4 ms·

I hired Sahat as an intern three years ago while he was an undergrad. It was one of the best hiring decisions I have ever made. He was productive immediately

by paddy_m 10y ago

I hired Sahat as an intern three years ago while he was an undergrad. It was one of the best hiring decisions I have ever made. He was productive immediately and our (small) team felt the loss when he went back to school. This guy is good and gets stuff done, ask people who have worked with him. I wish Sahat had reached out to more of his network before responding to random recruiters. Tech interviews as Sahat experienced them are broken, but tech hiring is slightly less broken especially when you leverage your network.

falcolas 10y ago
> I wish Sahat had reached out to more of his network before responding to random recruiters. Has his network moved forward in what they do? I've found with my own network that so many of them are in the same (or equivalent) spots they were when I left to advance my career. Not precisely positions of power which I can take advantage of for the next step forward in my career.
- Aissen 10y ago
  You do not need to be in position of power to refer someone.
  - falcolas 10y ago
    The usefulness of contacts only really matters when they are managing (or are a key-decider in) the team you wish to apply for. Otherwise, a reference will only add to the burden you have to overcome with the interviewers - they will consider not only your qualities, but the referrer's qualities as well. "Richard vouched for Jane? But Richard is writing testing software, and we're hiring for backend. We don't need a SDET or we would have hired Richard."
    - EdHominem 10y ago
      I've referred people senior to me and been told by the recruiter that it was significant. Because I can't be expected to know their work as well as they do I describe their peers' opinions (well-respected in the NOC) and the soft-skills they have like mentoring, etc. "Even though I was only an SDET, Dave took the time to help me fully understand the math involved in the problem domain and how to efficiently model it. This allowed for a 60% increase in my deliverables and put the entire team a week ahead of schedule."
    - oarsinsync 10y ago
      I'm incredibly fortunate then, as that has never been my experience. Working in infrastructure engineering, I've been referred by devs for most of my jobs and in each instance the referral has been a positive. I've also referred a number of devs despite not being one myself, who have also benefited.
- blakeyrat 10y ago
  I don't understand this. You don't have to be a Director to nominate someone for the open Director position. At least, not at any company I've worked for... is that a "thing"?

by paddy_m 10y ago

falcolas 10y ago

> I wish Sahat had reached out to more of his network before responding to random recruiters. Has his network moved forward in what they do? I've found with my own network that so many of them are in the same (or equivalent) spots they were when I left to advance my career. Not precisely positions of power which I can take advantage of for the next step forward in my career.

Aissen 10y ago
You do not need to be in position of power to refer someone.
- falcolas 10y ago
  The usefulness of contacts only really matters when they are managing (or are a key-decider in) the team you wish to apply for. Otherwise, a reference will only add to the burden you have to overcome with the interviewers - they will consider not only your qualities, but the referrer's qualities as well. "Richard vouched for Jane? But Richard is writing testing software, and we're hiring for backend. We don't need a SDET or we would have hired Richard."
  - EdHominem 10y ago
    I've referred people senior to me and been told by the recruiter that it was significant. Because I can't be expected to know their work as well as they do I describe their peers' opinions (well-respected in the NOC) and the soft-skills they have like mentoring, etc. "Even though I was only an SDET, Dave took the time to help me fully understand the math involved in the problem domain and how to efficiently model it. This allowed for a 60% increase in my deliverables and put the entire team a week ahead of schedule."
  - oarsinsync 10y ago
    I'm incredibly fortunate then, as that has never been my experience. Working in infrastructure engineering, I've been referred by devs for most of my jobs and in each instance the referral has been a positive. I've also referred a number of devs despite not being one myself, who have also benefited.
blakeyrat 10y ago
I don't understand this. You don't have to be a Director to nominate someone for the open Director position. At least, not at any company I've worked for... is that a "thing"?