7 ms·
I don't really believe in the so-called war for tech talent, or at least companies don't act like that. I'm in a bad mood this morning, so let's name names: F
by earl 15y ago
I don't really believe in the so-called war for tech talent, or at least companies don't act like that. I'm in a bad mood this morning, so let's name names:
Facebook: if you live in the bay area, even if you live in SF, they refuse to do a phone screen, instead demanding that you drive to Palo Alto one to two times for one hour interviews in lieu of phone screens. Between the hours of 10am and 4 pm. So basically they demand that you take 1-2 1/2 days off work before even interviewing for real. Even if you don't have a car and have a leg in a cast, they don't budge. Of course, when you tell the recruiter fine, you're withdrawing, then they're flexible about doing things over the phone. NB: for those of you not local to the bay area, while Palo Alto and SF are considered to be local to each other, in practical terms, particularly if you're not familiar with traffic on 101, it's a 75 minute drive each way to be sure you'll get there on time.
Twitter: sit on resumes for two weeks, even if you were referred by an employee.
A9: also sit on resumes referred by an employee for 2 weeks.
The point of this whining is companies certainly don't act like they're in a talent crunch : shrug :
- simonsarris 15y agoThey care even less if you don't live in California. I get recruiter emails about once a week (usually from/for some HTML Canvas thing) and all it takes to scare them away is to mention that I don't plan on leaving New Hampshire in the near future. If its a war for talent, even niche stuff like Canvas, they're not trying all too hard.
- mgkimsal 15y agoTrue. You'd think that rather than spending all that money on paying ever-increasing salaries to a small pool of people that just keep getting poached from one company to another, they'd take a few million and open a dev center in, say, Alabama. Would likely get a much better ROI, and a longer-term strategic benefit over competition. But alas, it's apparently smarter to go to Tel Aviv to find a CTO and move him to New York than it is to look in Nashville or Houston for someone with CTO skills.
- talmand 15y agoEspecially considering the payroll costs would be much lower in Alabama. Never understood the reasoning behind everybody wanting to be located in the most expensive places in the country. Internet connections are available in the South you know.
- jamesteow 15y agoIf you are a designer or developer and moved to the Bay Area or New York City, chances are, you are a very driven person.
- mgkimsal 15y agoOr perhaps you're a lemming who follows the pack? Not saying everyone who moves out there is, but judging someone's character by their ability to change geography in the same country isn't a great idea.
- kelnos 15y agoRight, exactly. I moved from NY to the Valley shortly after college, mainly because I was looking for something different, and the west coast interested me. Having a thriving tech scene was just a bonus. Now I live in SF because I love it here. If I really wanted to, I could be just as successful back east. I endure the high cost of living because I like the area, not because I'm driven or ambitious or something (which I am, sometimes... and sometimes not).
- Hyena 15y agoMaybe you just like cities and prefer the available amenities to additional space?
- jamesteow 15y agoPerhaps, but I think there is a level of determination that makes people endure the hardships that come with living in very expensive cities. Often that is to grow their career.
- shareme 15y agono Facebook will do phone screens at least that was what I was offered several weeks ago..but maybe it depends on the dev area..my specialty is mobile dev client native..
- DanI-S 15y agoSF to Palo Alto takes me 30 minutes on Caltrain...
- mavelikara 15y ago35 mins on the baby bullet and 46 mins on the local, according to the weekday timetable: http://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekdaytimetable.html http://www.caltrain.com/schedules/weekdaytimetable.html
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- mmt 15y agoMaybe station-to-station. How long does it take door-to-door? (I'm pretty sure FB isn't in downtown Palo Alto any more, so it's non-trivial).
- ed209 15y agoI've heard there's a shortage too but I doubt it by the way big companies are acting. I think that just about the only thing they are short of is recruiters! I've contacted a whole bunch of companies (the usual) and not heard back either way. Probably because they see I'm in the UK but if I've taken the time to write in about a job they posted, the decent thing to do is to reply either way.
- nradov 15y agoThere is no such thing as a shortage in a market economy; it's an oxymoron. (There may occasionally be short-term demand / supply imbalances but the market quickly finds a clearing price.)
- xiaoma 15y agoIrish potato famine? Droughts? Not every good has elastic demand.
- nradov 15y agoFamines are almost universally caused by political failures rather than by actual food shortages. For example we have seen wars where the combatants routinely confiscated food from civilians and prevented delivery of relief supplies. Or misguided governments have imposed price controls which acted as a disincentive to increase production. If you don't have a free market then obviously shortages can persist a long time.