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Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

neomindlabs.com

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Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#111

Post by WJW »

JPKab wrote: post #86
paulgb wrote: post #3

> never underestimate the amount of money the FAANGs have to poach your talent. I really wish we'd stop using the word "poach". It's a loaded word with negative connotations, but what it really means here is "offer someone a better situation than you offered them". Employees have agency, they aren't wild elephants who need your "protection" from "predators" who just want to pay them more.

The thing that hits me is the "$500k+/year in the valley". Is this really a thing? Am I a giant dumbass for staying in Colorado? Even factoring in my stock grants, I'm nowhere close to that number.

If you measure "dumbass" purely by income, probably yes. There's a lot to dislike about the valley though, so choose wisely.

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#112

Post by [deleted] »

JPKab wrote: post #86
paulgb wrote: post #3

> never underestimate the amount of money the FAANGs have to poach your talent. I really wish we'd stop using the word "poach". It's a loaded word with negative connotations, but what it really means here is "offer someone a better situation than you offered them". Employees have agency, they aren't wild elephants who need your "protection" from "predators" who just want to pay them more.

The thing that hits me is the "$500k+/year in the valley". Is this really a thing? Am I a giant dumbass for staying in Colorado? Even factoring in my stock grants, I'm nowhere close to that number.

[deleted]

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#113

Post by TheSwordsman »

non-entity wrote: post #91
JPKab wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing that hits me is the "$500k+/year in the valley". Is this really a thing? Am I a giant dumbass for staying in Colorado? Even factoring in my stock grants, I'm nowhere close to that number.

I keep telling myself one day I'll try to make it, but by the time I feel comfortable with those interviews I'll probably be too old for FAANG lol.

You only make it by taking the uncomfortable shots. I also never felt comfortable with the interviews. Worst that happens, you get feedback on things you can work on.

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#114

Post by LordKano »

TheCoelacanth wrote: post #104
LordKano wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Approximately 10 years ago, I was really unhappy with my work situation and was checking job postings. I found one that sounded right up my alley and I reached out to the agency that posted it. They told me that because I was working for another one of their clients, they wouldn't submit me for the job because they felt it was unethical. I responded that I wasn't owned by my employer and just as they were free to let…

It's reasonable for them to want to avoid conflicts of interest. They act as an agent of the employers and don't want to get into scenarios where they can't do a proper job of representing their client's interests. It's seems counterproductive to blacklist them for behaving ethically just because it worked against you in one scenario. No recruiting agency is ever going to act in your best interests because you aren't…

There are so many recruitment agencies in this town that I am not disadvantaged by not working with them.

Their behavior wasn't ethical. They didn't approach me. I found their job posting and approached them.

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#115

Post by oarabbus_ »

jpxw wrote: post #72
LordKano wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Approximately 10 years ago, I was really unhappy with my work situation and was checking job postings. I found one that sounded right up my alley and I reached out to the agency that posted it. They told me that because I was working for another one of their clients, they wouldn't submit me for the job because they felt it was unethical. I responded that I wasn't owned by my employer and just as they were free to let…

Frankly their actions don’t seem particularly unreasonable to me.

It seems like a prudent business decision on the agency's part, to be honest, rather than some kind of underhanded anti-employee move.

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#116

Post by Zenbit_UX »

JPKab wrote: post #86
paulgb wrote: post #3

> never underestimate the amount of money the FAANGs have to poach your talent. I really wish we'd stop using the word "poach". It's a loaded word with negative connotations, but what it really means here is "offer someone a better situation than you offered them". Employees have agency, they aren't wild elephants who need your "protection" from "predators" who just want to pay them more.

The thing that hits me is the "$500k+/year in the valley". Is this really a thing? Am I a giant dumbass for staying in Colorado? Even factoring in my stock grants, I'm nowhere close to that number.

For the top of the top who can play offers from multiple FAANGs against each other, ya it's possible. For the normal to above average devs is where the cost of living vs high income dilemma becomes interesting.

An interesting analogy is how many people uprooted and moved to LA in time's past to become movie stars, and how many succeeded.

Times are changing though and you can now apply to some major tech companies remotely, more will follow as Cali is now the hardest hit state and the desire to move their cools off.

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#117

Post by giantg2 »

Schiendelman wrote: post #99
non-entity wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep telling myself one day I'll try to make it, but by the time I feel comfortable with those interviews I'll probably be too old for FAANG lol.

If I may offer advice: Never tell yourself no. Go give it a shot, even if you don't prepare at all. You lose nothing.

Well... your current employer might let you go or freeze your upward mobility if they find out you are looking at other jobs.

I've even seen this internally. If I want to go to another team, why would my manager use their budget or political influence to promote me when they can use it on someone who is staying on their team.

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#118

Post by georgeecollins »

ptmcc wrote: post #73
throwaway1777 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s poaching from the perspective of the employer not the employee. The employer wants to keep its prized employees from getting poached by other ruthless employers.

This is purely their fault for being uncompetitive in the wages and benefits offered to their employees. Of course they try to spin it negatively with loaded language. The best way to protect your prized employees is to treat them so well they'd be crazy to look elsewhere. If you, the business owner, can't afford that then you just aren't as competitive or successful as you think you are.

Or.. free markets for the capital holders, patronage for the workers.

I don't mean to be malicious or anti-capitalist, but this seems like another example where companies want free markets when it involves taxes or costly regulation. But they oppose free markets when it causes labor costs to go up or reduces barriers to entry. It's a logical position for a corporation to hold but there is no ideological justification.

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#119

Post by wry_discontent »

thomascgalvin wrote: post #93
cptskippy wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I really wish we'd stop using the word "poach". It's intentional language used by employers because it has preconceived notions and they succinctly communicate a story that benefits the employer. When you hear poached, you think illegal and victims. It makes you think that the employer has been wronged in some way and that the employee was both participatory in something illegal or at least underhanded and at the s…

> The reality is that the employee was being taken advantage of by the employer and received an offer more closely aligned with their actual value. In the vast majority of cases, I agree. If someone is working at CompuTech for $100K per year, and gets an offer from TechuComp for $110K per year, that's market forces working in favor of the developer. This is a good thing. But there is the possibility for entities the…

Isn't this still exactly market forces, though? In your example, Google is just driving up the market price for somebody who works on self-driving cars. In what way is it a deviation from market principles?

Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix

#120

Post by bluedino »

game_the0ry wrote: post #23

I agree with the author's point about using popular tech stacks to alleviate the ramp-up time for new hire productivity, but that is not the optimal solution. The optimal solution is for management to not let high-productivity talent from leaving - increase their comp to whatever offers they might get in the open market. That's how labor economic works - it's a market. Investment bank and management consulting figure…

>> The optimal solution is for management to not let high-productivity talent from leaving - increase their comp to whatever offers they might get in the open market.

>> Investment bank and management consulting figured this out a long time ago.

That only works if your business makes piles of money, like investment banks. Or FAANG.

The rest of us have a % of money to spend on talent.

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