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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

#71

Post by rayiner »

acuozzo wrote: post #52
stephencanon wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

> Where have you been looking? Maryland: in and around Howard County. > Are you constrained geographically? Yes, as my wife and I are quite settled in our home.

If you're in Maryland, have you considered looking in the Dulles Corridor? There are more than a few places there that need someone who knows what a pointer is. A lot of military contracting stuff with embedded systems and whatnot. I used to work at a company that does military wireless technology that has several job openings for embedded guys (http://www.sharedspectrum.com/careers). I also know Motorola has an office that has a lot of people doing embedded software work. Maybe think along those lines...

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#72

Post by digisign »

w1ntermute wrote: post #12

I thought the author sounded familiar. He's the person who gave this blatantly sexist and offensive presentation, CouchDB: Perform Like A Pr0n Star , at the Golden Gate Ruby Conference in 2009: http://ompldr.org/vZ2I1cA/gogaruco-couchdb-090418194027-phpa...

That was much less offensive than I had hoped.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#73

Post by rayiner »

gte910h wrote: post #57
khetarpal wrote: post #47

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 f…

>The challenge here I see is that every employer is looking for 'rockstars' I think there should be a developer tier at 250kish (valley prices) If you can justify that, we'll call you a rockstar. Then we'll give you status to go with it in the company (as you're making more than your boss), sort of how external consultants often get that and get to recommend TONS more stuff than line engineers do. If a position says…

There is a developer tier at $250k+ and higher. It's on Wall Street, and really does need rock stars because they make their money by their rock stars being smarter than the other guys' rock stars.

From the perspective of maximizing compensation, you don't necessarily want to find the jobs that create the most value. You want to find the jobs that create enough value to sustain big salaries, but also where there is a real or perceived incremental advantage to having smarter developers than other people, and where that advantage is perceived and appreciated at the management level.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#74

Post by guard-of-terra »

michaelochurch wrote: post #62
fizx wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, if you go by the google ratings, which are similar, you get: Intern Software Engineer Senior Software Engineer Staff Engineer Senior Staff Engineer Principal Engineer Distinguished Engineer Fellow All of a sudden, "senior" doesn't feel very far up the totem pole.

If I ever develop an HR system/title hierarchy (and I don't see this as likely) titles will be more ornate at the bottom. At the top: Programmer.

I remember a talk by collegues ten years ago when they suggested we have to have "grand vizier" or "padishah" titles.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#75

Post by dmritard96 »

khetarpal wrote: post #65
gte910h wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The challenge here I see is that every employer is looking for 'rockstars' I think there should be a developer tier at 250kish (valley prices) If you can justify that, we'll call you a rockstar. Then we'll give you status to go with it in the company (as you're making more than your boss), sort of how external consultants often get that and get to recommend TONS more stuff than line engineers do. If a position says…

I'm thinking about a way to call bullshit on such job descriptions. Not sure money is the answer though. What about interesting jobs / startups that can't pay that much? It would be nice to get a crowd sourced mechanism that involves employees / ex-employees / vendors who could provide a well rounded view on what is the job really like, and not just some marketing spiel from hiring manager

we could build a site to review recuiters - might be helpful.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#76

Post by Sniffnoy »

> We are good at solving technical problems in an objective way but when it comes to us, to our jobs and future, we seem to have a bit of a hard time. Why?

Obvious answer: A good technical problem can be fun, while such real life things are just tedious and stressful, so you avoid thinking about them.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#77

Post by ricardobeat »

michaelochurch wrote: post #44
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.…

In the US things are probably much better, but around here it's common to see senior positions filled by people at 0.8-1.3 on that scale, partly due to a shortage of developers and good education/experience. It's specially true at larger corporations.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#78

Post by jere »

>I remember a family friend telling me when I was a kid that computers are going to be the future and that there will be a lot of jobs in this field.

That's great. I had the opposite. For some reason my dad was convinced computer programming was on the decline and was 100% against me going into computer science. I did engineering instead of CS and later regretted it. Going back to get my MCS now.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#79

Post by trhtrsh »

michaelochurch wrote: post #62
fizx wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, if you go by the google ratings, which are similar, you get: Intern Software Engineer Senior Software Engineer Staff Engineer Senior Staff Engineer Principal Engineer Distinguished Engineer Fellow All of a sudden, "senior" doesn't feel very far up the totem pole.

If I ever develop an HR system/title hierarchy (and I don't see this as likely) titles will be more ornate at the bottom. At the top: Programmer.

"Fellow" sort of gives you that already.

Re: Engineers suck at finding the right jobs

#80

Post by gte910h »

khetarpal wrote: post #65
gte910h wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The challenge here I see is that every employer is looking for 'rockstars' I think there should be a developer tier at 250kish (valley prices) If you can justify that, we'll call you a rockstar. Then we'll give you status to go with it in the company (as you're making more than your boss), sort of how external consultants often get that and get to recommend TONS more stuff than line engineers do. If a position says…

I'm thinking about a way to call bullshit on such job descriptions. Not sure money is the answer though. What about interesting jobs / startups that can't pay that much? It would be nice to get a crowd sourced mechanism that involves employees / ex-employees / vendors who could provide a well rounded view on what is the job really like, and not just some marketing spiel from hiring manager

So you think the "freedom and status" is the important part, not the compensation?

That works. Give them titles that go with that. "Chair of Computing", "Cross department head of ___" etc, "Technical Architect".

Don't ask for developers if you want people on the 4-5 sigma of ability. Ask for high status positions. Give them board seats. etc.

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