I see you posted a question about this six months ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1248389
What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
61–70 of 89 posts
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#62If you want extraordinary people, can you compensate them extraordinarily or provide an extraordinary environment?
Being able and being willing may take a while to converge, usually after interviewing a large number of the ordinary.
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#63I'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
You can read the actual contract rider for yourself at:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/van-halens-lege...
In my opinion, the document is full of a whole lot of weird stuff and the safety excuse may just be a post-facto rationalization.
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#64always 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…
moreso, it's the way they present it so matter of factly (when in fact, it's not):
When you write, "We're looking for a rock star developer." A developer sees, "We want to treat a developer like the RIAA treats rock stars."
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#65The difference between 50mil and 31k is 1622x, not 1622%.
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#66A 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 s…
What's the big deal? It's just a bit of fun. If one doesn't like the attitude that a 'rock star' job posting conveys then one should simply not apply.
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#67When 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.
The company I used to work at, is in the process on hiring 2+ employees and an outside IT services company to replace me. It was an amicable, planned departure and I've helped them keep everything running till my replacements are found. Frankly, it hasn't been easy to find the people. The helpdesk person was fortunately easy to find but proficient programmers aren't easy to come by.
My experience from reviewing/interviewing people based on job postings is that almost all of the applicants are looking to be a part of an already established team - very few seem to have the initiative to work on their own or create new systems from scratch - both of which are something you'd look for in potential employees at a startup. Almost all of the applicants have worked well in teams but haven't done much on their own. I'd say they're good 1/1 candidates but not 5/1. The latter are indeed found through word of mouth.
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Which might also be an effective recruiting tool. I used to sit next to someone who used to hit the restroom at 1pm every day, like clockwork, and come out reeking of whiskey. Also kept a bottle of Wild Turkey on his desk that slowly diminished. He wasn't fired, so I assume he was good and got his stuff done.
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#69A recruiter contacted me via email looking for a developer "at the Jedi level". Interestingly, though she said she'd read my resume, she was looking for a Java developer in Maryland (I am a Ruby developer in Chicago). I asked her to clarify what skills the Jedi level entailed (I couldn't help myself). She wrote back and said that it meant they wanted "a rock star"
Recursive Super-Hero Bingo for the win!
Re: What developers think when you say "Rock Star"
#70When 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…
Let's add that regardless of what anyone says about how "great" programmers are n times more productive than mediocre programmers that productivity is not the number one driving force behind these job descriptions. Business people want bang for their buck, and they seem more informed by (non-existent) wunderkind genius teenager and movie hacker stereotypes than any kind of reality based measure. Budgeting concerns are where it's at.
One has to wonder how much the ranks of computer science programs everywhere would swell if the other half of this supposed rock star equation were present. Orgies, copious narcotics, groupies, press coverage, and throngs of adoring fans? For an office job? Shit yeah, I'll learn everything von Neumann ever day-dreamed about. Worst case scenario I can take my girlfriend out to the beach and write her a little PHP script that outputs a screed indicating my level of interest (over HTTP), right?