I would have answered it if they were hiring 9-year olds :) Although, I think I knew more C++ back then than I do now. Sad. :)
Would you have answered this job ad?
51–56 of 56 posts
Re: Would you have answered this job ad?
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
If anything the ad could discourage some because, not knowing any better, it may have looked like Bezos was one of those people who thinks you can make a late project finish sooner by working sweatshop hours (3x more hours to finish in 1/3 the time). Everyone asks for "communication skills" and everyone says they're the best and that their shit doesn't stink, too.
I actually would have responded just for the "you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible" part. Note that it doesn't say work 3x longer. I measure time in hours not days, so finishing something 3x faster doesn't mean 120hour weeks, it means finishing something in 13 hours instead of 40.
What determines the meaning of that phrase is not how you measure time; it's how the employer measures time. And what ultimately matters to them is days. Hours only matter (and that, to some employers) inasmuch they affect your present or future productivity, measured in functionality/day.
Re: Would you have answered this job ad?
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
I actually would have responded just for the "you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible" part. Note that it doesn't say work 3x longer. I measure time in hours not days, so finishing something 3x faster doesn't mean 120hour weeks, it means finishing something in 13 hours instead of 40.
What determines the meaning of that phrase is not how you measure time; it's how the employer measures time. And what ultimately matters to them is days. Hours only matter (and that, to some employers) inasmuch they affect your present or future productivity, measured in functionality/day.
An employer can certainly measure time in days, and sometimes demand/expect people to put in extra hours in order to make a deadline.
But working extra hours doesn't make one more productive than average and no employer should measure productivity that way. If person A works 80 hours per week and gets as much done as person B that works 40 hours per week no employer will claim that A is as productive as B.
On a side note, given that I do contract work currently you can be certain that both me and my employer measure time in hours not days.
Re: Would you have answered this job ad?
#54wot a boffin
Re: Would you have answered this job ad?
#55The quote in his signature is very prescient: "It's easier to invent the future than to predict it." -- Alan Kay
Anybody who quotes Alan Kay (even a misquote) has my attention.
Another good one:
"Arrogance in computer science is measured in nano-Dijkstras"