8 ms·

Not trying to poop in the cereal, but take a beat before adding your name to the site; I'd be wary that this will be used to blacklist a whole lot of folks. The

Not trying to poop in the cereal, but take a beat before adding your name to the site; I'd be wary that this will be used to blacklist a whole lot of folks. There's a large segment of tech that doesn't see a tenure at Twitter as a positive, for example. Maybe consider hiding the company name.

lispisok 4y ago
There's a large segment of tech that doesn't see a tenure at Twitter as a positive Why?
- blindhippo 4y ago
  Based on what I've read (here, reddit, and sadly the cesspool that is Blind) Twitter engineers are lazy and the epitome of the "rest and vest" career path. So, just software engineers being toxic gatekeepers based on dubious opinions. I've noticed trying to interview at smaller companies with a big tech company on my resume, I get a lot of weird pushback - like the interviewer is actively trying to discard me just to say they did. (anecdotal - so for what it's worth)
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - czbond 4y ago
    I get your perception, and have heard similar from a select few. But the issue is what interviews, recommendations, and firing are meant to solve. I'd bet there are enough people who would still be willing to get Twitterites a chance.
    - dmix 4y ago
      > I'd bet there are enough people who would still be willing to get Twitterites a chance. Yes, of course, other large companies like Facebook and Amazon will always be hiring. Altough I heard Meta is also doing layoffs after their revenue tanked earlier this year, just like Twitter's did. So Amazon is a better example. My buddy worked there and he said 90% of his team just goes on Reddit all day.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
culopatin 4y ago
So if you worked at Twitter for 3 years what do you do? Have a 3 year gap in your resume? If the company doesn’t want Twitter employees you were not going to get a job there anyway.
winphone1974 4y ago
This is ridiculous, and I imagine it's only true for one Twitter employee who's only been there for a very short time. If this was the case how would you expect these people to get a job if they got further down the funnel? Do you think a big unexplained gap in your timeline is better then having worked at Twitter?
pevey 4y ago
If a potential employer really thinks that about all Twitter employees, you don’t want to work there. SV-style companies are going through a typical cycle where the money was cheap and flowed freely, and now it does not. So those companies are adjusting. Sure as rain, we will come full circle again, eventually. In the meantime… Having lived in the Bay Area a few years, but having spent most of my life and most of my career outside of it, I can tell you that tech in general is not downsizing. It can seem that way if you are based in SV or in a VC-funded company. “Boring businesses” are still hungry for good tech talent. Those companies might actually be profitable and even have a long track record of being profitable. Consider a short tour of duty to see what comes of some time at one of those companies. As fair warning, these companies can be unfriendly to tech outsiders who charge in and think they know better how to run their businesses (see mention of long-term profits). So maybe that is where an idea of bias against Twitter employees comes from. But this is just about personal mindset. Most of these companies would very much like to bring on more tech talent with the right attitude to help them modernize. Best of luck to all who are looking. Stay positive, and consider expanding your search horizon. Many industries have low-hanging fruit for people with the right skills, and you could make a real difference. It doesn’t mean you have to stay forever.
- Dingo24 4y ago
  I wouldn't say everybody thinks that way, but as an employee of what you referred to as a "boring business", I wouldn't want to hire any of these folks due to the fear that they have a mindset like you. At least not for any sort of senior role. We are profitable and have been for nearly 100 years precisely because we don't have the same perspective on "modernization" that many not boring SV companies have. We've been burned enough hiring folks who would end up refusing to give any effort the minute they found out they would be responsible for adding small features to systems that have been in production for 20 years (we inform them of this, but they generally think they will be able to impress us of their genius and get us to change our mind). Or they refuse to adhere to processes that they falsely believe to be outdated, or they suck at anything that isn't JavaScript/Web, or constantly try to expand requirements in the direction of vanity efforts. Additionally, everybody I've ever met from these places almost universally think they are hotshots that ought to immediately be given senior level salaries and responsibilities due to prior experience at a tech company. Sorry, but at real businesses that actually make money and have survived dire economic circumstances in the past, it doesn't work like that. I'm sure there are exceptions, and certainly there are plenty of actual hotshots at companies like Google. But they are generally hotshots at things that boring businesses don't need. We will never in a million years have any reason whatsoever to implement Kubernetes. Sorry. As of right now, we prefer to hire from other similarly boring businesses, or train up from entry level IT positions, or hire directly from local colleges.
dmix 4y ago
"Skillset: spent 2 years at Twitter's climate crisis division fighting disinformation"
Manuel_D 4y ago
Aren't they just going to find out that info from your resume?

lispisok 4y ago

There's a large segment of tech that doesn't see a tenure at Twitter as a positive Why?

blindhippo 4y ago
Based on what I've read (here, reddit, and sadly the cesspool that is Blind) Twitter engineers are lazy and the epitome of the "rest and vest" career path. So, just software engineers being toxic gatekeepers based on dubious opinions. I've noticed trying to interview at smaller companies with a big tech company on my resume, I get a lot of weird pushback - like the interviewer is actively trying to discard me just to say they did. (anecdotal - so for what it's worth)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- czbond 4y ago
  I get your perception, and have heard similar from a select few. But the issue is what interviews, recommendations, and firing are meant to solve. I'd bet there are enough people who would still be willing to get Twitterites a chance.
  - dmix 4y ago
    > I'd bet there are enough people who would still be willing to get Twitterites a chance. Yes, of course, other large companies like Facebook and Amazon will always be hiring. Altough I heard Meta is also doing layoffs after their revenue tanked earlier this year, just like Twitter's did. So Amazon is a better example. My buddy worked there and he said 90% of his team just goes on Reddit all day.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

culopatin 4y ago

So if you worked at Twitter for 3 years what do you do? Have a 3 year gap in your resume? If the company doesn’t want Twitter employees you were not going to get a job there anyway.

winphone1974 4y ago

This is ridiculous, and I imagine it's only true for one Twitter employee who's only been there for a very short time. If this was the case how would you expect these people to get a job if they got further down the funnel? Do you think a big unexplained gap in your timeline is better then having worked at Twitter?

pevey 4y ago

If a potential employer really thinks that about all Twitter employees, you don’t want to work there. SV-style companies are going through a typical cycle where the money was cheap and flowed freely, and now it does not. So those companies are adjusting. Sure as rain, we will come full circle again, eventually. In the meantime… Having lived in the Bay Area a few years, but having spent most of my life and most of my career outside of it, I can tell you that tech in general is not downsizing. It can seem that way if you are based in SV or in a VC-funded company. “Boring businesses” are still hungry for good tech talent. Those companies might actually be profitable and even have a long track record of being profitable. Consider a short tour of duty to see what comes of some time at one of those companies. As fair warning, these companies can be unfriendly to tech outsiders who charge in and think they know better how to run their businesses (see mention of long-term profits). So maybe that is where an idea of bias against Twitter employees comes from. But this is just about personal mindset. Most of these companies would very much like to bring on more tech talent with the right attitude to help them modernize. Best of luck to all who are looking. Stay positive, and consider expanding your search horizon. Many industries have low-hanging fruit for people with the right skills, and you could make a real difference. It doesn’t mean you have to stay forever.

Dingo24 4y ago
I wouldn't say everybody thinks that way, but as an employee of what you referred to as a "boring business", I wouldn't want to hire any of these folks due to the fear that they have a mindset like you. At least not for any sort of senior role. We are profitable and have been for nearly 100 years precisely because we don't have the same perspective on "modernization" that many not boring SV companies have. We've been burned enough hiring folks who would end up refusing to give any effort the minute they found out they would be responsible for adding small features to systems that have been in production for 20 years (we inform them of this, but they generally think they will be able to impress us of their genius and get us to change our mind). Or they refuse to adhere to processes that they falsely believe to be outdated, or they suck at anything that isn't JavaScript/Web, or constantly try to expand requirements in the direction of vanity efforts. Additionally, everybody I've ever met from these places almost universally think they are hotshots that ought to immediately be given senior level salaries and responsibilities due to prior experience at a tech company. Sorry, but at real businesses that actually make money and have survived dire economic circumstances in the past, it doesn't work like that. I'm sure there are exceptions, and certainly there are plenty of actual hotshots at companies like Google. But they are generally hotshots at things that boring businesses don't need. We will never in a million years have any reason whatsoever to implement Kubernetes. Sorry. As of right now, we prefer to hire from other similarly boring businesses, or train up from entry level IT positions, or hire directly from local colleges.

dmix 4y ago

"Skillset: spent 2 years at Twitter's climate crisis division fighting disinformation"

Manuel_D 4y ago

Aren't they just going to find out that info from your resume?