Rules of thumb for a 1x developer • Hacker News Board

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#291

Post by Joeri » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 4:56 PM UTC

noad wrote: post #21

I used to get called a 10x developer, I was also called a rockstar and a ninja and a 100x dev and every other compliment that was hip. Then I hit 30. That type of talk stopped. Then I hit 40. Now I will not be considered for any entry level, mid level, or senior level software dev job anywhere in the United States, despite being very desperate and willing to relocate for anything. Doesn't matter. Too old. I'm suppose…

I was 35 when I had been working a decade on a large enterprise product built on legacy tech: a legacy php framework, a legacy js framework, and desktop apps built with delphi. My job prospects were not great. Recruiters did not reach out to me.

Then I managed to get a new project and used it to learn new technologies: modern java, scala, modern js, hadoop, spark, and so on. In the same period I also gave a bunch of tech talks at local meetups. By 38 I had a resume good enough that I basically picked my employer and job of choice, applied and was hired immediately. Recruiters contact me all the time.

I don’t want to say your resume is your problem having not seen it, but for me it definitely was.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#292

Post by arvinsim » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 4:59 PM UTC

maps7 wrote: post #270

neogodless wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 40 and I don't suppose anyone has ever called me a 10x developer or a rockstar or a ninja, though I was recently described as having "a superpower to crush tickets." I have a feeling you have not applied "everywhere" in the United States, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I've never left my home state, and the deluge of recruiter spam on LinkedIn hasn't slowed down yet. And no I'm not an architect or team lead…

Have you been programming your whole life? Have you ever been tempted to move into architect role?

When you mean architect role, do you mean being a consultant?

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#293

Post by Kwantuum » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

fnord77 wrote: post #160

aazaa wrote: post #114

> And what I have found is that most – say, 90%, of what I learn at one job is completely useless for the next one. Then the problem isn't with what's being learned. The problem is that the author lacks a framework for generalizing and internalizing the lessons learned. Letting 90% of lessons learned on the job go to waste later in life is going to lead to a very difficult career path. Later... > Compounding is a pre…

> Writing, both publicly and privately, is an excellent way to do that. Is there a right way to go about this? This is something I need to start doing, personally.

There are only wrong ways to go about it, and you will only discover them by doing it.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#294

Post by 0xy » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

bearjaws wrote: post #11

I hate the notion of "10x developer". It focuses on hiring the best person, rather than firing individuals who undermine the team. The reality is, there are some 1x developers, and some .5x developers. Even worse though are the -1x developers. So many times I see a corporate culture of firing = bad, so lets just try to find someone who is a "10x", when really all you need is to remove the people who cause more work f…

The majority of developers are 0.1x or worse. It's Price's law.

For every passionate and productive developer, there are 10 more who coast and do the bare minimum to not be fired. This has been true in every single organization I've been part of.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#295

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

joeyb164843 wrote: post #279

noad wrote: post #21

I used to get called a 10x developer, I was also called a rockstar and a ninja and a 100x dev and every other compliment that was hip. Then I hit 30. That type of talk stopped. Then I hit 40. Now I will not be considered for any entry level, mid level, or senior level software dev job anywhere in the United States, despite being very desperate and willing to relocate for anything. Doesn't matter. Too old. I'm suppose…

I'm 38. I know 40 seems to be the cut off, but in the Boston area no problems finding a job. I will say that I interview devs at my current position. I have noticed that a lot of the older people who come in and have years and years of experience at one place don't seem to have the breadth of knowledge we are looking for. For example, recently before the lockdown I interviewed a guy with over 20 years experience, mos…

[deleted]

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#296

Post by alcover » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 5:01 PM UTC

> front end [..] consider something like Phoenix

install = install Erlang + install Elixir + install Phoenix

Well.. I'll stick to Node + vanilla JS

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#297

Post by rexpop » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 5:01 PM UTC

arvinsim wrote: post #292

maps7 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you been programming your whole life? Have you ever been tempted to move into architect role?

When you mean architect role, do you mean being a consultant?

Why should they mean that? There are non-consulting architects.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#298

Post by altonzheng » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 5:04 PM UTC

paulcole wrote: post #26

pjc50 wrote: post #9

This is cynical in a well-written way that matches my prejudices. I like it.

Didn’t realize that it was already time for the annual HN slogan contest.

Almost spit out my coffee.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#299

Post by jiveturkey » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 5:04 PM UTC

TheRealPomax wrote: post #259

joelbluminator wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

well in your 50s your kids are grown, in your 30s they were just born. So companies are better hiring 50 year olds?

That's quite an assumption to make about when someone had kids.

eh? not at all. the mean age for a first child is now 29.

https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2019/19/average-age-of-first-t...

and

https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/figures/detail/37744eng

the latter has underlying data for which you can extract %ile parent age. To save you the time, by parent age 40 it's under 10%ile.

Re: Rules of thumb for a 1x developer

#300

Post by watwut » Thu, Apr 30, 2020, 5:07 PM UTC

sbarre wrote: post #229

theli0nheart wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm lost; what specifically is not the point? As far as I could tell, the "reason" given by the OP for this waste was attributed to Amazon's scale. Could you explain how company size and broken corporate structure are correlated? Or explain why 20+ person-years of engineering time wasted isn't a symptom of broken corporate structure?

It's unlikely that this went entirely unnoticed for 4 years, and I would guess that when the problem was understood, someone did the math on staying the course, versus starting over or reversing course. And after all the internal calculations were complete (which factor in way more than technical effort by a small dev team), they intentionally stayed the course. This is probably an extreme example because an internal…

I dont know ... I have seen enough impulsive random decision to be made. Including high price ones, including by very smart individuals.

It is just not true that someone always runs the math and then decides by weighting pros and cons.