4 ms·

I've got to agree with you. I recently started getting serious about changing positions and I've become completely convinced that much of the so-called 'talent

I've got to agree with you. I recently started getting serious about changing positions and I've become completely convinced that much of the so-called 'talent shortage' is caused by the job search process, from job listings through to interviews. Every step is unintentionally outrageous in a new way. The first step, finding open positions that are appropriate to your skills and abilities, is overwhelming and impossible. The only way you have any hope of short circuiting it is to have connections with the right people who can open the maze from the inside. Or to become famous in a community. Otherwise, it's a slog of browsing through hundreds of job listings, finding the one in 20 that isn't for .NET or MS-SQL or C# or Oracle, and the 1 in 50 that's not from a recruiter who's listed the same job 5 times, realizing that you aren't qualified because you haven't used the all 4 languages they care about, or maybe because you've only dabbled with some key piece of tech they're convinced you need 3 years experience with, or they won't look at candidates who need to relocate, or you absolutely need to know Red Hat when you've pretty much used Ubuntu derivatives or Arch or whatever. Then you waste time adjusting your resume, and never hear back. Those you do hear back from will often mis-represent themselves and their businesses in an attempt to get hires. In fact, I was a victim of this at my current job. Oh well. All I need to do is start spending all my evenings and weekends on side projects while building an impressive blog to talk about coding and technology. Once it's popular with the Hacker New digerati all I'll need to do is wait... After all, we all know 'talent' is code for 'marketing.'

resu_nimda 14y ago
If my recent experiences are any indication, the secret is to go to hackathons and developer meetups. In the past I've gone through that whole painful and impersonal process you've described. It has actually shocked me how effective this approach has been, and I wasn't even trying (I was just there to hack and learn). You get to have real conversations with people who understand you, and you can easily walk away a couple of those inside connections. Also, the companies that send people to those events (more accurately, those that hire people who will attend of their own volition), seem to be more likely to have sane hiring processes. The two that I have been in talks with have actually made me feel "recruited," and follow most of the points in the article, which is a nice change (and I certainly don't have rockstar status or really any public image).
- pyre 14y ago
  I've gone to meetups, gotten business cards, but my emails just ended up going into a black hole.
michaelochurch 14y ago
I recently started getting serious about changing positions and I've become completely convinced that much of the so-called 'talent shortage' is caused by the job search process, from job listings through to interviews. Every step is unintentionally outrageous in a new way. Yep. Bilateral mismatch. Here's the dirty truth: people don't actually care about talent or even how good you are at your job. They just want to get a mission fulfilled. That'd be fine, with competent execution-- hire the right kind of person, get it done and done well, make your money and move on to something better. The problem is that it seems that 90 percent of them have no clue what they want or how to evaluate the relevant talents, and there's a hardcore Design Paradox effect going on as well. By the way, I'm pretty well-known at this point. I'm probably in the 96-97th percentile for programming skill and 99th for loudness. It makes job searching easier to be "a quantity" and I'm finally getting to a point where it opens up some great options... but I've still dealt with a lot of frustration. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Those you do hear back from will often mis-represent themselves and their businesses in an attempt to get hires. In fact, I was a victim of this at my current job. This is a problem in stodgy bureaucracies and VC-istan. In the former, it's because in Douchebagland, one's value is based on how many reports he has-- not what those reports actually do-- so bringing in marginal people through dishonest means improves the boss's resume. In the latter, it has more to do with the way companies are valued by investors and acquirers-- some $X million per employee.
potatolicious 14y ago
> "The first step, finding open positions that are appropriate to your skills and abilities, is overwhelming and impossible. The only way you have any hope of short circuiting it is to have connections with the right people who can open the maze from the inside. Or to become famous in a community." You don't need to be famous, not even close. You did get it right though - you do have to know people. Finding your next job is something you should be doing before you're actually thinking about leaving your current one. Go to meetups, look up interesting companies in your area and make yourself known to them - you'd be surprised how many people are willing to chat even with the knowledge that there's a 0% chance of you jumping ship in the foreseeable future. It's not only a great way to get your name out there and make a few contacts, but it's also a great way to find out what's happening in your local tech community. It is also necessary. In my experience the best employers and the best positions fulfill primarily via word of mouth. By the time a job hits a major job site it means the employer has already failed their first-choice option (i.e., a known referral by a trusted entity).

resu_nimda 14y ago

If my recent experiences are any indication, the secret is to go to hackathons and developer meetups. In the past I've gone through that whole painful and impersonal process you've described. It has actually shocked me how effective this approach has been, and I wasn't even trying (I was just there to hack and learn). You get to have real conversations with people who understand you, and you can easily walk away a couple of those inside connections. Also, the companies that send people to those events (more accurately, those that hire people who will attend of their own volition), seem to be more likely to have sane hiring processes. The two that I have been in talks with have actually made me feel "recruited," and follow most of the points in the article, which is a nice change (and I certainly don't have rockstar status or really any public image).

pyre 14y ago
I've gone to meetups, gotten business cards, but my emails just ended up going into a black hole.

michaelochurch 14y ago

I recently started getting serious about changing positions and I've become completely convinced that much of the so-called 'talent shortage' is caused by the job search process, from job listings through to interviews. Every step is unintentionally outrageous in a new way. Yep. Bilateral mismatch. Here's the dirty truth: people don't actually care about talent or even how good you are at your job. They just want to get a mission fulfilled. That'd be fine, with competent execution-- hire the right kind of person, get it done and done well, make your money and move on to something better. The problem is that it seems that 90 percent of them have no clue what they want or how to evaluate the relevant talents, and there's a hardcore Design Paradox effect going on as well. By the way, I'm pretty well-known at this point. I'm probably in the 96-97th percentile for programming skill and 99th for loudness. It makes job searching easier to be "a quantity" and I'm finally getting to a point where it opens up some great options... but I've still dealt with a lot of frustration. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Those you do hear back from will often mis-represent themselves and their businesses in an attempt to get hires. In fact, I was a victim of this at my current job. This is a problem in stodgy bureaucracies and VC-istan. In the former, it's because in Douchebagland, one's value is based on how many reports he has-- not what those reports actually do-- so bringing in marginal people through dishonest means improves the boss's resume. In the latter, it has more to do with the way companies are valued by investors and acquirers-- some $X million per employee.

potatolicious 14y ago

> "The first step, finding open positions that are appropriate to your skills and abilities, is overwhelming and impossible. The only way you have any hope of short circuiting it is to have connections with the right people who can open the maze from the inside. Or to become famous in a community." You don't need to be famous, not even close. You did get it right though - you do have to know people. Finding your next job is something you should be doing before you're actually thinking about leaving your current one. Go to meetups, look up interesting companies in your area and make yourself known to them - you'd be surprised how many people are willing to chat even with the knowledge that there's a 0% chance of you jumping ship in the foreseeable future. It's not only a great way to get your name out there and make a few contacts, but it's also a great way to find out what's happening in your local tech community. It is also necessary. In my experience the best employers and the best positions fulfill primarily via word of mouth. By the time a job hits a major job site it means the employer has already failed their first-choice option (i.e., a known referral by a trusted entity).