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Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

matt.aimonetti.net

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Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#41

Post by oinksoft »

mattetti wrote: post #3
Apreche wrote: post #2

This whole thing seems like it is written by a recruiter having a hard time to get people to leave their current jobs for new ones.

Hehe, I'm not a recruiter (I'm the OP) but probably like yourself, I get a lot of them contacting me on a regular basis. Knowing what to do next and or if our current job is worth it is a hard challenge. I just shared my own experience.

You may not specifically be the recruiter but it's no mystery that you guys have been aggressively hiring, and being over capacity is no doubt something somebody in your position would be acutely aware of.

So pardon me for agreeing with parent that the post sounds like it was written by somebody having a hard time finding good candidates.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#42

Post by mattetti »

tinco wrote: post #31

So, it is a noble thing Matt is doing here, but my skepticism always kicks in when a post like that does not include a self evaluation. I am sure you could fish up some great job opportunities for anyone who writes you a nice e-mail. But is your own job the job you want from your career? I mean, being tech lead on a big company is nice and all. But the company is just a coupon distributor, I'm not saying that I work…

Good point, however it's a bit sensitive to talk about one's current position and provide insightful feedback without hurting feelings or divulging internal secrets. I left Sony PlayStation to join LivingSocial when LivingSocial just had acquired InfoEther and Chad Fowler became the VP of engineering. My motivation to join them was because I was interested in learning what it meant to design a product, what is needed to make something successful and finally to discover the gap between startup and entreprise since LivingSocial was becoming more than a startup. Working with people I trusted and I consider much better than me was also important. Is LivingSocial's product that exciting? No, not really, we sell advertising for local commerce. But my goal isn't to just work on a cool product (you don't do much cooler than video games), my goal is to learn and bring value to place I work. I'm still learning a lot, and a lot I didn't expect such as growth pains, challenges of growing an engineering team from 20 to 120, what it means to have strong engineers trying to work together, communication etc... To answer your question more directly, I feel I'm still currently on the right path and while the product might not be glamorous, I get to learn a lot and feel like I can still contribute to the company success.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#43

Post by smutticus »

johnnymonster wrote: post #26
vampirechicken wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Titles were more about pay bands then skill. I know several hundred Vice Presidents at JP Morgan Chase. And really, if your business card tells me that you're a Programmer/Analyst 3, then you're either doing something wrong, or you're a robot, and you probably work between Programmer/Analysts 2 and 4.

Cracks me up when people cling to titles. Even funnier when I see software developer 3 on a business card!

In my new startup our software engineering titles go up to 11.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbVKWCpNFhY

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#44

Post by michaelochurch »

ricardobeat wrote: post #4

The issue of seniority always bugs me. If a 26 year old guy who writes "good enough" code can be a Senior, which I see very often, what's left? Personally I wouldn't feel right with a title including "senior" until I've got at least 10y experience, generated millions in revenue and lead a team of >10. And I'd still prefer not having a title. Unless the only way to increase a salary is by taking the title, which seems…

The issue of seniority always bugs me. If a 26 year old guy who writes "good enough" code can be a Senior, which I see very often, what's left?

Some ideas, possibly an answer: http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/the-trajector...

What companies tend to call "Senior" is usually around 1.4-1.6 in terms of responsibility. That said, most companies don't give you 1.4-level work until you're 1.7-1.8 in ability.

"Senior" is a title inflation at this point. I wouldn't join a startup (or any company for less than 0.9 times what I can make in finance) for less than a VP-level title, even though I'd be perfectly happy to code full-time and have no reports.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#45

Post by stephencanon »

acuozzo wrote: post #8

> Now is an awesome time to be a software engineer (probably best time ever). I don't agree with this statement at all, as it's getting harder and harder to find low-level work (e.g., C and *asm) and that's the __only__ kind of programming that I enjoy doing. I'll start looking for another career when I have to consider putting words like ``full-stack'' or ``cloud'' on my resume in order to find work.

I work in assembly and C, and like HeyLaughingBoy, I strongly disagree that there's any shortage of such work. If anything there's a significant shortage of good applicants.

Where have you been looking? Are you constrained geographically?

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#46

Post by elemenohpee »

oboizt wrote: post #15

It really is an exciting time for software engineers. I'm a soon-to-graduate student and have gotten so many job offers that I had to pretty much stop talking about it with friends/family. Does anyone else feel awkward admitting how easy we have it in tech right now when there are so many people struggling to find jobs?

Yeah, I got a call from a recruiter when I was out to lunch with non-programmer friends. The fact that I was annoyed by it drew some death glares.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#47

Post by khetarpal »

If engineers suck at finding the right job, and companies can't find the right people, then this problem is screaming for better solutions. The challenge here I see is that every employer is looking for 'rockstars', even if the actual job responsibilities may not require one.

So, if I'm a 'rockstar', its a big hurdle to separate the reality from the marketing pitch of the magic job. What can be used as a signal for filtering good quality jobs from the less desired ones? It's surely not money, because plenty of big companies will pay you ample to make good power points.

I think a startup that can figure out the right mix of signals to indicate the job quality, which may be a combination of challenging problems, team, work-environment will really hit it big.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#48

Post by mgkimsal »

johnnymonster wrote: post #26
vampirechicken wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Titles were more about pay bands then skill. I know several hundred Vice Presidents at JP Morgan Chase. And really, if your business card tells me that you're a Programmer/Analyst 3, then you're either doing something wrong, or you're a robot, and you probably work between Programmer/Analysts 2 and 4.

Cracks me up when people cling to titles. Even funnier when I see software developer 3 on a business card!

I was given a title once, and I think it was a 3 (this was... a heck of a long time ago). But... I wasn't told what the 3 meant - is 3 the bottom? The middle? The top? Is "level 1" where people start? Or is it like golf, where a lower number is better? I asked, and ... got the weirdest look, as if I was an idiot for not having some insider knowledge about "corporate titles". I wasn't there very long. And I never actually got an answer...

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#49

Post by mattetti »

oinksoft wrote: post #41
mattetti wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hehe, I'm not a recruiter (I'm the OP) but probably like yourself, I get a lot of them contacting me on a regular basis. Knowing what to do next and or if our current job is worth it is a hard challenge. I just shared my own experience.

You may not specifically be the recruiter but it's no mystery that you guys have been aggressively hiring, and being over capacity is no doubt something somebody in your position would be acutely aware of. So pardon me for agreeing with parent that the post sounds like it was written by somebody having a hard time finding good candidates.

That's a fair assessment, however LivingSocial has its own recruiters and they are doing a great job. So far I got a few companies reaching out to me to let me know that they have some open positions and I know of many others in my network. I'll do my best to try to match people.
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