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What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

blog.hirelite.com

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Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

#51

Post by blantonl »

sbov wrote: post #26

When a company asks for a rock star developer, I think pretty much this: > "Rock star" signals that you haven't thought enough about the role this developer will fill, leaving developers with a feeling that they'll be receiving ill-defined requirements, not enough time, or not enough resources to do their job (in addition to being overworked and underpaid). Or more specifically, they really need 5 people to do this w…

In all fairness, there are individuals of that calibre that can accomplish an enormous amount of progress - even on the 1/5 ratio that you reference.

But I would venture to say that you never find that kind of person from a job posting. A "5/1 ratio" person certainly only lands his next gig through word of mouth.

Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

#53

Post by michaelhalligan »

mey wrote: post #39
Xurinos wrote: post #12

Whenever I hear the phrases "rock star developer" or "code ninja", I think, "Oh, they want some young fresh-out-of-college full-of-himself developer who thinks a language named after a rock is the wave of the future." Jokes aside, those phrases raise red flags in my mind. I think maybe it is that from such an employer, I would expect to see the occasional presentation with swear words ("We're all adults, here" -- "Su…

To me, rock star/code ninja also conveys a bit of prima-dona attitude. I'd rather take someone humble over egotistical any day of the week.

To me it means I'm going to have to keep a large supply of cocaine and cheap whisky around the office.

Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

#54

Post by ursablanco »

wheaties wrote: post #27
kabdib wrote: post #20

Rock Star = I get to fix the problems, all the race conditions and exceptions and bugs that the RS developer didn't do a good job on. Rock Star = He looked more productive than he actually was.

Couldn't agree more with the first statement but add to that unmaintainable mess and spaghetti code Rock Star = praised, promoted, highly visible, and in management's view infallible.

Yup. Partially finished code - the main use cases covered, the fun and satisfaction drained out of the project. Now that I hire, I wouldn't ask for a rock star since it doesn't actually convey any of the qualities that we're looking for.

Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

#55

Post by cullenking »

timwiseman wrote: post #45
TamDenholm wrote: post #34

I've always felt like going to a "rock star" job interview with dyed blue hair in a mohawk, ripped jeans, chains, black string vest, black nail polish, black eye liner, leather jacket, walk in late and demand only blue M&M's.

That would be amusing. The M&M's thing served a purpose when it started though. It showed attention to detail when that could be important for a decent show or even safety: http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/vanhalen.asp

Upvote for sharing that tidbit on vanhalen. Cracked me up.

Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

#57

Post by Semiapies »

lwhi wrote: post #49
catshirt wrote: post #22

always seems strange to me when a company publishes such a subjective post.

It's basically an advert - they're trying to appeal to developers. EDIT: the article has a purpose .. it's content designed to complement the main purpose of the site - which is to get people to use their recruitment service. They are showing that they understand what developers think - and at the same time, they 'might' also be educating hirers. A less cynical response for the downvoter - and yes I expect to be down…

Well, yes. I'm boggled that anyone would downvote this point.

Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

#58

Post by kemayo »

steerpike wrote: post #32
thirdstation wrote: post #2

Why are software developers segmented between "rock stars" and "not rock stars"? A salary estimate search on Simply Hired for "rockstar accountant" yielded no results :-)

Becuase its the software developers' turn. Strangely enough, it happened in hospitality just before I left that industry, the term 'Rock star chef' was being used a lot to describe the new wave of chefs who were more interested in getting their profile up so they could get on television rather than actually try and cultivate a decent restaurant. The focus of the business drive shifted massively. I have a vague theory…

Was it being used as a negative term in the hospitality industry? If so, that's an interesting difference in apparent outlooks, since it's almost always meant as a compliment in programming.

Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

#59

Post by 5teev »

Here it's just a lazy way for clueless HR people to say "highly/broadly skilled." It indicates as little thought as someone who says, "You rock!" when you performed some technical task they don't understand, whether it took ten hours or ten minutes.

Someday we may well ask, "What was it, once, to rock?"

Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"

#60

Post by jph98 »

A rock star is somebody who plays in a rock band!

There is no such thing as a rock star developer. It's a stupid stupid term. You have no inherent connection with rock music, you are not famous and don't have thousands of adoring fans. I'm convinced that a number of balding, pony tailed idiot developers and snotty college grads think they do - but you don't - get over yourself.

Stop using the term, right, now, it's stupid, seriously.

I'm not going to get started on "code ninja". Jesus... WTF comes up with this rubbish.

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