Clearly we need to develop some new titles 1) Code Baristas 2) Python Jockeys 3) CrackerJack Developers (retro!)
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Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
111–120 of 126 posts
Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#112My wife asked if organizations really advertise for "rock star" programmers, so I did a search on the local Craigslist and got four hits. The first link I followed contained the following definition of "rock star": [quote] FileMaker Certified Developer. (If you’re not yet certified, we’ll get you there!) Ability to install and configure FileMaker Server Advanced; knowledge of ODBC access and custom web publishing. Ex…
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Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#113I totally agree 100%. If I see rockstar or ninja, I skip right past your ad. You want to get my attention? Tell me you're looking for a professional, and you're going to treat me like one. I want to know that I get 8 hours a week to work on opensource. I want to know that you're looking for craftsman, not ego maniacs. Mostly, I want to know that I'm not working with a group of people that saw the word rockstar and th…
I usually ignore almost all the text in a job ad, because the vast majority of them all say the same thing. You want my attention? Give me an interesting puzzle to solve. Actually, I find that the coding questions a company gives you can say a lot about the company. I really liked FriendFeed's interview problems, even though I struggled with them, because I saw them and went "Wow, these two questions test for nearly…
I am tired of the puzzle approach to recruiting.
Ultimately it is nothing but an upfront investment I have to make just to gain an interview, without a guarantee for a job. How would you like a job ad that read "to apply, send us 1000$ in cash"?
Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#114Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#115Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
I usually ignore almost all the text in a job ad, because the vast majority of them all say the same thing. You want my attention? Give me an interesting puzzle to solve. Actually, I find that the coding questions a company gives you can say a lot about the company. I really liked FriendFeed's interview problems, even though I struggled with them, because I saw them and went "Wow, these two questions test for nearly…
I am tired of the puzzle approach to recruiting. Ultimately it is nothing but an upfront investment I have to make just to gain an interview, without a guarantee for a job. How would you like a job ad that read "to apply, send us 1000$ in cash"?
What, like college? ;-)
The advantage of places with puzzles is that everyone else had to go through them too (you hope; if it's just you, something's wrong). That keeps the bar high and ensures you won't be working with idiots.
Most worthwhile things require some up-front investment without a guaranteed payoff. Finance means putting the money up now for a hopefully higher return later. Education requires that you study now for skills later. Startups require that you build something now and hope you can get people to pay for it later. (Well, not always, but the bootstrap approach of finding a customer first requires that the customer pay up first and then take on the risk that you can't deliver.)
The trick is on doing due-diligence on the job first and making sure it's something worth investing in.
Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
So from your perspective the companies that use "rockstar" and similar terms are probably better for hackers than a standard job posting? Since they are at least looking for the right type of programmers... I can see that perspective. It's always possible that some horrible HR person posted the job. I've talked to some horrible HR people at Microsoft and Google in the past (when they were "cool" places to work with s…
So, smartest programmers = rockstars? Highly doubtful.
Silly as it is, that's at least a sign of progress. It means employers have now realized that you want the smartest programmers, rather than obedient ones.
Yeah but that seems to be what PG is saying here.
Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am tired of the puzzle approach to recruiting. Ultimately it is nothing but an upfront investment I have to make just to gain an interview, without a guarantee for a job. How would you like a job ad that read "to apply, send us 1000$ in cash"?
What, like college? ;-) The advantage of places with puzzles is that everyone else had to go through them too (you hope; if it's just you, something's wrong). That keeps the bar high and ensures you won't be working with idiots. Most worthwhile things require some up-front investment without a guaranteed payoff. Finance means putting the money up now for a hopefully higher return later. Education requires that you st…
I don't know, maybe rather than wasting time on random puzzles, it would be a better investment of time to create some cool application as a demo? I don't think any startup would require dhh or pg to solve some puzzles before considering their job applications.
With college also, you get something in return for your investment (hopefully) - skills.
Of course if you just feel like chilling, why not choose some job puzzles.
Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#119Re: Ask YC: "Rock Star" Job Titles
#120More terms to avoid: * Ninja * Guru * ___ - Fu * Kick-Ass ___ * ___ Chops * Mad ___ Skill[sz]
Actually I saw "Jedi Knight" once too. "plzadd kthxbai"