices. What I care about is that you don’t mind if I work from home every once in a while. I care that it’s okay for me to leave early or come late.

I worked remotely for more than two years because I had to move to another place. I loved the company and they were quite happy as well, so they let me work remotely full time without problems. I absolutely loved it for the first six months, then I quit my job after the second year despite being a "dream scenario" for many.

I generally work alone when I want to think, but I loved the interaction with excellent colleagues and sitting at home with skype wasn't exactly the same.

I would still work remotely for 2-3 days a week, because it's so much more productive for certain tasks, but no more. I do not consider full-time remote jobs.

Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#6
Lots of good ideas in the article - the key is to really stand out.

I take 10 weeks off a year to go travelling - true vacation time, not remote work. I know I can get a 20% raise if I switched companies (I know that because I got an offer), but I stay where I am because i can't imagine going back down to 3 weeks of vacation a year.

Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#7
Honestly I kind of feel like any company that is offering market rates for remote workers has a bigger problem filtering developer applications than they do finding great engineers. Complete opposite from the hiree perspective vs in a big tech town where everyone is desperate for talent.

Between my last 2 positions I tried looking around at fully remote jobs - sane hours, good pay, good (virtual) environment including codebase - pick 1, maybe 2 if lucky.

Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#8

Lots of good ideas in the article - the key is to really stand out. I take 10 weeks off a year to go travelling - true vacation time, not remote work. I know I can get a 20% raise if I switched companies (I know that because I got an offer), but I stay where I am because i can't imagine going back down to 3 weeks of vacation a year.

That's an awesome situation.

Two interview cycles ago, I wanted a full month of unpaid vacation on top of the normal vacation package. I told each I would take a 1/12 pay cut in exchange. It was a huge obstacle for employers.

Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#9
What is missing in the article is the word "freelance".

Most of the time within a startup you can see developers stay in the company for ~1 year. Usually they are more willing to find another job than negotiating a salary bump ( which happens to be also mentally easier, since the first action is passive - just reply to a recruiter ).

When I completely switched to freelance gigs, I discovered that I stay in a company for far longer time. It is easier for me to index my price per hour with the market, since I have less bureaucracy with my client ( removes FOMO ). I had the best offers ( company shares + bonuses ) to join various companies than being an employee ( because of the FOMO of the employer that you might leave soon ). And finally I improved my code quality, since you always write your code with having your mind that sooner or later you will be not the code-owner.

Of course having 3 months off to enjoy the summer also makes it more appealing than the 22 vacation days you usually receive ( in Europe ).

Disclaimer - all of this won't work if you are a junior developer. Usually the stronger hands are in your employer then, since your contract can be terminated any day, without any notice.

But hiring a senior developer as a freelancer in your team ( IMHO ) will definitely mean that you will work with a highly motivated person, being there to do the job.

Re: Turning a Job Opening into a Dream Job for Top Talent

#10
Most companies don't provide a work environment even half as good as an average home office.

I think remote working may be the first killer app for VR but it would probably require a $3k HMD today to be viable. Most tech companies could easily afford one per worker.

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