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It's possible to look at this the other way. For something that is supposed to be such a great employment, it sure has it's downsides. I'm starting to think it'

It's possible to look at this the other way. For something that is supposed to be such a great employment, it sure has it's downsides. I'm starting to think it's inherent in the type of work, much like the stereotypes you know of accountants. Maybe not working as a coder is a sign your priorities are right. Part of it is that you need an insane amount of focus to be good at coding, and very few people have that and other skills like people skills (and if they do, there's plenty of other well-paying opportunities). That coupled with an understanding of technology (which most people think is magic) is actually pretty alienating. Hope you have some hobbies, otherwise you'll be socialising with "like-minded" people. So maybe articles could also focus on the downsides, like they do with e.g. oil and gas jobs. I know I wouldn't have chosen this career if I had known. Not sure why we're trying to push so many people into tech. Sure, some technical proficiency is good, but knowing how to code is like knowing semi-conductor fabrication - irrelevant for actually using an iPhone.

danso 9y ago
> For something that is supposed to be such a great employment, it sure has it's downsides Look, I agree with the sentiment. But it's easy to have this sentiment after you've lived it ("the grass is always greener", etc) and even if you didn't like it, you still enjoyed a level of financial stability in those years (nevermind the prestige that will help you land jobs elsewhere) that many people would envy. Maybe folks who are in the currently underrepresented groups will soon have the same loathing but the difference is that right now -- as the OP argues, evidently -- these folks don't get that choice. And we don't need to see diversity in tech as being just a way of restorative justice (as if that was SV's job). The argument for diversity in the workforce is that SV's userbase is diverse. And people from different backgrounds (not just racial, of course, but racial diversity is currently deficient) allows a SV company to be more innovative and successful to the bottom-line. In other words, a coder's benefits to a company's bottom line is not solely based on coding skill or achievement. Was Mark Zuckerberg really the best PHP programmer of his generation?
- guitarbill 9y ago
  > you still enjoyed a level of financial stability in those years [...] these folks don't get that choice. I keep forgetting how much it pays in the US. But agreed, if I was deprived of a way to make heaps of money directly out of university I'd be mildly annoyed. (Arguably by not being American, I kind of was. And this goes without saying, but since it's the Internet, I'm not trying to argue that this "injustice" is the same as the alleged racism.) --- I'm also involved with hiring people. Am I racist? I don't know, I only get the coding challenges without names. I do know that 95% of the applicants are shit, and most can't even be bothered with the coding "challenge" (on par with fizz buzz, it's mainly a test of do you have basic reading comprehension). Having a CS degree is meaningless as far as quality goes. So what I can relate to is that the university sucks at preparing people for the job. And the article does say that, but that's not the main focus. So going back to first principles. Why is the title "Why Doesn’t Silicon Valley Hire Black Coders?", and not "Man with industry experience is shocked to find University curriculum 25 years out of date", or "Universities hate us: This one trick to get hired"?

danso 9y ago

> For something that is supposed to be such a great employment, it sure has it's downsides Look, I agree with the sentiment. But it's easy to have this sentiment after you've lived it ("the grass is always greener", etc) and even if you didn't like it, you still enjoyed a level of financial stability in those years (nevermind the prestige that will help you land jobs elsewhere) that many people would envy. Maybe folks who are in the currently underrepresented groups will soon have the same loathing but the difference is that right now -- as the OP argues, evidently -- these folks don't get that choice. And we don't need to see diversity in tech as being just a way of restorative justice (as if that was SV's job). The argument for diversity in the workforce is that SV's userbase is diverse. And people from different backgrounds (not just racial, of course, but racial diversity is currently deficient) allows a SV company to be more innovative and successful to the bottom-line. In other words, a coder's benefits to a company's bottom line is not solely based on coding skill or achievement. Was Mark Zuckerberg really the best PHP programmer of his generation?

guitarbill 9y ago
> you still enjoyed a level of financial stability in those years [...] these folks don't get that choice. I keep forgetting how much it pays in the US. But agreed, if I was deprived of a way to make heaps of money directly out of university I'd be mildly annoyed. (Arguably by not being American, I kind of was. And this goes without saying, but since it's the Internet, I'm not trying to argue that this "injustice" is the same as the alleged racism.) --- I'm also involved with hiring people. Am I racist? I don't know, I only get the coding challenges without names. I do know that 95% of the applicants are shit, and most can't even be bothered with the coding "challenge" (on par with fizz buzz, it's mainly a test of do you have basic reading comprehension). Having a CS degree is meaningless as far as quality goes. So what I can relate to is that the university sucks at preparing people for the job. And the article does say that, but that's not the main focus. So going back to first principles. Why is the title "Why Doesn’t Silicon Valley Hire Black Coders?", and not "Man with industry experience is shocked to find University curriculum 25 years out of date", or "Universities hate us: This one trick to get hired"?