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Getting a job in San Francisco

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Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#61

Post by onedev »

throwaway011001 wrote: post #34
rm999 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>cares about your look more than your technical expertise. In all fairness that's not what he said. Some companies - like google - have a very objective hiring process based almost entirely on technical skill. But many other companies include "fit" as a part of the hiring decision. I haven't interviewed at twitter but I could believe they are like that. I've thumbed down candidates who did well on the technical part…

Has the tech sector really come to the point where coders/geeks can't even be socially awkward anymore? I thought coding was one profession where socially awkward geeks could make an honest living.

I'm sorry but I don't want to work with someone in a collaborative environment whom I can't openly connect with and if there is no clear line of communication between that person and me.

I also don't want to work with someone who I don't think I can get along with, and more importantly; that I feel the rest of the team can't get along with.

It affects the team and ultimately it will affect the product.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#63

Post by auctiontheory »

mhurron wrote: post #51
S4M wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the real reason was that if you have a candidate that is, say, Black, and you tell him that you didn't hire him because you "felt that he didn't have enough knowledge of Ruby", he would be able to sue you if he found out you hired someone who supposedly has the same level of knowledge of ruby as him.

> "felt that he didn't have enough knowledge of Ruby", he would be able to sue you if he found out you hired someone who supposedly has the same level of knowledge of ruby as him. Except that you felt it because the other candidate interviewed and sold himself better. The way it is being presented here you could always sue if you're black and the person they hired wasn't. It doesn't really work that way. They do have…

That's right. The rejected candidate can always sue. S/he might not win, but s/he can sue.

And for the employer, win or lose, it's a huge headache, risk and cost, with big PR downside to boot. The employer has no incentive to increase this risk by saying more than is absolutely necessary.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#64

Post by auctiontheory »

cxx wrote: post #28
zerr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AFAIK salaries are rather low there, but cost of living is quite expensive.

That is not only in France, it's in all Europe. Salaries in Germany, The Netherlands, UK and so on are much much lower than in SF or NY. Developer jobs that pay more than 60k euro are few and far between. A 50k+ job is already above average and upgrading is not going to be easy.

Interesting. Are these 50-60k/year developers available for contract hire? How would an American company find them online?

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#65

Post by textminer »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #40
jmduke wrote: post #15

To be honest, this makes me want to get a job in Paris. The way Fabien describes SF as a Mecca evokes the sense of wonder Woody Allen had about the City of Love: You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a great city. You can't. Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and…

Of course the same could be said of Las Vegas, (including the part of having an apartment with the Eiffel Tower in the window :-) Having traveled around a bit I find city "personalities" very interesting, some, like Brussels, feel very bureaucratic and others, like Melbourne, feel a lot more laid back and relaxed. Zurich has always struck me as the 'busy' city, everyone seems like they are on a mission to get the mos…

In this vein, it's been hard to fully appreciate San Francisco. I can "see" the lovely homes in Duboce Triangle and the Castro and in Hayes Valley, and I can "enjoy" the way the earth bends around you on a North Beach rooftop. But being in San Francisco has, for me, had stronger class-resentment associations that stem probably from having commuted there from East Bay and being in a constant "work work work" mode for young entrepreneurs whose flaws have been hard to overlook.

There's probably a fair degree of resentment at being unable to afford a decent apartment in the city. I imagine my tune'd be different had I lucked into something livable in a cool neighborhood, rather than living in an assortment of East Bay towns and commuting by BART.

I'll be working in the peninsula soon, at one of the giants, and that will have its own joys and issues. But I'm looking forward to seeing how my view of SF evolves, as it'll soon merely be that city across the bay I visit for dinners, shows and drinks.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#66

Post by textminer »

cxx wrote: post #59
JoeKM wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to agree, 150k for senior engineer? I would say 100-120k for senior engineer, 75-100k for engineer, 50-60k for intern.

Is there only a 20% difference between someone with 5-10 years of experience and someone straight out of college??

For the long-term career-conscious and money-hungry, it almost makes you want to plan a trajectory that doesn't plateau at "senior engineer". That seems like a shame/misuse of resources, doesn't it?

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#67

Post by pimeys »

I don't buy this. For me, the biggest problem in SF is that it is in US. Ever when I'm in that country I feel like I'm home. The politics, the crooked police, the expensive life... I don't want to be part of it. I really love Europe. This is my home continent with different countries and different people. I love to write code and I can get a pretty decent life also in Berlin. The weather is not so nice, but the city atmosphere really feels welcoming. And not all interesting challenges are in SF, believe me.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#68

Post by nchuhoai »

What is the most important thing and what the article pointed out greatly is the need for the green card, without it, your life becomes incredibly dependent on your employer (unless you remain flexible).

I'm going to college in the US, but am from Germany, and what makes me reluctant to plan a future in the US, is the requirement for me to bind myself to a company for in worst case 10+ years to have the certainty that I can stay in the US, should I chose not wanting to be employed.

Aiming to be a freelancer or entrepreneur becomes next to impossible if you want to stay in the US without a green card. At least to my knowledge, I'd be happy to be wrong in this case.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#69

Post by khuey »

rogerbinns wrote: post #18
guylhem wrote: post #3

>When rejecting candidates for my own company I wanted to tell them why I rejected them, and how to improve, but I have been told not to do it, for legal reason. When the laws prevent you from giving actionable feedback to the person you didn't hire, you know it has gone too far. The government should have no business in your selection or rejection of new hires, and the firing of them if needed. >I believe the US way…

Remember that almost always in the US you end up paying your own legal expenses even if someone else unsuccessfully sues you. That means it is expensive even if you are in the right. Then look at it from the pov of the corporate lawyer. If they okay you supplying a rejection paragraph instead of a rejection sentence and you do get sued then it looks a failure of the lawyer. Whenever I've worked with corporate lawyers…

That's not necessarily true. There are lots of situations in the US where the winning party can get a judgement for the losing party to pay reasonable legal expenses.

Re: Getting a job in San Francisco

#70

Post by cxx »

auctiontheory wrote: post #64
cxx wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not only in France, it's in all Europe. Salaries in Germany, The Netherlands, UK and so on are much much lower than in SF or NY. Developer jobs that pay more than 60k euro are few and far between. A 50k+ job is already above average and upgrading is not going to be easy.

Interesting. Are these 50-60k/year developers available for contract hire? How would an American company find them online?

Hard to say, every country has its own market gotchas. Those 50k something devs are almost always working in salaried positions.

I can count in one hand the number of technical freelancers I've ever seen or heard about but I also have never actively searched for one. On the other hand there are a lot of companies that act as middlemen between contractors and companies. These contractors are employed and paid by the middlemen, but they go on to work directly on the client's site. These middlemen make a very decent profit since they pay their employees the usual (20-40 euros/h), while they bill them out to companies for up to five times as much. In some languages these companies have a specific name but I don't know how to translate it. I think they're a bit different than the agencies in the USA where as far as I know they take a percentage of the contractor's hourly rate.

In any case I guess Linkedin is a decent starting point. In some European countries it is used by huge percentages of the working population.

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