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Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

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Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#331

Post by SR2Z »

infamouscow wrote: post #282
dlivingston wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What innovators are you referring to? SV still seems like the Tech Mecca from where I'm sitting (on the east coast).

I'm referring to people who can simultaneously exist in the present while envisioning the future. They can see a clear pathway to transition from the current state to the desired future state. Furthermore, these individuals possess all the necessary talent, skill, and expertise to make that envisioned future a reality. The only thing you'll learn at a big tech company today is how to navigate corporate politics and f…

lol no the people who made Google a success are quite wealthy and securely ensconced in suburban homes in Cupertino, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#332

Post by nicbou »

sangnoir wrote: post #217
comte7092 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it’s much easier to be liberal when doing so doesn’t cost you meaningfully I’d go so far as to say that is almost part and parcel what a “liberal” is almost always

That applies across the board, and I suspect is a personality trait independent of political alignment. I've witnessed people on the right who were against handouts or abortion until they were personally impacted. When there is a real personal cost, a good chunk of people become surprisingly flexible about their politics, or spectacularly fail to resolve the cognitive dissonance and resort to "My circumstances are di…

We all hold beliefs that were never really tested. You never know how strong your principles are until they are treated by circumstances.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#333

Post by Spastche »

YZF wrote: post #15
richrichie wrote: post #8

I see hundreds of new job adverts on Linkedin everyday. How much of it is genuine?

I was looking for a change 6 months ago (had a job, did find a new one) and applied for a few positions. One of them in a large/known company that engaged with me and then rejected me without interviewing me. That posting is still up on LinkedIn and it's hard to believe they couldn't find someone to fill it for like 7 months. So one can only conclude it's not genuine.

it seems like it's super common and my own company seems to do this. why?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#334

Post by tomaato »

memset wrote: post #66

I am actively looking to hire - either freelance or full-time - an engineer to write open source golang code for my YC startup. However, I literally cannot afford FAANG salaries at my stage. It would literally bring my runway from n to n/5 years. And many candidates are asking for 400k+ salaries. I’d love to hire someone who knows what they’re doing but I’m just not able to find people who are both qualified and inte…

Why do you need to compete with FAANG?

I'm in New Zealand. I'm paid approx $120k USD as a staff engineer equivalent at a conaultancy, and I think that's about market rate if you're good. I've never worked for a FAANG (was at Xero in the early days though).

You could hire three and a half of me for the price of one ex FAANG person in your city.

NZ is English speaking and has a fair amount of time zone overlap with the US west coast. We do have proper labour laws though :P

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#335

Post by hirvi74 »

thelastparadise wrote: post #298
resource_waste wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to make airbags. People could die if I mess up. Heck, literally hundreds of thousands of people. (see Takata) One time, I saw someone cook raw chicken at a restaurant. A $10 an hour worker can cause people to die if they mess up. Don't let the Physician cartel make you think they have some magical powers because they have the AMA and ACGME working to limit the supply of Physicians. The fact that you are treate…

> One time, I saw someone cook raw chicken at a restaurant. Isn't cooking just what you're supposed to do with raw chicken?

Not to be pedantic, but there is actually raw chicken sashimi apparently. I heard about a place in Tokyo that serves it. The restaurant sources from super small local farms and sear the raw chicken in boiling water for a few seconds, chop chop, and then down it goes.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#336

Post by bb88 »

seoulmetro wrote: post #145
bb88 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, as long as you're okay being terminated without warning. And we're expecting results quickly. Like within the first hour.

This made me laugh. Can't tell if it's a joke or not. Are you looking to hire robots or something?

Yes it's a joke, but also not really.

If I have an issue and I'm paying a high paid consultant to solve it, well he needs to solve it, right? Particularly if he's not writing code.

A $450/hr consultant better be able to save $4500/hr. A $1000/hr consultant better be able to save $10k/hr.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#337

Post by hnfong »

smogcutter wrote: post #61
cccybernetic wrote: post #28

There's something to this. I’m a senior dev in NYC with ~7 years experience working across the stack (NextJS/ReactJS, Node, Python, Postgres, SQL Server, etc). I’m also not half bad at design. I haven’t been able to get a response much less an interview.

In no other professional field is someone with 7 years of experience considered “senior” anything. Edit to clarify my meaning: I’m not trying to come at you, just pointing out that this seems to be symptomatic of the problem as a whole.

Apparently, according to my search results -

- Accountants become Senior Associates at around the 3rd year.

- Lawyers becomes Senior Associates at around the 6th year.

- It seems that doctors can complete their fellowship around the 7th year mark as well.

- Reddit commenters claim they got a senior civil engineer title at the 5th year.

So, I don't know what you're talking about...

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#338

Post by pylua »

rhelz wrote: post #313
pylua wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If purchasing power and minimum wage had kept up to pace then unemployment would not be so low. Though the numbers mean the same they have been artificially influenced by other factors and the ability to measure the economy through unemployment has been nerfed. Not to mention attrition is higher than the past so the jobs that are being created could be largely recycled.

You ok bro? I mean, lets put these two of your statements together: > If [yada yada] then unemployment would not be so low. Which seems to indicate that you do believe unemployment is low, but > the numbers mean the same they have been artificially influenced by other factors which seems to indicate that you disbelieve the evidence that unemployment is low... The reason I ask if you are OK is that this is exactly the…

Hey, I am fine. Thanks for checking in. I really do appreciate it.

My primary issue is that thirty years ago jobs that you could take, such as my wife’s family did, such as minimum wage jobs could lead to you having a house and living with dignity. The majority of jobs created today do not seem to offer that for the reasons I stated above.

I wish there were reasons to be optimistic here but we have to be realistic. I believe the numbers they are telling us are accurate. I also believe the numbers would be historically good, but the reality does not feel like it.

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#339

Post by CoastalCoder »

EVa5I7bHFq9mnYK wrote: post #306
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many cases it could truly be that programmers aren't worth enough for them to pony up. It isn't that they're being cheap. It's that it doesn't make financial sense. There are plenty of contexts where programmers are useful but still only worth "normal" salaries.

Not only that, but how do explain to your shift supervisor or head of sales that a JavaScript wielding kid right out of college makes more than them?

Is "supply and demand" a reasonable answer?

Re: Experienced engineers are struggling to get hired

#340

Post by CoastalCoder »

Ancapistani wrote: post #309
randomopining wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you remote or are there actually offices there of engineers?

I'm remote. There are a few of us around, but no community to speak of. I've tried to build a local network, but haven't had much success yet.

> I've tried to build a local network, but haven't had much success yet.

I've had a similar problem in Rhode Island.

It seems like meaningful meetups are just hard when you don't live near a large community of software developers with similar interests.

I imagine remote work exacerbates this. I.e., more of us live away from those population centers.

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