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Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

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Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#31

Post by lazide »

patresh wrote: post #21
cageface wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trend here is unmistakeable: https://hnhiring.com/trends Only one source of course, but I think it's indicative of the state of the overall market.

How can one explain the graph you linked given the recent bull market in stocks? Wouldn't this mean that capital is flowing in which should lead to more hiring? Is the job market response delayed or are there other factors?

Stock market pricing also tends to follow inflation expectations. Every time inflation is expected to increase, stock market tends to go up.

Not necessarily because ‘more inflation adjusted dollars’ but because ‘same thing will be worth more dollars, after inflation’.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#32

Post by beezlebroxxxxxx »

mathattack wrote: post #13

My observation is that companies are getting much more precise on their needs. The days of “you’re smart and have a technical background” have given way to “there’s a dozen people in the market who have the exact experience we need, so we will limit our pool to them.” This is especially painful for college grads, who don’t have specific experience to fall back on.

I think there's also a growing realization that, along with what you've said, putting large emphasis on leetcode skills, or using leetcode at all, is not leading to the best hiring results. That doesn't mean leetcode shouldn't be used in interviews --- I'm sure, for better or worse, leetcode style questions are here to stay in tech interviews; but, that there's a growing sense that people who are simply good at binging and purging leetcode might not be the best fits for experienced roles that require experienced skillsets.

It's partly the result of software dev as a field maturing (quite literally, most are now older) after the ZIRP bonanza of the last couple years.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#34

Post by HarryHirsch »

mathattack wrote: post #13

My observation is that companies are getting much more precise on their needs. The days of “you’re smart and have a technical background” have given way to “there’s a dozen people in the market who have the exact experience we need, so we will limit our pool to them.” This is especially painful for college grads, who don’t have specific experience to fall back on.

This is especially painful for college grads, who don’t have specific experience to fall back on.

There is no training or university pipeline any longer?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#35

Post by alphazard »

Not all experience is equal, but people expect to be compensated for the "experience" (time since entering the workforce) they bring to the table regardless. That's the issue here. There is plenty of software that needs engineering, but we can't make a market.

This specific person has 17 years of experience. Are they a staff level engineer, critical to their group? 17 years is more than enough time to become more competent than >99% of software engineers, if they have the aptitude for it. It seems unlikely that a company would layoff someone keeping all the juniors unblocked, unless management is totally incompetent.

Or are they a senior with a decade of negotiated raises, who hasn't learned anything meaningfully new in that same time? They have something like 7 years of real learning, and the company is paying for 17. This is an obvious choice for a layoff.

I haven't seen any signs that smart people who can write software are valued any less. They are just as hard to find, and are getting paid just as much as ever.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#38

Post by bitwize »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #34
mathattack wrote: post #13

My observation is that companies are getting much more precise on their needs. The days of “you’re smart and have a technical background” have given way to “there’s a dozen people in the market who have the exact experience we need, so we will limit our pool to them.” This is especially painful for college grads, who don’t have specific experience to fall back on.

This is especially painful for college grads, who don’t have specific experience to fall back on. There is no training or university pipeline any longer?

Nope. An "entry level role" requires ~3 years experience in the precise tech stack being used.
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