4 ms·

Are H-1Bs the "best and brightest"? Or just for companies willing to game the system to get qualified candidates they can treat like garbage? As far as I know,

Are H-1Bs the "best and brightest"? Or just for companies willing to game the system to get qualified candidates they can treat like garbage? As far as I know, the system usually relies on essentially phony job postings made specifically not to get filled (despite, in general, plenty of perfectly qualified applicants who'd otherwise apply). Then, the employees are sort of tied to the employer and can be made to work long hours for substandard pay. Nowhere in the process seems to select for "the best and brightest" as far as I understand.

belltaco 3y ago
> As far as I know, the system usually relies on essentially phony job postings made specifically not to get filled (despite, in general, plenty of perfectly qualified applicants who'd otherwise apply) You're confusing green card applications and H1B, as has been tradition on tech forums since decades.
screye 3y ago
Other than premier pure researchers and university professors, every immigrant programmer I know came here on an H1b. This includes the brightest and best programmers I know.
- cool_dude85 3y ago
  I grew up in Miami and met a great many nice people who came to the US on a boat from Cuba. But the process of coming on a boat does not in any way select for nice people. The H1b program does have some method of selecting for qualification (i.e., you must have a bachelor's degree) but no method of selecting for the "best and brightest." The fact that some of the best and brightest may come in that way is true but irrelevant if the process itself doesn't select for it at all.
  - screye 3y ago
    Oh for sure. The H1B process is completely broken and in dire need of revision. I was talking about how the O-1 is not a sufficient or even ideal visa for extraordinary STEM practitioners. It only selects for a sliver of the overall extraordinary talent pool.

belltaco 3y ago

> As far as I know, the system usually relies on essentially phony job postings made specifically not to get filled (despite, in general, plenty of perfectly qualified applicants who'd otherwise apply) You're confusing green card applications and H1B, as has been tradition on tech forums since decades.

screye 3y ago

Other than premier pure researchers and university professors, every immigrant programmer I know came here on an H1b. This includes the brightest and best programmers I know.

cool_dude85 3y ago
I grew up in Miami and met a great many nice people who came to the US on a boat from Cuba. But the process of coming on a boat does not in any way select for nice people. The H1b program does have some method of selecting for qualification (i.e., you must have a bachelor's degree) but no method of selecting for the "best and brightest." The fact that some of the best and brightest may come in that way is true but irrelevant if the process itself doesn't select for it at all.
- screye 3y ago
  Oh for sure. The H1B process is completely broken and in dire need of revision. I was talking about how the O-1 is not a sufficient or even ideal visa for extraordinary STEM practitioners. It only selects for a sliver of the overall extraordinary talent pool.