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We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

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Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#491

Post by sureaboutthis »

I often see some former co-workers who often tell me I should apply at my old job should I ever sell my business. That happened four months ago and, during that time, I couldn't find any contact information to apply. I called the company's main number and was transferred to a voice mail of someone who never called me back. I applied online to a different job, explaining the situation, but never heard back.

The situation was this: I had two former managers and one co-worker all advocating for me for the one job they knew was available--my old job!

I have not been able to get any response from the company at all.

Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#493

Post by robertAngst »

troels wrote: post #348
pm90 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not that hard if you've worked in corporate america. Executives like to work with people that they "like", so its frequently people who went to similar schools, have a similar sense of humor, don't say stupid shit etc. Even if these people are totally ineffective and have no skills, they will keep getting hired. Then, they make use of the new labor markets, where you can just outsource everything and hire consult…

And because everyone knows this, a contractor can easily charge 2-3 times what an employee makes - aka what they're actually worth. The system works (Except of course for the employees)

Is there any reason to be an employee? I feel like its a suckers choice.

Benefits are not worth 2-3x the pay. I find myself being a contractor due to the better pay.

Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#494

Post by nell »

Let's assume pay is the only parameter in a job offer. Also assume Big tech (FANG) set the ceiling for software engineer salary.

These companies hire every engineer that meet their criteria.

Most engineer given an offer from one of them would accept it since that is the highest possible offer they can get.

If there is no talent shortage, these companies should have no open recs or fill them as soon as they're opened because they are the best possible jobs for any engineer.

Since they have open recs (sometimes open for months), there is a talent shortage at the skill level they require.

Please let me know what is missing in this logic?

Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#495

Post by Shaanie »

chronogram wrote: post #464
sidlls wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are not normal base salaries even for senior programmers in the bay area. The 60th percentile for senior software engineers is around $180k per year in the Bay Area. Total compensation is commonly $200k or more, easily, but not base. Outside of the Bay Area, even in NY, Chicago, etc., base salaries are lower. In most places they're much lower--below $100k.

Those are not nett salaries are they? So keep in mind in Europe it can be 5k times 2 times 12=120k. (How to use asterisks here?)

I can't say I've seen people talk about their net salary in Europe, but we do typically galk about monthly salary. (Even if they did say net salary, paying an effective income tax of 50% would be quite exceptional; I would need to make a bit over $300 000 for that in Sweden, which is insanely high.)

Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#496

Post by maehwasu »

areyouseriousxx wrote: post #43
burtonator wrote: post #5

I had a recruiter call me a year ago with what sounded like a really amazing offer. Working for a well funded startup on a problem in which I happen to be a domain expert. They're aren't many expects in my field with my background and skill set and they said the right things to get me to interview (compensation won't be a concern). Anyway... Went in for 4-5 interviews. Took me about 10 hours in total to interview wit…

I find it strange, as software developers, that we discuss the effects on automation all the time, but no one seems to understand that automation has made searching for new employees incredibly inexpensive and efficient compared to the past. So in technical roles there are a lot of companies that are always hiring. Recruiters work for free until they find you someone and placing job listings online is so inexpensive…

You've clearly never worked on the hiring side of a company. I mean that literally and not snidely: you're completely unaware of the costs and complications and risks that go into hiring from the company's side.

Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#497

Post by joshuamorton »

mooreds wrote: post #369
stevbov wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made 52k fresh out of college 16 years ago. Seems really low today.

Hmmm. I don't have a ton of data points, but we: * don't care if you have a CS degree (we have hired plenty of bootcamp grads) * are 100% remote which is super valuable to some folks * aren't looking for super specialized skills--we build websites and web applications on some common open source stacks. * explicitly don't pay top dollar. As the CEO says in the typical hiring conversation, every so often we'll be talki…

Fwiw, when I interned in a suburb of Atlanta, as a sophomore at a company no one cares about, I made $25/hr. I believe the people who went there full time started at ~75k.

So I'd consider 60k low for any urban area.

Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#498

Post by marktangotango »

antoinevg wrote: post #260
le-mark wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to admit there are loads of unscrupulous people out there who will take the compensation you're referring to, deliver nothing and leave. I've seen it myself at one start up I was at. The founders recieved a generous investment (on the order of $40m) to grow the business. They hired sr vp of sales and a sr vp of marketing who did exactly zero to move the business forward after 12 months. Both left having acco…

There is a difference between promising a unicorn and having a proven track record. That you are too lazy to verify the background your potential hire is providing you is 100% your problem. Bite me.

How would that background verification work exactly? Your groomed references are providing objective evaluations? Bite you indeed.

Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#499

Post by tqi »

> So apparently you won't be considered for a senior position unless you've worked in almost exactly that role in a company that was almost exactly the same at almost exactly the same career level.

A lot of this may be due to the H-1B -> Green Card application process. I think the company has to prove their existing H-1B employee is the only possible person who can fill the role by posting the job publicly, so the lawyers will craft the req as narrowly as possible. As a result, many of these listings were never intended to be filled with external hires.

Re: We Don't Have a Talent Shortage. We Have a Sucker Shortage

#500

Post by [deleted] »

alain94040 wrote: post #478
b212 wrote: post #381

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is relative. 5000€ is $5623. You can maintain a "normal" life standard around here for about $800 (renting a studio / two room flat in the city centre + all the expenses, no car but I never needed one - the subway takes me to the furthest parts of town in 25 minutes, walking to work is not unusual). So you're saving more or less 5000$ every month. How much do you have to earn in SV to rent a place for your own n…

First of all, who cares about base, what matters is total compensation. In Silicon Valley, I would say it takes about 5 years of experience, for good engineers, to rent a nice place close to work, if they want to. See actual data here: https://thestartupconference.com/2018/09/21/about-that-silic... After 10 years of experience, you are looking into buying a house. Granted, the price of the house is exhorbitant compar…

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