Programmer search engine • Hacker News Board

Re: Programmer search engine

#51

Post by benatkin » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 4:18 AM UTC

spolsky wrote: post #47

benatkin wrote: post #46

I tried the free trial search, that he uses in his OCaml/Houston example. I find it quite hard to believe that there is a Common Lisp programmer in Bagdad, AZ and a Clojure programmer in Window Rock, AZ.

Well, the OCaml kid is legit, but, no, there are no lisp programmers in Bagdad or Clojure programmers in Window Rock... did someone say there were? Do you need one? Window Rock is a dusty tiny town, seat of the Navajo Nation--I've actually been there, it has one grocery store and a single strip mall. Maybe you did a search that had 1 result, and then you edited your search, and the Ajax refresh didn't come back fast…

No, I'm not looking for a programmer in either of those cities. I was just testing it out, to see if I could give it anything that wouldn't invite me to sign up and search.

I just didn't notice the number to the right, and clicked the "Show Results" button each time. After I read your reply I tried it again, this time looking for AJAX updates across the entire page, and I saw it. I think I would have found it on my own had the "Display Search Results" button been disabled or hidden when no results were found.

Re: Programmer search engine

#52

Post by reconbot » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 4:19 AM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #33

KirinDave wrote: post #28

In the spirit of XKCD Explained: Joel Spolsky thinks we should all hire people who regularly use his software. He thinks those people are cool and he really likes how their time, effort and reputation on his site are something they can sell to recruiters for additional revenue. This is literally his dream come true.

Joel Spolsky thinks we should all hire people who regularly use his software. I think you have this characterized a bit wrong - he thinks that people that use his website would make for good job candidates.

Take that one step further and I might agree. People who have a high rank on "his website" might would make for good job candidates. Not all programmers may be good at communication or teaching, or any of the behaviors stack overflow, server fault promote. But I agree with the site's founders that they are positive skills to posses. It's not exactly hubris thinking that people active in a programming community might make for good job candidates.

Re: Programmer search engine

#53

Post by benatkin » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 4:20 AM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #48

benatkin wrote: post #46

I tried the free trial search, that he uses in his OCaml/Houston example. I find it quite hard to believe that there is a Common Lisp programmer in Bagdad, AZ and a Clojure programmer in Window Rock, AZ.

try { ... } catch(CodeNotWrittenInTheRightCityException e) { // unreachable }

Heh. As a telecommuter, I like how it has the telecommuter box checked by default. :)

Re: Programmer search engine

#54

Post by blasdel » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 4:29 AM UTC

paydro wrote: post #44

richcollins wrote: post #41

I would prefer a programmer search engine based on Github, where people write code, to StackOverflow, where people talk about code.

I think it should be a combination of both GitHub and StackOverflow. GitHub is great to see if the person can code, and a very crucial part of hiring. StackOverflow is great to see if a person can communicate, which I think is as important as having the ability to code. I've come across many programmers that can code well, but had horrible communications skills. It's always difficult to interact with these programmer…

StackOverflow primarily exposes their addictive game-playing, not their communication skills. The rep/badge bullshit encourages inane responses, and the wiki aspects cover the tracks.

Re: Programmer search engine

#55

Post by blasdel » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 4:31 AM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #33

KirinDave wrote: post #28

In the spirit of XKCD Explained: Joel Spolsky thinks we should all hire people who regularly use his software. He thinks those people are cool and he really likes how their time, effort and reputation on his site are something they can sell to recruiters for additional revenue. This is literally his dream come true.

Joel Spolsky thinks we should all hire people who regularly use his software. I think you have this characterized a bit wrong - he thinks that people that use his website would make for good job candidates.

Yeah, I don't think even he wants to hire anyone managerial enough to love FogBugz for its own sake, much less anyone dull enough to use CityDesk.

Re: Programmer search engine

#56

Post by clutchski » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 4:53 AM UTC

paydro wrote: post #44

richcollins wrote: post #41

I would prefer a programmer search engine based on Github, where people write code, to StackOverflow, where people talk about code.

I think it should be a combination of both GitHub and StackOverflow. GitHub is great to see if the person can code, and a very crucial part of hiring. StackOverflow is great to see if a person can communicate, which I think is as important as having the ability to code. I've come across many programmers that can code well, but had horrible communications skills. It's always difficult to interact with these programmer…

GitHub showcases communication skills via project documentation (the documentation for bottle[1] is great), commit comments (kangax[2] often has concise, prescient suggestions for changes), and the like.

[1] - http://github.com/defnull/bottle/ [2] - http://github.com/kangax

Re: Programmer search engine

#57

Post by clutchski » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 4:55 AM UTC

brown9-2 wrote: post #34

kqr2 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's because traditional recruiters usually take a % of the person's salary. Stackoverflow only charges a subscription fee for searching the database so they probably won't make as much. If you are a hiring manager, you can test-drive our search interface any time and get an idea of how many matches you'll find. No surprises here. But if you'd like to view candidate details and make contact, you'll need a subsc…

Perhaps it will be so lucrative because employers will get sick of paying percentages of salaries in recruiter's fees and so many of them will sign up for this more-modest subscription fee?

Roughly how many points does a recruiter get?

Re: Programmer search engine

#58

Post by mattmcknight » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 4:55 AM UTC

marcell wrote: post #11

Technical recruiters make ridiculous amounts of money for moving people between companies. If this is successful it will be very lucrative for FogCreek.

The percentages are out of control. 20-25% makes it really hard to even consider using recruiters. I only form relationships with some of them to get an agreement that they won't recruit from my firm.

Re: Programmer search engine

#59

Post by eugenejen » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 5:10 AM UTC

richcollins wrote: post #41

I would prefer a programmer search engine based on Github, where people write code, to StackOverflow, where people talk about code.

What happened to people who can write successful products but not yet been open sourced?

This happened to John Carmack, Jamie Zawinski. They are probably too busy in making stuffs work then writing answers on Stack Overflow or committing code to GitHub.

Re: Programmer search engine

#60

Post by dnsworks » Thu, Dec 03, 2009, 5:47 AM UTC

This site was clearly developed for large companies having problems hiring because of their size. The lack of an even remotely useable demo made me snicker at the minimum $500/week price point.