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The real reason you can't hire developers....

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Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#51

Post by kls »

giltotherescue wrote: post #14

Your salary expectations are awful high for a telecommute position. Next time you could consider letting them warm up to you before throwing that out. Also, how can you have expertise in "a bunch of other stuff"? The point of expertise is focus. Maybe the 40/50 are reading your email. How do you know they are not deciding up front that you're not the right fit?

I don't know where this assumption is coming from, The author is a senior ROR developer, which is very hot in the market, almost as hot as JavaScript, I earned 220k last year, all remote, doing hot technologies. Given his ROR experience $115k is a bargain whether remote or on-site. I am beginning to suspect a lot of people are underselling themselves in the market given the responses to the compensation amount.

Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#52

Post by ed209 »

thinkingthomas wrote: post #19

You didn't post your full resume, but as a hiring manager I can tell you that the telecommuting preference and the previous listed experience as CTO might have disqualified you from a number of companies, even if they are presumably open to distributed development and multiple levels of talent. On the other hand, the fact you didn't receive a response at all from so many (we typically send a note to every applicant w…

in my experience, they don't bother to send a reply. The way I see it, if you apply for a job that was advertised it's good manners to reply. If you send in your CV unsolicited then it's fair enough not to hear back.

Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#53

Post by corkill »

Make a 3 minutes video of yourself on webcam talking through your resume and past projects, or even just stuff you like to do not work related.

Many candidates don't get past the subject line of the email. It's nice to think that someone sits there and reads every resume then makes an informed decision, just isn't the reality though.

Remember that person has a million other things to do and probably an already overflowing inbox.

You could use something like Tout app to work out if your email is even getting opened and if people are clicking on your resume link.

Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#55

Post by T-hawk »

patio11 wrote: post #3

People trying to hire developers through Dice/Monster are demonstrably clueless. Get introductions direct to the decisionmaker. You won't be in a pile of 200 resumes from people who list "Computers: Expert, especially with MsWord" and apply to developer positions. You'll also be dealt with in more reasonable timeframes. Job sites are job hunting for people who enjoy unemployment.

And the flip side: As a developer, you want to work for a company whose people are smart and connected and passionate enough to attract talent through personal connections. You may not want to work for a company that has to resort to hiring by job boards, with the likely result of merely-average quality in your coworkers-to-be.

This applies recursively to another level too: you really don't want to join a company that can't even make job-board hiring work and resorts to headhunting recruiters.

Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#56

Post by up_and_up »

shadowfiend wrote: post #21

Specifically 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…

"You generally don't just come in at 9, work work work, maybe take lunch with your teammates, and trip it out at 5" and "signing up for a startup is signing up for a culture"

Who said anything about 9-5? I previously worked at a fast-paced startup for 2 years, which is well represented on my resume. I have a good idea what I am in for.

Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#57

Post by chwahoo »

city41 wrote: post #43
loup-vaillant wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 commitm…

People/organizations have bought into telecommuting to varying degrees. Like you, I'm still pretty skeptical, but there are certainly teams/individuals that wouldn't work any other way and have found success.

Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#58

Post by thematt »

thinkingthomas wrote: post #19

You didn't post your full resume, but as a hiring manager I can tell you that the telecommuting preference and the previous listed experience as CTO might have disqualified you from a number of companies, even if they are presumably open to distributed development and multiple levels of talent. On the other hand, the fact you didn't receive a response at all from so many (we typically send a note to every applicant w…

Why would the previous listed experience as CTO have disqualified him?

Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#59

Post by shadowfiend »

up_and_up wrote: post #56
shadowfiend wrote: post #21

Specifically 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…

"You generally don't just come in at 9, work work work, maybe take lunch with your teammates, and trip it out at 5" and "signing up for a startup is signing up for a culture" Who said anything about 9-5? I previously worked at a fast-paced startup for 2 years, which is well represented on my resume. I have a good idea what I am in for.

Fair enough. But it seems like at that point it should be clear that a culture fit is part of the qualification when you're looking for a “qualified developer”, no?

Re: The real reason you can't hire developers....

#60

Post by shadowfiend »

steverb wrote: post #27
shadowfiend wrote: post #21

Specifically 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…

I don't know about IBM, but I have worked in several large well established companies and when someone (decent) quits everyone looks around to figure out WTF is going on. I have lived through 2 mass exoduses, where a company started going downhill and the top 50% of developers all leave within 6 months of each other (often in groups). There is nothing inherently special about a startup. Many established companies hav…

That's actually fair. After I walked away from the keyboard I realized I was probably unfair to larger corporations. That said, I feel like someone leaving a 5-person company is usually a bigger deal than someone leaving a 20-person team in a 20,000 strong company. Would you disagree?
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