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Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

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Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#141

Post by [deleted] »

cupcake-unicorn wrote: post #140
decadentcactus wrote: post #139

Aw man, am I the only one who doesn't have this terrible problem of everyone wanting to offer them a job? I'm sure I'm not doing 100% of what's possible to be able to sit back and pick and choose whether I want the 150k job or the 180k job, but almost all of these "recruiters suck" posts apply to a small minority of people, those near the top of their profession. Maybe I need a "Do you make shitty weekend projects th…

I'm nowhere near the top of my profession, so I'm baffled by it. I'm actually glad to read about it, since my non-dev friends don't understand it and get angry at me for bitching about people trying to offer me work! I am however, a minority in the field (a woman) so I sometimes think that this fact MAY have something to do with it :/ It really gives me even more reason to hate the recruiting spam - when I'm called "…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#143

Post by ruswick »

veritas9 wrote: post #115
DavidAdams wrote: post #96

I'm currently hiring developers, and I also hate recruiters, for the reasons you outline. I was interested to learn about your flat $25K fee in the comments here, and I can tell you that I'd be unlikely to pay it. I have other ways to find developers that aren't so expensive. If I'd bothered to sign up after reading "It's free to get started" then learned later about the hefty fee, I'd be disappointed at best. Since…

We just launched HackerX, where we bring 50 great developers and put them in a room with 15 awesome companies. Absolutely no placement fees, no BS, give us a try :) www.hackerx.org

This is tangential, but I'm curious about your partner "startups." Most of the listed companies are established, monolithic organizations that are notorious for onerous and extensive interviewing processes. Do these companies employ different practices in your "speed dating" environment? If so, why? If not, how does this service offer distinct functionality beyond an exclusionary set of abbreviated interviews, which would conceivably be less appealing to both parties?

Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#144

Post by graysnorf »

andy_adams wrote: post #126
bitsweet wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These salary brackets are very real for US based developers.

If you could be so kind, could you clarify exactly who could expect these salaries? Are these entry/mid/senior level? 1, 5, 10 years experience? Top-tier developers only? I ask because there are plenty of companies hiring at sub-$70k salaries and they're having no trouble filling their positions with decent programmers. Are the programmers I know selling themselves short, or is $140k for extraordinarily experienced a…

I can only speak for web application development, but $140k is definitely not for "extraordinarily experienced and talented programmers only" in San Francisco for someone doing js/rails.

Are the people you know working in startups where part of their compensation comes in equity, or the prestige of working at a well-known "great" place?

Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#145

Post by ruswick »

sirclueless wrote: post #138
DavidAdams wrote: post #96

I'm currently hiring developers, and I also hate recruiters, for the reasons you outline. I was interested to learn about your flat $25K fee in the comments here, and I can tell you that I'd be unlikely to pay it. I have other ways to find developers that aren't so expensive. If I'd bothered to sign up after reading "It's free to get started" then learned later about the hefty fee, I'd be disappointed at best. Since…

I think that the $25k flat fee is very well done. It sends the right signals, and incentivizes companies in the right ways. 1) It implies that their offering is heavily productized. To a hiring company, this implies that quality will be high because they have found a way to scale a solution such that improvements benefit every customer. 2) $25k signals a bias towards higher salaries, where this number can be expected…

I think these things are beside the point. People are not products, and thus aren't subject to appeal through opulence. It is conceivable that one would buy a product simply because it is expensive in order to distinguish themselves or satisfy some arbitrary desire to have expensive things, or because they view cost as a factor in "quality." People, on the other hand, are more akin to machines in that their only value to a company is through the utility they provide, and thus money spent on hiring should be minimized so that its returned value can be maximized. The fact that expensive things are alluring doesn't work with exclusively utilitarian commodity goods, like labor. So the fact that the service is expensive won't make it any more appealing to employers. (Or, it might. I don't know what goes through the heads of recruiters. But, a rational actor in their position wouldn't draw your conclusion.) Companies are trying to maximize value, which means minimizing the cost of labor. This includes both the money they pay to their labor and the money they pay for their labor.

Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#146

Post by rooshdi »

cupcake-unicorn wrote: post #140
decadentcactus wrote: post #139

Aw man, am I the only one who doesn't have this terrible problem of everyone wanting to offer them a job? I'm sure I'm not doing 100% of what's possible to be able to sit back and pick and choose whether I want the 150k job or the 180k job, but almost all of these "recruiters suck" posts apply to a small minority of people, those near the top of their profession. Maybe I need a "Do you make shitty weekend projects th…

I'm nowhere near the top of my profession, so I'm baffled by it. I'm actually glad to read about it, since my non-dev friends don't understand it and get angry at me for bitching about people trying to offer me work! I am however, a minority in the field (a woman) so I sometimes think that this fact MAY have something to do with it :/ It really gives me even more reason to hate the recruiting spam - when I'm called "…

Ha! Definitely can relate (except for the great dudes part lol), but I wonder what kind of deals these recruiters have with companies? Do they really care about finding the right people for positions, or do they just want a quick cut of whatever commission they're making? It's flattering sometimes to see a voicemail full of recruiters, but one has to wonder if their intentions are optimally in line with what companies need.

Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#147

Post by w33ble »

decadentcactus wrote: post #139

Aw man, am I the only one who doesn't have this terrible problem of everyone wanting to offer them a job? I'm sure I'm not doing 100% of what's possible to be able to sit back and pick and choose whether I want the 150k job or the 180k job, but almost all of these "recruiters suck" posts apply to a small minority of people, those near the top of their profession. Maybe I need a "Do you make shitty weekend projects th…

I'm nowhere near the top, but get these emails all the time. Want some of your own? Put your resume on any of the big job sites; just one is all it takes. You'll get calls and emails daily, usually several a day. Almost all of them will be a total waste of time. This is the recruiter spam they alude to.

Maybe it's just the information we put online, or maybe it's just the business, but I don't think it's a minority who have bad experiences with recruiters. I'd actually be really interested in hearing peoples' positive experiences, as they seem to be a very rare thing. I'm not trying to be cynical, this has just been my experience, enforced by just about every other developer I've talked to.

Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#148

Post by recursive »

graysnorf wrote: post #144
andy_adams wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you could be so kind, could you clarify exactly who could expect these salaries? Are these entry/mid/senior level? 1, 5, 10 years experience? Top-tier developers only? I ask because there are plenty of companies hiring at sub-$70k salaries and they're having no trouble filling their positions with decent programmers. Are the programmers I know selling themselves short, or is $140k for extraordinarily experienced a…

I can only speak for web application development, but $140k is definitely not for "extraordinarily experienced and talented programmers only" in San Francisco for someone doing js/rails. Are the people you know working in startups where part of their compensation comes in equity, or the prestige of working at a well-known "great" place?

I'm working in the midwest where the average experience level among developers is "several" years. (I don't know exactly, but it's probably at least 5). I'd be surprised if the average engineer salary here is as high as the lowest pitchbox bracket.

Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#149

Post by xur17 »

demosquared wrote: post #80

I think this is much needed service. However, I did not see anywhere mentioned - how long I might have to wait after I said I am interested in, lets say $100+ job. What I am asking is how exactly does your process-timeline work? (i.e. Roughly how long do I might need to wait? Is there some sort of strategy/rational that helps me set some realisting timeline expectations?

My understanding of this service is that it is meant to be used for people that currently have jobs, but would consider offers above a certain amount. Basically a way to say "only contact me if I get an offer that matches my interests above $XX".

Re: Show HN: Our alternative to recruiter spam

#150

Post by [deleted] »

danielvinson wrote: post #129
Peroni wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fresh college grads getting $150k? I find that incredibly hard to believe.

As a fresh college grad from a non-top tier school in Silicon Valley, many of my friends are making ~$100K/year right out of school. I'm sure people from top tier schools going to Google and Facebook can make double that.

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