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sure - it's a simple model, but I don't think the presence of ignorant firms changes the basic insight. That being said, labor markets are very complex and the

sure - it's a simple model, but I don't think the presence of ignorant firms changes the basic insight. That being said, labor markets are very complex and there's lots of strategic maneuvering going on. Given the indeterminacy of much of game theory (i.e., it depends on how you model the scenario), I'm sure you could be right under the proper assumptions. But to bring it back to the SO example, it's hard to imagine a scenario where giving high ability workers the ability to truthfully signal that high ability hurts. Low ability workers can be hurt i.e., either I know you're bad from your SO rep, or I start to think "hey - where's your SO profile? you must be bad." In the pre-SO system, the low ability workers were getting an unearned rent (assuming the market existed at all) at the expense of the high ability workers and firms (which is market-killing).

joe_the_user 16y ago
If you happen to have one, I think an SO account is a great thing to show potential employers. But I'd want to know that they were willing and able to read my answers to questions rather than simply look at my karma. Having been on SO a bit over time, I know very well that SO karma doesn't directly measure programming ability. You can get high karma with lots of random or dubious answers. If someone already has programming ability, they might be able to tell from someone's SO answers whether the person's real but raw karma isn't enough. The further problem is that Joel has been trying to jump from SO being a good answer site to making SO a job site in it's own. The first iteration was announced with fanfare and a post with argument for his approach. This version has appeared with little discussion on his part so I'm not sure what his reasoning is. On the general subject of signaling, if an SO account ever became a strong signal of ability, you can bet there'd be SO "gold farmers" along the lines of game gold farmers today. And while I've enjoyed SO for its own sake at times, if creating an SO account became mandatory for a job search, a lot of skilled people likely find that an annoying imposition. Google rightly has a policy against "why manhole covers are round"-type questions. They're an imposition on a candidate without proving anything. An employer asking for a SO account would have the same quality.

joe_the_user 16y ago

If you happen to have one, I think an SO account is a great thing to show potential employers. But I'd want to know that they were willing and able to read my answers to questions rather than simply look at my karma. Having been on SO a bit over time, I know very well that SO karma doesn't directly measure programming ability. You can get high karma with lots of random or dubious answers. If someone already has programming ability, they might be able to tell from someone's SO answers whether the person's real but raw karma isn't enough. The further problem is that Joel has been trying to jump from SO being a good answer site to making SO a job site in it's own. The first iteration was announced with fanfare and a post with argument for his approach. This version has appeared with little discussion on his part so I'm not sure what his reasoning is. On the general subject of signaling, if an SO account ever became a strong signal of ability, you can bet there'd be SO "gold farmers" along the lines of game gold farmers today. And while I've enjoyed SO for its own sake at times, if creating an SO account became mandatory for a job search, a lot of skilled people likely find that an annoying imposition. Google rightly has a policy against "why manhole covers are round"-type questions. They're an imposition on a candidate without proving anything. An employer asking for a SO account would have the same quality.