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Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles

#101

Post by jws »

Leon wrote: post #100
jws wrote: post #46

We've solved that another way. Our employees get to choose their own title (except they can't use a legally significant name or VP without permission). We have: * Head Greenskeeper * Mighty God of Thunder * Princess ... along with the usual "senior software engineer" and such. You might think that would remove the meaning from titles, but I can tell you... I'll take a Mighty God of Thunder or a Head Greenskeeper for…

Why don't you choose for the best, regardless of the label they apply to themselves?

I do. I just told you their labels.

Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles

#102

Post by josgraha »

Man these are some awesome comments. "Self proclaimed" Rockstars != craftsman. Those who earned the title. Guido vonRossum et. al. are having their five minutes, let them have it, they took the risks. You can't blame the recruiter though, if they are looking to bring cocky, blowhards to the interview table and wow the upper "hangers-on" with their talk game. I think recruiting, much like a good programming environment needs to take bad decisions out of the equation or minimize the collateral damage thereof. Oh well, such is the state of recruiting and such is the ever changing complexion of software development. Time to go back to the guild and apprenticeship system. Any nobles out there? :p

Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles

#103

Post by gaius »

aswanson wrote: post #83

The term "rockstar engineer" always struck me as a comedic oxymoron. Guess I'm not the only one. Terms like "kick ass" and "rockstar" do imply youth, however, which is not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned.

do imply youth, however, which is not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned

I am pretty sure discriminating on age is at best unethical and generally illegal in most major economies.

Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles

#105

Post by eru »

boris wrote: post #54
eworoshow wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a tiny thing, but in your introductory paragraph you use [1] twice where the second instance should likely read [2].

It was a hidden test: we only hire people that spot this. Joking, of course.

Not only notice this - how would you know? They also have to be anal enough to tell you.

Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles

#107

Post by sutro »

nailer wrote: post #97
sutro wrote: post #42

I used to love reading John Carmack's finger-based blog (flog?). "finger @idsoftware.com" still yields the company directory listing (not sure if it's still up-to-date). With the exception of the CEO, everyone has a simple, functional title like Programmer or Artist. The humility and understatement implicit in the listing -- John Carmack, Programmer -- is something that more companies and individuals should aspire to…

Engineer seems as humble as programmer to me.

To me, "engineer" and "architect" are terms originally pulled from other disciplines -- perhaps as an attempt to lend credence to the seemingly less substantial act of mere "programming." John Carmack and id software, to me, represent the disavowal of all pretense, the refusal to seek the respectability of more historically established fields. They are programmers and they are proud.

Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles

#108

Post by nailer »

sutro wrote: post #107
nailer wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engineer seems as humble as programmer to me.

To me, "engineer" and "architect" are terms originally pulled from other disciplines -- perhaps as an attempt to lend credence to the seemingly less substantial act of mere "programming." John Carmack and id software, to me, represent the disavowal of all pretense, the refusal to seek the respectability of more historically established fields. They are programmers and they are proud.

I use 'engineer' because I do other things than programming (my job title is 'Technical Specialist'). Programming, systems administartion, writing processes for the software and reviewing architectural designs.

Everything I do pretty much falls into either software or electrical (hardware) engineering, at a higher or lower level depending on the job. I don't think of mechanical and structural engineers as having a monopoly on the term.

Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles

#110

Post by gaius »

jws wrote: post #46

We've solved that another way. Our employees get to choose their own title (except they can't use a legally significant name or VP without permission). We have: * Head Greenskeeper * Mighty God of Thunder * Princess ... along with the usual "senior software engineer" and such. You might think that would remove the meaning from titles, but I can tell you... I'll take a Mighty God of Thunder or a Head Greenskeeper for…

I'm sure that looks really good on their CVs.
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