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I straight up don't hire people with repeated short tenures. Their ego is always far beyond their capability, and there are plenty of now doomed VC-backed start

I straight up don't hire people with repeated short tenures. Their ego is always far beyond their capability, and there are plenty of now doomed VC-backed startups to fuel their path.

makeitdouble 4y ago
I'm interested in how you view consultants and contractors. They will be on the job for a few months, or a year or two at most, and move on to the next contract. How do you handle them compared to people with short tenures ? (vice-versa: how would you deal with a full time employee that you know might not be there a year or two but could be valuable in the meantime)
- kamaal 4y ago
  The right metric should be to measure how many turnkey projects you have done. If you are known to abandon projects midway hoping others to cleap up or build up after you. It should be plainly obvious, you are not some one who gets work done.
cbm-vic-20 4y ago
It also means they don't stick around to deal with the consequences of the decisions they make.
- aastronaut 4y ago
  It could also mean they stick around just as long as to notice that they have to deal with the consequences of the decisions they inherited and cannot change.
mrmuagi 4y ago
There are a lot of reasons why tenure might be short, but many short tenures, I agree are alarming because people are more lenient when a developer "ramps" up. If they are able to stick around and get promoted, that's a strong counter signal. I'm curious, but not to pry the exact details, how long are your tenures on average -- and would you similiarly penalize someone who worked at one company for many years?
synicalx 4y ago
How do you feel about former contractors? A lot of (fairly lucrative) contract roles are often 6-12 months maybe a shade longer with extensions.
- nyokodo 4y ago
  > How do you feel about former contractors? Contractors with repeat business at the same client is a positive signal. Otherwise evaluating a former contractor for a role is about whether they’re interested enough to stick around long enough for the intended achievements of the role.
  - FlyingSnake 4y ago
    > Contractors with repeat business at the same client is a positive signal This is not universal and doesn't work for many countries like Germany where you need to avoid "shadow employment/scheinselbständigkeit" with the same client.
throwawaygal7 4y ago
I agree in general, but i also think hoping in early career helps people get good experience. If you're over thirty, I don't understand it but in your early 20s you honestly need to to get a good role.
kamaal 4y ago
Drifters are always a problem, this doesn't happen just with their employment choices, but in general drifting is a habit, that applies to a spectrum of things in life. The reasons go deep. They are often connected to being lazy, unmotivated and even just plainly unwilling to commit to any non-trivial effort work.
snotrockets 4y ago
I would hope that by now, people won't be as privileged to assume that employment length is unrelated to other issues that people won't publicly talk about. For URMs, short stints can be because of toxic environments, just as long tenure for immigrants might be due to visa requirements.
- wahnfrieden 4y ago
  The poster would reject someone for being sexually harassed out companies before they were able to determine their own tenure
antupis 4y ago
How long are these "short tenures" less than 2 years?

I straight up don't hire people with repeated short tenures. Their ego is always far beyond their capability, and there are plenty of now doomed VC-backed startups to fuel their path.

makeitdouble 4y ago

I'm interested in how you view consultants and contractors. They will be on the job for a few months, or a year or two at most, and move on to the next contract. How do you handle them compared to people with short tenures ? (vice-versa: how would you deal with a full time employee that you know might not be there a year or two but could be valuable in the meantime)

kamaal 4y ago
The right metric should be to measure how many turnkey projects you have done. If you are known to abandon projects midway hoping others to cleap up or build up after you. It should be plainly obvious, you are not some one who gets work done.

cbm-vic-20 4y ago

It also means they don't stick around to deal with the consequences of the decisions they make.

aastronaut 4y ago
It could also mean they stick around just as long as to notice that they have to deal with the consequences of the decisions they inherited and cannot change.

mrmuagi 4y ago

There are a lot of reasons why tenure might be short, but many short tenures, I agree are alarming because people are more lenient when a developer "ramps" up. If they are able to stick around and get promoted, that's a strong counter signal. I'm curious, but not to pry the exact details, how long are your tenures on average -- and would you similiarly penalize someone who worked at one company for many years?

synicalx 4y ago

How do you feel about former contractors? A lot of (fairly lucrative) contract roles are often 6-12 months maybe a shade longer with extensions.

nyokodo 4y ago
> How do you feel about former contractors? Contractors with repeat business at the same client is a positive signal. Otherwise evaluating a former contractor for a role is about whether they’re interested enough to stick around long enough for the intended achievements of the role.
- FlyingSnake 4y ago
  > Contractors with repeat business at the same client is a positive signal This is not universal and doesn't work for many countries like Germany where you need to avoid "shadow employment/scheinselbständigkeit" with the same client.

throwawaygal7 4y ago

I agree in general, but i also think hoping in early career helps people get good experience. If you're over thirty, I don't understand it but in your early 20s you honestly need to to get a good role.

kamaal 4y ago

Drifters are always a problem, this doesn't happen just with their employment choices, but in general drifting is a habit, that applies to a spectrum of things in life. The reasons go deep. They are often connected to being lazy, unmotivated and even just plainly unwilling to commit to any non-trivial effort work.

snotrockets 4y ago

I would hope that by now, people won't be as privileged to assume that employment length is unrelated to other issues that people won't publicly talk about. For URMs, short stints can be because of toxic environments, just as long tenure for immigrants might be due to visa requirements.

wahnfrieden 4y ago
The poster would reject someone for being sexually harassed out companies before they were able to determine their own tenure

antupis 4y ago

How long are these "short tenures" less than 2 years?