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So please bare with me as these are the questions of an outsider looking in. For background: I'm a Canadian software engineering graduate, I'm working towards

by TheCapn 15y ago

So please bare with me as these are the questions of an outsider looking in. For background: I'm a Canadian software engineering graduate, I'm working towards my P.Eng. and have a IEEE Computer Society certification. What sort of "shortage" does Silicon Valley have? tosseraccount's post leans more towards the idea that there is this huge disconnect between available worker's expectations and potential employer's expectations. Am I lead to believe there is this gap with two groups of people staring at each other? When I graduated one of my profs dropped an offer for me to apply to somewhere in California. I had already accepted a position with a place that I wanted to work at locally because I was not really willing to move out of my country for something that was very sudden and - seemingly - insecure as far as job security goes. With posts like these it makes me believe that his offer was more legitamate than I had given it at the time. Is the Silicon Valley hub really desperate for engineers? This peaks my interest in the sense of possibly regaining contact with him to see what he has to pitch.

GuiA 15y ago
To put it in a concise (and possibly politically incorrect) way: Yes, Silicon Valley is desperate for engineers. However, Silicon Valley is desperate for engineers who are in the 0.1% of the engineer population in terms of intellect, motivation, adaptability, etc. These are hard to find, first of all because it's 0.1% of the population (so it just boils down to a numbers game), and second of all because often these individuals will rather work on their own thing rather then work under someone else's orders. If you have the potential of a John Resig, Ben Kamens, or Craig Silverstein, you won't have any trouble finding a job, and you'll have every startup at your feet. If you're "just" an OK engineer, then SV is not going to move mountains for you, unlike what some have said.
- TheCapn 15y ago
  Well, I don't blame them. If you're walking a thin line between success/failure you want "the best" with you and often "the best" want to do it on their own (like you said). Makes perfect sense; thanks for the reply.

by TheCapn 15y ago

GuiA 15y ago

To put it in a concise (and possibly politically incorrect) way: Yes, Silicon Valley is desperate for engineers. However, Silicon Valley is desperate for engineers who are in the 0.1% of the engineer population in terms of intellect, motivation, adaptability, etc. These are hard to find, first of all because it's 0.1% of the population (so it just boils down to a numbers game), and second of all because often these individuals will rather work on their own thing rather then work under someone else's orders. If you have the potential of a John Resig, Ben Kamens, or Craig Silverstein, you won't have any trouble finding a job, and you'll have every startup at your feet. If you're "just" an OK engineer, then SV is not going to move mountains for you, unlike what some have said.

TheCapn 15y ago
Well, I don't blame them. If you're walking a thin line between success/failure you want "the best" with you and often "the best" want to do it on their own (like you said). Makes perfect sense; thanks for the reply.