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I don’t know why anyone would hire a junior. I was an utter loss for the first two companies I worked for. They basically paid to train me and then I went off

I don’t know why anyone would hire a junior. I was an utter loss for the first two companies I worked for. They basically paid to train me and then I went off to a far better paying tech company that doesn’t hire juniors. In a highly liquid market like tech, you can’t really afford to invest in people as they cost the same as just hiring off the market to retain/replace.

rcurry 4y ago
Sigh. I just had this experience a few months back. I went out on a limb, hired a junior guy, and after six months of getting him up to speed on a fairly complex fintech application he resigned and went to a a random web development job that paid more.
- throwawaysleep 4y ago
  I was that person. Twice. Not six months, but about a year for each.
- cecilpl2 4y ago
  The problem is that junior devs increase in value very rapidly in their first 2-3 years, much faster than any company is willing to increase their salary.
- jahewson 4y ago
  The solution is to pay more.
- gavinray 4y ago
  > "and after six months of getting him up to speed on a fairly complex fintech application he resigned and went to a a random web development job that paid more." Sounds like he wasn't the brightest The immediate payjump from hopping from bottom-of-the-rung where you're at to some random CRUD web dev job, I'd wager is far outweighed by the potential returns for senior experience in Fintech, specifically. That's a much harder niche to get into than building CRUD apps from what I hear.
- olyjohn 4y ago
  Who wouldn't leave for more money? What did you expect? Did you give him a counter-offer? Now that you've invested time into him, he should be worth more to you as an employee. Now you get to suck it up and train someone else, and spend hours interviewing replacements. Probably would have been cheaper to match the other offer.
  - rcurry 4y ago
    I’ve found that counter offers don’t really work. If a person is willing to resign it’s best to just let them go.
itsdrewmiller 4y ago
https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/09/06/finding-great-developers-2/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/09/06/finding-great-deve... is a good start on why.

rcurry 4y ago

Sigh. I just had this experience a few months back. I went out on a limb, hired a junior guy, and after six months of getting him up to speed on a fairly complex fintech application he resigned and went to a a random web development job that paid more.

throwawaysleep 4y ago
I was that person. Twice. Not six months, but about a year for each.
cecilpl2 4y ago
The problem is that junior devs increase in value very rapidly in their first 2-3 years, much faster than any company is willing to increase their salary.
jahewson 4y ago
The solution is to pay more.
gavinray 4y ago
> "and after six months of getting him up to speed on a fairly complex fintech application he resigned and went to a a random web development job that paid more." Sounds like he wasn't the brightest The immediate payjump from hopping from bottom-of-the-rung where you're at to some random CRUD web dev job, I'd wager is far outweighed by the potential returns for senior experience in Fintech, specifically. That's a much harder niche to get into than building CRUD apps from what I hear.
olyjohn 4y ago
Who wouldn't leave for more money? What did you expect? Did you give him a counter-offer? Now that you've invested time into him, he should be worth more to you as an employee. Now you get to suck it up and train someone else, and spend hours interviewing replacements. Probably would have been cheaper to match the other offer.
- rcurry 4y ago
  I’ve found that counter offers don’t really work. If a person is willing to resign it’s best to just let them go.

itsdrewmiller 4y ago

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/09/06/finding-great-developers-2/ https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/09/06/finding-great-deve... is a good start on why.