If software engineering is in demand, why is it so hard to get a job?

I've heard that advice in various forms but I must say (anecdote incoming) - in my own 30 year career, the best jobs I've ever had were the random ones that I just applied for and the worst ones were the ones that somebody I knew from before recruited me in from outside.

The "skilled trades" with hvac, electrician, plumbing, carpentry and such where the apprenticeship is more appropriate do have that issue again.

While it is often argued and parts of it have been refuted - The Camel Has Two Humps ( http://www.eis.mdx.ac.uk/research/PhDArea/saeed/paper1.pdf ) is applicable here.

There are people, for whatever reason, can't accept a different mental model than what they've got in their head. Software development is about twisting how you think to that of how a computer works.

I've presented this very light model of "levels":

A junior follows instructions

A mid completes tasks

A senior solves problems

There are people who plateau at each level and never go beyond that for whatever reason. In many cases it is a failure of putting the proper problem solving / learning skills in place to be able to think in a way that isn't the easy way.

So we fight against increased barriers to entry like credentials (but that Stanford/MIT degree is still a golden ticket into the interview). We try to give as objective an interview as possible, meaning it’s explicitly technical, rather than just talking about past projects open endedly and going with the feeling you get about the candidate.

I’d bet if we collectively decided not to try to be a meritocracy, we could make tech interviewing a lot easier, but I wouldn’t like that. I came from a nontraditional background too. I only got in the door because whiteboard style interviews let me demonstrate what I knew despite my total lack of credentials.

We suck at being a meritocracy, but I’m glad we try to keep the barriers low and unbiased. I bet we’re better than most other fields that pay this much.

    Instead we have to simulate work samples 
    through whiteboard coding, pair programming 
    sessions, take home coding projects, coding 
    knowledge tests, etc. 

- give them a hypothetical problem ("the page is loading slowly") and role play how they'd troubleshoot it - do they understand how different bits of the stack fit together? have they ruled out network issues before digging into the code? etc.

- "tell us about a tricky technical challenge you solved"

- ask them what makes a for good code review on a pull request / what makes good code review culture in general

- ask them about things the team did well at their previous role(s) and things they'd improve, and how they'd improve upon them. (not looking for "correct" answers or opinions - but they should have some opinions)

- what are some technologies/frameworks/languages you'd like to learn next? again there's no "right" answer. but if they don't have any - red flag, right?

- etc

This of course presumes that some minimal screening has been done to make sure they're actually a software developer; an initial Fizzbuzz screen etc.

At each step of the way we discussed relevant technical bits in a natural and conversational way. For example if they mention that they "optimized" or "refactored" or "fixed" something at a previous job then naturally we ask them for the details and usually wind up swapping some stories as well.

If they passed this conversational interview, we usually extended an offer to them within 24 hours or less. Sometimes we waited longer and they got snatched up by another company.

Of course this sort of interview doesn't tell you about their work ethic and how reliable they are and so on. But, neither does a lengthy coding assignment-based process either. And the "conversational" method gives you a sense of how they'll fit in with the team.

Considering how quickly good candidates are snapped up, doing "fast" interviews like this can be a big advantage for your hiring efforts. If worst comes to worst, and they don't work out, you can part ways. It's not like either side is locked into the employment agreement. Depends on your specific locale a bit, of course -- and at my current employer we're helped by being a remote team, so it's not like we're asking folks to relocate or anything.