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We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

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Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#221

Post by grimjack00 »

dcolkitt wrote: post #186
plughs wrote: post #45

One frustration I've had recently is the number of companies encouraging or requiring code in the public sphere. They want to see open-source contributions or an active and impressive personal github page. If your employer is protective of their IP ( mine is ) and/or you are not willing to spend evenings and and weekends on pet projects, you are out of the running. Also >But if you think programmers aren't elitist, t…

> One frustration I've had recently is the number of companies encouraging or requiring code in the public sphere. As someone coming from the hiring side, I don't understand how these companies are finding enough candidates that they can afford to put up all these arbitrary requirements. Right now in the US, software engineers are one of (if not the the most) in-demand position in one of (if not the most) tightest la…

> As someone coming from the hiring side, I don't understand how these companies are finding enough candidates that they can afford to put up all these arbitrary requirements.

Well, they're not; that's one reason why there are so many stories of "not enough qualified developers".

If I give in to my conspiratorial side, I'd say having these arbitrary requirements is entirely intentional, so a company can either: a. not have to hire anyone at all b. lobby for H1B or c. resort to offshoring, outsourcing, etc.

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#222

Post by pc86 »

tptacek wrote: post #201

Last night on Twitter, someone said "Nearly every entrepreneur I talk so says hiring is their biggest challenge. The world is starving for competent people with a strong work-ethic." This is of course false. The world is not starving for competent people. It's starving for high-status resumes. If those resumes are attached to people who are competent or hard workers, that's a bonus. The high-status resumes without th…

I'll be honest, it's pretty hilarious to read someone talking about taking down the rich when their company was acquired for $13 million in cash, give or take.

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#223

Post by commandlinefan »

malvosenior wrote: post #60
plughs wrote: post #45

One frustration I've had recently is the number of companies encouraging or requiring code in the public sphere. They want to see open-source contributions or an active and impressive personal github page. If your employer is protective of their IP ( mine is ) and/or you are not willing to spend evenings and and weekends on pet projects, you are out of the running. Also >But if you think programmers aren't elitist, t…

As someone who uses Github and OSS contribution as a strong hiring signal, I'd like to offer an alternative perspective. People who do a lot of personal projects tend to be very good developers, especially when you can see a demonstrated ability to ship. This is also helpful for people who haven't worked at big name companies or don't have degrees from elite universities. I'd happily hire someone with no experience a…

> People who do a lot of personal projects tend to be very good developers

How much OSS work do you do?

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#224

Post by fzeroracer »

leetrout wrote: post #218
eggsnbacon1 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a stupid signal. Many/most developers are prohibited from working on open source projects by their employers. In any state besides California and Illinois you will be forced to sign an IP assignment agreement to work for any medium/large companies. Open source projects will not let you contribute under such an agreement, and anything you do on your own is owned by your employer.

I paid an attorney to review my contract and NDA... “ anything you do on your own is owned by your employer.” If you use their equipment or their office or their phones. But doing a software project at home on the weekend on your own computer is not going to be owned by the employer in the states I’ve lived and worked in (VA, GA, TN, NC). Do you have a source for a state where this has happened?

Can you afford an attorney to defend yourself in court if a company decided to push the issue?

As I will keep saying it does not matter if companies follow up on their threat or not. It still has a chilling effect on people doing side projects which is the intended behavior. And a lot of people can't afford a legal battle even if they had a high chance of winning.

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#225

Post by ScottFree »

pc86 wrote: post #222
tptacek wrote: post #201

Last night on Twitter, someone said "Nearly every entrepreneur I talk so says hiring is their biggest challenge. The world is starving for competent people with a strong work-ethic." This is of course false. The world is not starving for competent people. It's starving for high-status resumes. If those resumes are attached to people who are competent or hard workers, that's a bonus. The high-status resumes without th…

I'll be honest, it's pretty hilarious to read someone talking about taking down the rich when their company was acquired for $13 million in cash, give or take.

There's rich and then there's Rich. The former's money goes in banks. The latter's money buys banks.

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#226

Post by malvosenior »

commandlinefan wrote: post #223
malvosenior wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who uses Github and OSS contribution as a strong hiring signal, I'd like to offer an alternative perspective. People who do a lot of personal projects tend to be very good developers, especially when you can see a demonstrated ability to ship. This is also helpful for people who haven't worked at big name companies or don't have degrees from elite universities. I'd happily hire someone with no experience a…

> People who do a lot of personal projects tend to be very good developers How much OSS work do you do?

A fair amount, I'm also not young and find time to make it happen. I love building things and I couldn't really imagine not working on my own projects.

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#227

Post by [deleted] »

close04 wrote: post #71
jtcruthers wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What's underdressing when it comes to such a startup interview? Flip-flops, jorts, and a cutoff tee that says "GTL" in a neon font of your choice.

> I can assume flip-flops would be a case of underdressing but I think that would be a bit ridiculous for any kind of interview regardless. That's what I said in my comment but would anyone reasonably show up like that in an interview? A suit may or may not be overdressing but flip-flops or anything like that would definitely fall below just "underdressing". It would just be unreasonable and offensive if you ask me (…

[deleted]

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#228

Post by sorenn111 »

ScottFree wrote: post #225
pc86 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll be honest, it's pretty hilarious to read someone talking about taking down the rich when their company was acquired for $13 million in cash, give or take.

There's rich and then there's Rich. The former's money goes in banks. The latter's money buys banks.

Yeah and there's thousands of Zach Dell's populating tech companies and failing around accruing high status roles?

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#229

Post by Kalium »

loftyai wrote: post #165
plughs wrote: post #45

One frustration I've had recently is the number of companies encouraging or requiring code in the public sphere. They want to see open-source contributions or an active and impressive personal github page. If your employer is protective of their IP ( mine is ) and/or you are not willing to spend evenings and and weekends on pet projects, you are out of the running. Also >But if you think programmers aren't elitist, t…

I never understood the bias on work attire from both sides. It's silly to judge people's abilities based on what they like to wear period. The whole point of casual dressing in Tech was that it made some people perform better, because it took them less time to get dressed in the morning, and they were physically more comfortable at work. But people are different, some people might genuinely code better or perform bet…

Like a lot of things, it started as comfort and quickly became a vehicle for social signaling of group membership, status, and conformity.

Re: We Only Hire the Trendiest (2016)

#230

Post by busterarm »

dcolkitt wrote: post #186
plughs wrote: post #45

One frustration I've had recently is the number of companies encouraging or requiring code in the public sphere. They want to see open-source contributions or an active and impressive personal github page. If your employer is protective of their IP ( mine is ) and/or you are not willing to spend evenings and and weekends on pet projects, you are out of the running. Also >But if you think programmers aren't elitist, t…

> One frustration I've had recently is the number of companies encouraging or requiring code in the public sphere. As someone coming from the hiring side, I don't understand how these companies are finding enough candidates that they can afford to put up all these arbitrary requirements. Right now in the US, software engineers are one of (if not the the most) in-demand position in one of (if not the most) tightest la…

Where you are, what tech stack you use, how senior you're trying to hare and how known your company is will have a large impact on this.

I've been on the hiring side in many organizations and have had hiring pools as little as 0 and as high as thousands.

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