Reading some of the comments here, I think the real reason companies are having problems hiring might be that they're unwilling to pay someone with 7/4 years of experience 25% more than a bigco will pay an undergrad straight out of school.
The real reason you can't hire developers....
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Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#42I don't think this is why companies can't find good developers. To sum up your email: Hi, You've never met me before, but I like your company. I expect to get paid $115K to lead a team as a senior developer, but don't want to relocate in order to be with the team. I feel this type of email should get a response; however, I'm not surprised no one hired you. I'm sorry none of these companies replied. If hiring is as to…
Big point: Salary was not included in my initial contact email. That means only 5/50 companies even knew what I was looking for.
"I expect to get paid $115K to lead a team as a senior developer, but don't want to relocate in order to be with the team"
I forgot to add, 50% of the positions I applied to gave salary range of 80-130K. Also, I state I am willing to relocate eventually. All the positions claimed to be open to telecommuting.
I had no idea that telecommuting == less salary. I would be open to negotiating.
"lead a team" Seems like people are assuming that b/c I have exp as a CTO that I want "control". Not the case at all. I applied to a "Sr. Developer" position with the idea that I would be working under a technical leader etc
Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#43I don't think this is why companies can't find good developers. To sum up your email: Hi, You've never met me before, but I like your company. I expect to get paid $115K to lead a team as a senior developer, but don't want to relocate in order to be with the team. I feel this type of email should get a response; however, I'm not surprised no one hired you. I'm sorry none of these companies replied. If hiring is as to…
> I expect to get paid $115K to lead a team as a senior developer, but don't want to relocate in order to be with the team. He targeted companies that claim to accommodate telecommuting. Not hire when being asked looks sneaky.
How often does telecommuting really jive with a senior/leadership position? If you're just coding away then sure I can see telecommuting being very viable. If part of your job is earning the respect of a team and being able to drive them and steer them in a direction, then not being physically there could very well be a huge barrier.
Not to mention only really wanting telecommuting does potentially imply less commitment to the company and/or position. That might be a turn off for a senior role.
Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#44A lot of comments here miss the point. 80% did not respond at all . They did not acknowledge his contact attempt in any way whatsoever. Not a canned response confirming contact, nothing. Nothing. I'm willing to bet very heavily on this representing complete incompetence at the organizations contacted.
"80% did not respond at all"
This is prob the biggest point. Whats the problem? Even MEGA corp knows about autoreply emails.
Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#45Specifically in response to the time gaps: it's true that time gaps are bad, but keep in mind these are startups, which means they're juggling about twenty thousand different things at the same time. I think in that domain in particular, some slack may be in order as compared to a 20,000-strong corporation with a dedicated HR department. Re: weird extra steps: the idea isn't that they're cool. The idea is that if you…
Re: weird extra steps: the idea isn't that they're cool. The idea is that if you are willing to attempt it and solve it successfully, it says something about your problem-solving skills. It's not the be-all end-all, but it seems like a decent first-pass filter.
The problem is that you're asking candidates to spend 1+ hour before you've even given them a personal response. I've seen positions with well known companies who ask you to do 4+ hours of work before they even talk to you in person. Imagine if every company did that?
Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#46[deleted]
Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#47For what it's worth, I'm involved in the hiring process at chartboost.com. (Company tripled in employee size the past couple months!) When we get a resume / inquiry from somebody who wants to work remotely, it's instant rejection. Telecommuting is a long debate whose scope is outside of this discussion, but for a lot of companies that's a tough sell. Especially at 115k.
Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#48Most companies are going to put it right in the bin at 115K. Not sure if you understand that.
For any of the hot tech $115k is actually about $5k low. The author did state ROR which would put him in the hot tech camp and that would be the going rate for that market. I just passed on a w2 position with a pre-IPO company that was $140k. $115 is actually a bargain rate for a senior developer.
Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#49This post pretty much reflects my observations back when I was job hunting a year or so ago. I had a good amount of experience, was willing to relocate, wasn't looking for a telecommuting position, and was very flexible on salary. I advertised myself to several high-profile companies, many of which have affiliations with YC. None of them were through recruiters, and a few were even direct contacts with some core developers happening to advertise the company on twitter: cough Disqus cough.
The number of responses I received even acknowledging that they got my personalized cover letter and resume? Zero. Nada. Zilch.
I ended up getting a job by being referred through a friend to a company completely outside of the whole startup/valley/YC culture. The absolute worst thing you can do is have your job search and advertisements become a black hole.
So every company reading this comment: get your shit together.
Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....
#50Wild card: the reason is that tech companies want an excuse to hire cheap immigrants.
If you mean "hire cheap immigrants" to work in the US... yeah right! As soon as a hiring company reads "H1B" your application goes right in the bin. It's too much work, especially for smaller companies, but even larger ones know that it's work they don't need to do with so many applicants out there.