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>When I clarified that I only cared about technical material, he replied that he only read technical material on the job, not after hours. He's heard of work/l

by Jiro 4y ago

>When I clarified that I only cared about technical material, he replied that he only read technical material on the job, not after hours. He's heard of work/life balance and doesn't want to do work during unpaid hours. Nobody hires a cashier asking "tell me how you've made cashiering an integral part of your whole life or we won't hire you".

Blackstrat 4y ago
Work/life balance? Yes, work/life balance matters. On the other hand, when one enters a professional field, the expectation of the employer is that they maintain their value. The employer is paying for productivity. The individual has the responsibility of maintaining and enhancing their knowledge. Those thinking otherwise are opening the door to foreign competition, against which they will lose. And comparing software development to cashiering is apples and oranges.
- hnfong 4y ago
  You're saying that if I didn't regularly read technical materials after working hours, I'd have lost value after 10+ years of industry experience compared with my 25 year-old self? It seems very narrow minded to think that newer technologies could be "read" by any classical understanding of the word. I mostly learn new tech by cloning github projects and tinkering with them; or pick some interesting subjects and follow whatever scattered pieces of documentation I could find. You're not going to catch any seasoned engineer reading Machine Learning for Dummies. It would be a much more straightforward question if you just asked the candidates what they learned recently.
  - Blackstrat 4y ago
    Read was all encompassing, I.e. how do you learn/keep up? If one doesn’t, one’s value diminishes. Simple as that. Experimentation coupled with reading is common among SEs. It’s not the company’s responsibility to keep them current. The problem I saw emerging over the last decade or so of my career, was a proliferation of individuals that wanted the money, but didn’t want to put in the effort. And that situation only worsened as they gained more tenure. Couple that with new grads or boot camp graduates, all wanting to start somewhere around 6 figures, and the industry has an issue. Hence, many companies have turned to outsourcing.

by Jiro 4y ago

Blackstrat 4y ago

Work/life balance? Yes, work/life balance matters. On the other hand, when one enters a professional field, the expectation of the employer is that they maintain their value. The employer is paying for productivity. The individual has the responsibility of maintaining and enhancing their knowledge. Those thinking otherwise are opening the door to foreign competition, against which they will lose. And comparing software development to cashiering is apples and oranges.

hnfong 4y ago
You're saying that if I didn't regularly read technical materials after working hours, I'd have lost value after 10+ years of industry experience compared with my 25 year-old self? It seems very narrow minded to think that newer technologies could be "read" by any classical understanding of the word. I mostly learn new tech by cloning github projects and tinkering with them; or pick some interesting subjects and follow whatever scattered pieces of documentation I could find. You're not going to catch any seasoned engineer reading Machine Learning for Dummies. It would be a much more straightforward question if you just asked the candidates what they learned recently.
- Blackstrat 4y ago
  Read was all encompassing, I.e. how do you learn/keep up? If one doesn’t, one’s value diminishes. Simple as that. Experimentation coupled with reading is common among SEs. It’s not the company’s responsibility to keep them current. The problem I saw emerging over the last decade or so of my career, was a proliferation of individuals that wanted the money, but didn’t want to put in the effort. And that situation only worsened as they gained more tenure. Couple that with new grads or boot camp graduates, all wanting to start somewhere around 6 figures, and the industry has an issue. Hence, many companies have turned to outsourcing.