4 ms·

Chimes with anecdotal experience hiring in London. Glut of really well educated, keen and passionate juniors but tumbleweed when trying to hire seniors, even at

Chimes with anecdotal experience hiring in London. Glut of really well educated, keen and passionate juniors but tumbleweed when trying to hire seniors, even at higher salaries.

darkmarmot 10y ago
When I've looked at salaries in London they seem relatively low compared to the States. Perhaps higher isn't high enough?
explainthisth 10y ago
Have you tried offering internationally competitive salaries?
- ScalaFan 10y ago
  Then there is also the issue of the ease or difficulty of getting someone from a foreign country to work in the UK. Are work permits required? How much paperwork? etc If I were an American, what would it take to work in London?
  - Swizec 10y ago
    > If I were an American, what would it take to work in London? A good internet connection and some perseverance in getting remote jobs. Also strong work habits. I have many friends back home in Slovenia who stay in Slovenia but work for San Francisco. Sure they don't make 100k, but they don't have to. At 80k they're socking away 40k+ per year. And the SF startup is super stoked because they get good engineers for peanuts.
grainsout 10y ago
Consider that senior developers are busy and aren't going to make time to prep for interviews that lead to a job landing them a $15k-$20k bump (before taxes). Together with all the other intangibles (culture, nature of project work, career paths) it makes jumping ship difficult to gauge. Three suggestions - 1) raise the compensation for seniors 2) offer more interesting projects/products 3) use a different interview process for seniors, they hate algorithm quizzes Most software companies just churn out database-backed MVC apps. After 5 years of that any good developer would be bored.
st3v3r 10y ago
Well, why would those senior people want to apply and work at your company? This is not snark; this is a real question you need to be able to answer if you want a chance at hiring those senior people. Why would a senior person want to up and leave their position, which likely already pays pretty well, and treats them pretty well?

Chimes with anecdotal experience hiring in London. Glut of really well educated, keen and passionate juniors but tumbleweed when trying to hire seniors, even at higher salaries.

darkmarmot 10y ago

When I've looked at salaries in London they seem relatively low compared to the States. Perhaps higher isn't high enough?

explainthisth 10y ago

Have you tried offering internationally competitive salaries?

ScalaFan 10y ago
Then there is also the issue of the ease or difficulty of getting someone from a foreign country to work in the UK. Are work permits required? How much paperwork? etc If I were an American, what would it take to work in London?
- Swizec 10y ago
  > If I were an American, what would it take to work in London? A good internet connection and some perseverance in getting remote jobs. Also strong work habits. I have many friends back home in Slovenia who stay in Slovenia but work for San Francisco. Sure they don't make 100k, but they don't have to. At 80k they're socking away 40k+ per year. And the SF startup is super stoked because they get good engineers for peanuts.

grainsout 10y ago

Consider that senior developers are busy and aren't going to make time to prep for interviews that lead to a job landing them a $15k-$20k bump (before taxes). Together with all the other intangibles (culture, nature of project work, career paths) it makes jumping ship difficult to gauge. Three suggestions - 1) raise the compensation for seniors 2) offer more interesting projects/products 3) use a different interview process for seniors, they hate algorithm quizzes Most software companies just churn out database-backed MVC apps. After 5 years of that any good developer would be bored.

st3v3r 10y ago

Well, why would those senior people want to apply and work at your company? This is not snark; this is a real question you need to be able to answer if you want a chance at hiring those senior people. Why would a senior person want to up and leave their position, which likely already pays pretty well, and treats them pretty well?