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I am OK with being vulnerable but you can't explain certain things to ignorant recruiters, middle managers or CEOs. You can explain things to them but they will

by jbirer 4y ago

I am OK with being vulnerable but you can't explain certain things to ignorant recruiters, middle managers or CEOs. You can explain things to them but they will have an idealized uninformed idea in their head and compare what you said that to that. A good example is recruiters demanding 10 years of Solidity when Ethereum was launched in 2015. If you tell them that, they will get butthurt because you contradicted them or showed that they are uninformed about a topic, but if you just claim you have 10 years of experience, they will be happy in their bubble and hire you. Of course, this is a different ball game when you are discussing with someone who also has programming / technical skills, for example, project managers with programming skills. You can explain certain decisions, troubles, and imperfections to them and they will get it. But someone who has no experience in the field will just make a negative assumption and run with it.

thwayunion 4y ago
My favorite ads like this are the string of Foxconn ads that have come out over the years. All of their ML jobs required N+3 years of experience with PyTorch where N was the age of PyTorch. Etc. Anyone could tell the "silicon valley" thing was a hoax by just reading job ads. I just looked at their current postings and there's even one that asks for a "Computer Vision Software Engineer" whose job will be "porting 3rd party functions or GPL", which is pretty transparently the result of a game of telephone that start with "'rewrite' FOSS code so we don't have to follow the license terms". (Which in CV probably isn't even going to help because that whole space is extremely patent encumbered... in that space, if you're "porting" code you are almost certainly infringing patents). https://foxconnjobs.net/job/computer-vision-software-engineer-at-fii-usa-mount-pleasant/854 https://foxconnjobs.net/job/computer-vision-software-enginee...
- anonymouskimmer 4y ago
  These ads seem to be searching for people who don't mind fudging the truth for profit. A genuine feature, not a bug, perhaps?
3pt14159 4y ago
In the long run this is counterproductive. First, you end up working with people that make it past recruiters that require you to lie. Second, you don't end up practicing the skills of tactfully educating someone that is a gatekeeper. For example, if someone said something like that to me I'd say something like "oh, well, the person who sent you that requirement must have meant cryptocurrency experience since, Solidity hasn't been out that long." No need to make some less technical recruiter feel stupid. Third, you develop the skin you need when you are really wrong and can't hide it. If you fail and take ownership of it routinely enough it will allow you to accept it better when you have no choice.
- SQueeeeeL 4y ago
  Working for a toxic boss who doesn't understand what you're up to really shook this expectation. Sometimes you just gotta keep that paycheck. It's not my problem that the CEO can't hire smart managers.
  - 3pt14159 4y ago
    Where are the fire engines this time guys?
pram 4y ago
The best recruitment spam I’ve ever seen was a 6 month contract in some awful backwater. It required “20 years of Linux experience” and “10 years of Xen development” I’m laughing just thinking about it.
ahuth 4y ago
Good point. I should’ve talked more about _when_ it’s appropriate to talk about challenges.

by jbirer 4y ago

thwayunion 4y ago

My favorite ads like this are the string of Foxconn ads that have come out over the years. All of their ML jobs required N+3 years of experience with PyTorch where N was the age of PyTorch. Etc. Anyone could tell the "silicon valley" thing was a hoax by just reading job ads. I just looked at their current postings and there's even one that asks for a "Computer Vision Software Engineer" whose job will be "porting 3rd party functions or GPL", which is pretty transparently the result of a game of telephone that start with "'rewrite' FOSS code so we don't have to follow the license terms". (Which in CV probably isn't even going to help because that whole space is extremely patent encumbered... in that space, if you're "porting" code you are almost certainly infringing patents). https://foxconnjobs.net/job/computer-vision-software-engineer-at-fii-usa-mount-pleasant/854 https://foxconnjobs.net/job/computer-vision-software-enginee...

anonymouskimmer 4y ago
These ads seem to be searching for people who don't mind fudging the truth for profit. A genuine feature, not a bug, perhaps?

3pt14159 4y ago

In the long run this is counterproductive. First, you end up working with people that make it past recruiters that require you to lie. Second, you don't end up practicing the skills of tactfully educating someone that is a gatekeeper. For example, if someone said something like that to me I'd say something like "oh, well, the person who sent you that requirement must have meant cryptocurrency experience since, Solidity hasn't been out that long." No need to make some less technical recruiter feel stupid. Third, you develop the skin you need when you are really wrong and can't hide it. If you fail and take ownership of it routinely enough it will allow you to accept it better when you have no choice.

SQueeeeeL 4y ago
Working for a toxic boss who doesn't understand what you're up to really shook this expectation. Sometimes you just gotta keep that paycheck. It's not my problem that the CEO can't hire smart managers.
- 3pt14159 4y ago
  Where are the fire engines this time guys?

pram 4y ago

The best recruitment spam I’ve ever seen was a 6 month contract in some awful backwater. It required “20 years of Linux experience” and “10 years of Xen development” I’m laughing just thinking about it.

ahuth 4y ago

Good point. I should’ve talked more about _when_ it’s appropriate to talk about challenges.