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If I was in your shoes, I'd become your own technical recruiter, pick a far-flung college town or city with a good CS program, and try to relo a crackerjack Pyt

If I was in your shoes, I'd become your own technical recruiter, pick a far-flung college town or city with a good CS program, and try to relo a crackerjack Python dev out of a batch of a dozen you contact. Fly yourself out to Podunk City to seal the deal. Only so many devs come out of bay area schools, and only so many devs relocate out to SF before they have guaranteed employment. There's a lot of pent-up supply of $100k-grade talent pulling in $40k in flyover country. You're going to find and keep those people far easier (and cheaper!) than barking up the same trees (recruiters and H1B) that your contemporaries are.

lgsilver 14y ago
Mchannon, really great advice. Thanks. We've looked at this as an option, especially for longer-term hires. Any recs on strong undersung CS programs?
- mchannon 14y ago
  Strange as it may sound, I wouldn't select solely on the basis of strong programs. You're not trying to hire the program. You're trying to hire a person, one at a time. I've met Stanford graduates I wouldn't hire, even though their programs are world-class. The millennials you're trying to hire have a large component of reactionary talent. Among this subgroup, they don't go out to seek the best offers, and they often settle for lesser offers. You kinda want this subgroup because they're less likely to leave your employ for the next better offer elsewhere. I've met some sharp people from schools like Dickinson State. I'd pick a community where the school's graduates have nowhere close by to go (and are thus hireable, prone to considering your relo offers, and have something to prove that Stanford grads don't). You'd be amazed how many CS graduates are working at Best Buy or Radio Shack because it never occurred to a development firm to interview them. Maybe I should be a recruiter.
noahc 14y ago
Just wanted to point out that in fly over country a first time developer can get close to $70k from recent experience, so I wouldn't expect the $40k number to stick. Although, I will say that it is easier to under price your self in fly over country because your cost of living is much lower.
- mchannon 14y ago
  Exactly. "Can get" and "are getting" are two completely separate things. Even still, $100k at your SOMA startup seems like it would sound a lot better to someone earning $70k in the middle of nowhere than someone earning $100k at an existing job down the street.
  - noahc 14y ago
    I dont want to give away too much but moderately sized metro areas are paying 70k for first time developers.

lgsilver 14y ago

Mchannon, really great advice. Thanks. We've looked at this as an option, especially for longer-term hires. Any recs on strong undersung CS programs?

mchannon 14y ago
Strange as it may sound, I wouldn't select solely on the basis of strong programs. You're not trying to hire the program. You're trying to hire a person, one at a time. I've met Stanford graduates I wouldn't hire, even though their programs are world-class. The millennials you're trying to hire have a large component of reactionary talent. Among this subgroup, they don't go out to seek the best offers, and they often settle for lesser offers. You kinda want this subgroup because they're less likely to leave your employ for the next better offer elsewhere. I've met some sharp people from schools like Dickinson State. I'd pick a community where the school's graduates have nowhere close by to go (and are thus hireable, prone to considering your relo offers, and have something to prove that Stanford grads don't). You'd be amazed how many CS graduates are working at Best Buy or Radio Shack because it never occurred to a development firm to interview them. Maybe I should be a recruiter.

noahc 14y ago

Just wanted to point out that in fly over country a first time developer can get close to $70k from recent experience, so I wouldn't expect the $40k number to stick. Although, I will say that it is easier to under price your self in fly over country because your cost of living is much lower.

mchannon 14y ago
Exactly. "Can get" and "are getting" are two completely separate things. Even still, $100k at your SOMA startup seems like it would sound a lot better to someone earning $70k in the middle of nowhere than someone earning $100k at an existing job down the street.
- noahc 14y ago
  I dont want to give away too much but moderately sized metro areas are paying 70k for first time developers.