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We see this all the time in tech, cannot find people is usually cannot find people with the skills and experience we want for the price we are willing to pay. T
by kmonsen 9y ago
We see this all the time in tech, cannot find people is usually cannot find people with the skills and experience we want for the price we are willing to pay. This will always be true if you offer less than the current market rate which startups seems to think they are entitled to.
- whereismypwd 9y agoI saw an ad here a few days ago on HN for a "Lead ML Researcher" for $85-100k + 0.5-2%.
- PunchTornado 9y agoExactly the point. And then people complain about labour shortages in ML.
- icelancer 9y ago>> current market rate Many of the new positions being created in startups have no defined market rate, which causes more malinvestment (overpaying workers who don't produce well enough) or shortage of labor due to insufficient perceived compensation. Businesses will almost always err on the side of shortage of labor and keeping costs down when they can (though you could argue otherwise in the current ridiculous VC-backed industry), so this will always be a "problem" in the market.
- psyc 9y agoWhat I've seen in tech is the idea that literally any number of false negatives is worth avoiding a single bad hire. It's fine to claim that trade-off is worth it to you, but it's ludicrous to simultaneously claim there's a shortage of talent. That's just a shortage of risk-free opportunity. Hey, I suffer from a shortage of risk-free opportunities too.
- throwaway65536 9y agoIn this age of ghosting people, it seems like everybody is just eyeing everyone else for a reason to stop talking to them or pull the trigger on the block button. We used to be socially-integrated enough to put up with people's foibles and correct them until we are all within a liveable range. Now you cannot confront or give feedback without it blowing up into hyperbole. I have been openly asked about my politics at an interview for a Y Combinator startup (Starsky Robotics). "We need to make sure you are not a horrible person." One of my references later told me that the co-founder was on the phone almost 20 minutes asking probing questions about me. No offer, no feedback. Who stands a chance with that level of scrutiny?
- psyc 9y agoThis hasn’t happened to me yet, but now it has a place in my thoughts, whereas 10 years ago I had no inkling of the possibility whatsoever.
- hycaria 9y agoWell considering y combinator is not empty every year, there must be people who have a chance with that level of scrutiny.
- eli_gottlieb 9y agoAnd we have a word for those people: milquetoast. I'm not sure people would hire me after asking about my politics for 20 minutes. What, you're gonna employ someone after getting an earful about Marx and Bookchin?
- bittercynic 9y agoIs it possible the political questions are really a test to see if you have the good sense to avoid bringing controversial politics to work? Maybe they were looking for something along the lines of "Political opinions will differ. I'm more interested in being part of a productive team than having my politics validated."
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- sjg007 9y agoYeah and it's a stupid idea. The problem is that the startup "idea" is probably not good enough. A company succeeds despite itself as there is no such thing as perfect execution. With a 1 year cliff you have plenty of time to figure out if someone isn't "bringing value".
- dlwdlw 9y agoI've found that wherever you go there will be people you need to work with that don't live up to your own expectations and it's tempting to dehumanize them as stupid. However since this is the case everywhere I think it's better to think about ways to mitigate this problem than try to solve it via some sort of gatekeeping. Even Google with their rigorous process has this problem. Personally I think the inability to fire-fast because of lack of a social safety net is a core part of the problem.
- eli_gottlieb 9y agoI always hear people claiming tech is full of over-inflated salaries, then look at jobs in my area and see that people want a web-dev with 3-5 years of experience in specific frameworks and offer to pay about $82k/year. Yeah ok guys, that's pretty inflated, innit /s?
- walshemj 9y agoI have in the UK seen a job add in an agency for an experienced php developer at £27k next to it was for a senior "ground worker" for > £35k. A ground worker is the PC term what's known in civil engineering as a "navvy" Oh and the ground worker would get OT
- mcguire 9y agoThe median personal income in the US is $31-35k. The median household income was $59k last year. What exactly are the requirements for a "web developer" with 3-5 years experience? More or less than a registered nurse with 3-5 years experience (~$60k)?
- maxsilver 9y agoExcept nursing is experiencing a major shortage too - https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/02/nursing-shortage/459741/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/02/nursing-s... So if anything, the low wages for nurses just just further supports the parent comment -- wages are too low. If you want to fill a shortage, you need to start by raising wages substantially. If for no other reason than to at least allow new students some hope of ever repaying the always-increasing college costs required to enter these fields.
- mixmastamyk 9y agoOften skills that could be learned in a week by an experienced practitioner, but we refuse to let you learn them on the job! Even if you'll be at the job for years. Rather wait a year instead for a unicorn to show.
- ghthor 9y agoThis is pretty much why I won't give anywhere near 100% at a company that treats me or my co-workers like that.