3 ms·

Ask HN: Please Help Us Find Someone

15 points by auston 18y ago

We have been looking for a talented hacker for about 2 months and we can not find anyone in South Florida looking for a job at a start up! We have only had like 3 applicants! We're paying at or above market and providing plenty of perks. We're still in the early stages, so who ever is hired will have a tremendous influence on the company and it's products... We've used SnapTalent, Startuply, Craiglist, CareerBuilder, Krop, Indeed & More! If you know any talented hackers in S. Florida, please send them here: http://www.krop.com/jobs/n6ky3/ or here: http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/eng/907168620.html Thank you HN!

noodle 18y ago
you're just not located in a high tech area (few local candidates), or one that is particularly appealing to hackers (few want to relocate there), in my opinion. i mean, just as an example, i, myself, am looking to relocate and your opening is something i would be interested in applying for. but moving to boca is a turn-off for me, and nothing in your post makes me want to overcome that. you don't mention the pay or perks, etc.. edit: also, if you're not finding success, you might want to consider a remote employee (which i would definitely be interested in applying for, btw). edit2: or a mostly remote employee who spends some time in the office, or something like that
- auston 18y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion. I just changed all the ads to include the perks you would get from working with us.
  - lacker 18y ago
    You consider "Joking (when appropriate)" to be a perk?
  - astrec 18y ago
    Shell-jitsu? Joking (when appropriate)? Would that be in the sweet break room or somewhere else? You're a startup, so hiring me is quite risky. Given the location, working for you entails some risk on my behalf. Your ad is casual in all the wrong places - you're trying too hard. Instead, try and improve the tone so that you sound both casual and effortlessly professional. Sell me your product; tell me what sort of startup you are (VC, angel, bootstrapped); give me ballpark dollar figure; tell me about equity; tell me why I should be excited about your technology. Sell the role.
    - noodle 18y ago
      ah, i was right about to post this. yes, you're a startup in a down market where startups are slicing employees left and right. a double whammy when you consider the stuff i mentioned earlier. you're going to have to convince people to [leave stable jobs and] apply. step it up, give more info on the company, hard facts, benefits (401k? health? etc.), salary range, etc.. for what its worth, i'm considering dropping my resume in just to see what you guys have to offer.
      - auston 18y ago
        please do!
adriannyc777 18y ago
Supporting the fam any way I can...
babyshake 18y ago
I'd strongly consider going with some working remotely. If you can find someone who is a self-starter, it shouldn't be much of a problem. If you manage to survive (get revenue??) for the next few months, then you can figure out the next step.
mcdowall 18y ago
Why not advertise the post on Elance / Guru, if anything at least if you put the project on there you will get a host of companies (mainly India based) that can work remotely. Might be worthwhile outsourcing some so at least you are gathering some momentum for someone to take over.
Brushfire 18y ago
Let me preface this by saying I've had similar problems in other parts of the country when hiring developers. Below is just a loose collection of thoughts/ideas on the topic. Your job post is probably only halfway there in attracting totally awesome people. You dont make the job sound AWESOME. 1 - There are no specifics mentioned regarding compensation. Although this is the standard elsewhere in the world, and for non-hacking jobs, we had much more success just being completely upfront with people about what we were offering and why, including stock/healthcare/benefits. Hackers are generally pretty no-nonsense people when it comes to $$, and in your area (like ours) your best chance of getting someone is stealing them from another software job. Generally people don't list exact salary because either (A) they dont want to tell so that they can feel you out (what was your salary at your last job bullshit) or (B) its actually under market pay. If you are SURE you are over market average, say so with actual numbers. If you aren't, then don't expect to find someone quickly. 2 - The remote worker is a good idea if your team can handle it and your requirements don't change rapidly. Regardless, to everyone saying 'remote is the way to go' this is very hard to find and hard to make work for most teams. It shouldn't be, but it is. 3 - Pictures actually do a lot of good in attracting good talent. Is your office neat? or boring. Are the desks awesome? or crappy. Are the monitors big? Chairs Comfortable? People Friendly looking? Pictures answer all of these questions, hopefully to your benefit! 4 - You might start by trying to find someone who wants to do part-time or contract work, but who is local. They may already have a job, but want some extra cash. You wont get to place the same time or job constraints on them, but you may get better work. And if you really like them, you'll be in a better place after 2-3 months to really make them an offer they cant resist. 5 - Startups are tricky in other parts of the country than CA and MA. If someone quits their job to work for you, they may have to find another in 6 months. This means you wont get many people to move to your job from a national job circuit. In addition, it also makes it hard to steal someone from a bigger/existing software job. This is something you will either have to overcome by showing them how well funded you are (VC?), or that you are already making $$ (are you?). Anyways, hope this helps, good luck. At one point we waited 9 months to find the right developer, and it really paid off, but the waiting sucks balls.
- lacker 18y ago
  I agree with the comment on mentioning compensation more explicitly. I have known several startups that were clueless about what "market rate" really is. Prove you aren't going to waste their time. It also shows whether you are looking for a great developer or just an average one.
vaksel 18y ago
at your stage you gotta hit up local colleges.
- auston 18y ago
  Will do.
Dilpil 18y ago
You may actually already have all of the talented hackers in Florida working for you. More likely, you have all the talented hackers who are willing to sacrifice job security for excitement and potential upside.
- spydez 18y ago
  Eh, I live in mid-Florida, and rumor has it there's another dude somewhere in the panhandle...
  - khafra 18y ago
    Central FL I can believe--I know a few others here in Tampa Bay--but the panhandle? That's like telling me you know a guy whose brother-in-law saw a Yeti-in the Sahara desert.
- wensing 18y ago
  I may not be a seriou5 haxxor, but I live in West Palm Beach and co-founded Stormpulse.com, FWIW. South Florida is very hit or miss when it comes to talented programmers. It's amazing how many people down here still think ColdFusion is the future. My friend and co-worker ('sheats' on HN) came to work with me at The Palm Beach Post after leaving a startup that was well-funded but complete FAIL (no business model, almost no utility, hairball codebase).
lacker 18y ago
I would try to attract someone who thought the job itself sounded interesting. But I can't figure out what you want your new employee to do. What exactly is "lead management software"? Why is it cool, and why is your company likely to succeed?
thorax 18y ago
South Florida has a few companies with really good hackers, but they're pretty much not working on any web applications outside of major IT groups down there. It's an absolutely amazing place to live, so if you offered relocation, you might have more takers.
wensing 18y ago
This is ominous, since The Palm Beach Post (my employer) just put out a job listing for a Python coder to join our group.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]

15 points by auston 18y ago

noodle 18y ago

you're just not located in a high tech area (few local candidates), or one that is particularly appealing to hackers (few want to relocate there), in my opinion. i mean, just as an example, i, myself, am looking to relocate and your opening is something i would be interested in applying for. but moving to boca is a turn-off for me, and nothing in your post makes me want to overcome that. you don't mention the pay or perks, etc.. edit: also, if you're not finding success, you might want to consider a remote employee (which i would definitely be interested in applying for, btw). edit2: or a mostly remote employee who spends some time in the office, or something like that

auston 18y ago
Thanks for the suggestion. I just changed all the ads to include the perks you would get from working with us.
- lacker 18y ago
  You consider "Joking (when appropriate)" to be a perk?
- astrec 18y ago
  Shell-jitsu? Joking (when appropriate)? Would that be in the sweet break room or somewhere else? You're a startup, so hiring me is quite risky. Given the location, working for you entails some risk on my behalf. Your ad is casual in all the wrong places - you're trying too hard. Instead, try and improve the tone so that you sound both casual and effortlessly professional. Sell me your product; tell me what sort of startup you are (VC, angel, bootstrapped); give me ballpark dollar figure; tell me about equity; tell me why I should be excited about your technology. Sell the role.
  - noodle 18y ago
    ah, i was right about to post this. yes, you're a startup in a down market where startups are slicing employees left and right. a double whammy when you consider the stuff i mentioned earlier. you're going to have to convince people to [leave stable jobs and] apply. step it up, give more info on the company, hard facts, benefits (401k? health? etc.), salary range, etc.. for what its worth, i'm considering dropping my resume in just to see what you guys have to offer.
    - auston 18y ago
      please do!

adriannyc777 18y ago

Supporting the fam any way I can...

babyshake 18y ago

I'd strongly consider going with some working remotely. If you can find someone who is a self-starter, it shouldn't be much of a problem. If you manage to survive (get revenue??) for the next few months, then you can figure out the next step.

mcdowall 18y ago

Why not advertise the post on Elance / Guru, if anything at least if you put the project on there you will get a host of companies (mainly India based) that can work remotely. Might be worthwhile outsourcing some so at least you are gathering some momentum for someone to take over.

Brushfire 18y ago

Let me preface this by saying I've had similar problems in other parts of the country when hiring developers. Below is just a loose collection of thoughts/ideas on the topic. Your job post is probably only halfway there in attracting totally awesome people. You dont make the job sound AWESOME. 1 - There are no specifics mentioned regarding compensation. Although this is the standard elsewhere in the world, and for non-hacking jobs, we had much more success just being completely upfront with people about what we were offering and why, including stock/healthcare/benefits. Hackers are generally pretty no-nonsense people when it comes to $$, and in your area (like ours) your best chance of getting someone is stealing them from another software job. Generally people don't list exact salary because either (A) they dont want to tell so that they can feel you out (what was your salary at your last job bullshit) or (B) its actually under market pay. If you are SURE you are over market average, say so with actual numbers. If you aren't, then don't expect to find someone quickly. 2 - The remote worker is a good idea if your team can handle it and your requirements don't change rapidly. Regardless, to everyone saying 'remote is the way to go' this is very hard to find and hard to make work for most teams. It shouldn't be, but it is. 3 - Pictures actually do a lot of good in attracting good talent. Is your office neat? or boring. Are the desks awesome? or crappy. Are the monitors big? Chairs Comfortable? People Friendly looking? Pictures answer all of these questions, hopefully to your benefit! 4 - You might start by trying to find someone who wants to do part-time or contract work, but who is local. They may already have a job, but want some extra cash. You wont get to place the same time or job constraints on them, but you may get better work. And if you really like them, you'll be in a better place after 2-3 months to really make them an offer they cant resist. 5 - Startups are tricky in other parts of the country than CA and MA. If someone quits their job to work for you, they may have to find another in 6 months. This means you wont get many people to move to your job from a national job circuit. In addition, it also makes it hard to steal someone from a bigger/existing software job. This is something you will either have to overcome by showing them how well funded you are (VC?), or that you are already making $$ (are you?). Anyways, hope this helps, good luck. At one point we waited 9 months to find the right developer, and it really paid off, but the waiting sucks balls.

lacker 18y ago
I agree with the comment on mentioning compensation more explicitly. I have known several startups that were clueless about what "market rate" really is. Prove you aren't going to waste their time. It also shows whether you are looking for a great developer or just an average one.

vaksel 18y ago

at your stage you gotta hit up local colleges.

auston 18y ago
Will do.

Dilpil 18y ago

You may actually already have all of the talented hackers in Florida working for you. More likely, you have all the talented hackers who are willing to sacrifice job security for excitement and potential upside.

spydez 18y ago
Eh, I live in mid-Florida, and rumor has it there's another dude somewhere in the panhandle...
- khafra 18y ago
  Central FL I can believe--I know a few others here in Tampa Bay--but the panhandle? That's like telling me you know a guy whose brother-in-law saw a Yeti-in the Sahara desert.
wensing 18y ago
I may not be a seriou5 haxxor, but I live in West Palm Beach and co-founded Stormpulse.com, FWIW. South Florida is very hit or miss when it comes to talented programmers. It's amazing how many people down here still think ColdFusion is the future. My friend and co-worker ('sheats' on HN) came to work with me at The Palm Beach Post after leaving a startup that was well-funded but complete FAIL (no business model, almost no utility, hairball codebase).

lacker 18y ago

I would try to attract someone who thought the job itself sounded interesting. But I can't figure out what you want your new employee to do. What exactly is "lead management software"? Why is it cool, and why is your company likely to succeed?

thorax 18y ago

South Florida has a few companies with really good hackers, but they're pretty much not working on any web applications outside of major IT groups down there. It's an absolutely amazing place to live, so if you offered relocation, you might have more takers.

wensing 18y ago

This is ominous, since The Palm Beach Post (my employer) just put out a job listing for a Python coder to join our group.

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]