3 ms·

You're right. "Multiple programming languages" and RDBMS skills aren't exactly rare. Those are very poor reasons to hire someone. Here are the real reasons the

by whack 9y ago

You're right. "Multiple programming languages" and RDBMS skills aren't exactly rare. Those are very poor reasons to hire someone. Here are the real reasons they probably wanted to hire him: He's smart enough to do well on his SATs/GREs and go to a good university. He's hard working and conscientious enough to get a good GPA while in University. He's got great recommendations from his classmates, former employers and/or professors. He knows his stuff well enough to get through an interview pipeline that most others fail to get through. There's one problem though. None of the above are considered valid reasons to hire someone on a H1B. The Stanford grad who knows Java inside and out, has a 4.0 GPA, a perfect SAT score, and amazing side-projects and recommendations... according to the law, he's just a cog, perfectly interchangeable with any CS graduate who manages to graduate with a C+ average. Hence why companies have to come up with other ridiculous reasons for wanting to hire this guy. Because the real metrics that any rational person would take into consideration, are all considered inadmissible. If you start fighting with a guy who has one hand tied behind his back, don't be surprised if he doesn't follow proper boxing decorum.

Terr_ 9y ago
That's a nice appeal, but on reflection that case isn't actually virtuous. What you have described is not an employer who is just violating letter of the law in some harmless defiance of red tape... No, that employer is deliberately breaking the spirit of the law too. The H1-B exemption is intended to allow for immigrant workers when domestic supply doesn't exist. Not "when you really really like a dude."
- whack 9y ago
  We can think of numerous instances where the law is sufficiently dysfunctional, that citizens take it upon themselves to work around it. On the trivial side, most Americans knowingly drive over the speed limit, and consume alcohol when they are underage. On the more serious side, today's sanctuary cities and slavery-era underground-railroads are both intended to subvert federal laws in support of deportation/slavery. Do you think that it's immoral to disobey the law under any circumstances? If not, how do you go about deciding when it's ok to disobey the law?

by whack 9y ago

Terr_ 9y ago

That's a nice appeal, but on reflection that case isn't actually virtuous. What you have described is not an employer who is just violating letter of the law in some harmless defiance of red tape... No, that employer is deliberately breaking the spirit of the law too. The H1-B exemption is intended to allow for immigrant workers when domestic supply doesn't exist. Not "when you really really like a dude."

whack 9y ago
We can think of numerous instances where the law is sufficiently dysfunctional, that citizens take it upon themselves to work around it. On the trivial side, most Americans knowingly drive over the speed limit, and consume alcohol when they are underage. On the more serious side, today's sanctuary cities and slavery-era underground-railroads are both intended to subvert federal laws in support of deportation/slavery. Do you think that it's immoral to disobey the law under any circumstances? If not, how do you go about deciding when it's ok to disobey the law?