Overall, I get the gist of the article, and it makes sense. Some counter-points: > Mike has worked on systems that can handle multiple orders of magnitude more

Overall, I get the gist of the article, and it makes sense. Some counter-points: > Mike has worked on systems that can handle multiple orders of magnitude more load, but his experience is, apparently, irrelevant. Did Mike build/architect said system, or was instrumental in said system reaching massive performance? As an MSFT contractor, it seems doubtful. Our team had a "Principal Architect" that did that sort of heavy lifting. > (3), combined with (1), gets at what TrendCo’s real complaint with Mike is. He’s not their type. Generalizing isn't good, but in my experience as a former MSFT contractor, there is a lot of stigma on A- employees, deserved or otherwise. Part of it happens because FTE's that are let go for performance reasons, end up rehired as contractors by shops like VOLT. These folks know the ins-and-outs of MSFT, and the bar for hiring contractors is much lower. It's super easy to apply for jobs--just click a button, and you're applied. My last open rec receieved over 100 submissions in less than a week. As a hiring manager, I need to quickly go through those submissions and get back to the candidates I want to speak with. For better or worse, I've come up with filters that I use to quickly sort candidates into reject or contact bucket. I'll definitely contact non-ideal candidates, but your resume should give me an indication that you're worth considering if you don't fit the standard mold of: "Worked for a solid tech company, familiar with recent tech stacks, has some sort of successful side project, has a 4-year CS degree." If you don't fit that mold, but are awesome. Great. Prove it (on your resume plz).