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Thanks for your comments. Whilst we cannot remove ambiguity completely from our solution - we can minimise it. The ambiguity of text really comes into play in C

by GordyMD 12y ago

Thanks for your comments. Whilst we cannot remove ambiguity completely from our solution - we can minimise it. The ambiguity of text really comes into play in CVs and job descriptions. We attempt to minimise the ambiguity by asking software engineers/anyone involved in software development to describe their work in a uniform way and not relying up the traditional artefacts. So whilst the terms have ambiguity to them, companies and people are answering the same question and we are using those answers to match people so that they can begin a conversation.

arno_v 12y ago
Ok, if you are indeed asking the same questions that helps. I would add some information per item with some explanation or definition, so it is as clear as possible what is meant by the different terms.
- GordyMD 12y ago
  It is available right now if you hover over the labels on the chart. It is definitely not immediately obvious though so we shall have to work on that - thanks!
scrapcode 12y ago
I've got a problem. I've been coding for 12 years, yet have zero professional experience. How does your service rank me?
- GordyMD 12y ago
  We don't do any ranking per se we just present how you want to spend your time. So it does not factor it in. It is up to you to decide what level of seniority the type of position you would consider going for. It might be a bit misleading that we use Github for sign up right now, this is mainly just to ensure only developers are signing up - as the service only exists for them currently. We do not use Github for any number crunching.
TheOtherHobbes 12y ago
I find it interesting that your graph leaves out any mention of innovation or invention. It also ignores corporate cultures. Backend engineering for a web startup is very different to backend engineering for a Wall St HFT house. I wouldn't expect someone who worked in one to be expert in the other. Even within the web startup world, fullstack with MEAN is very different to fullstack with PHP/Apache/MySQL - not just technically, but culturally. So I think what you have is one of those toy models that management love so much. I'd like to see some hard big-sample-size evidence that it really does improve hiring outcomes in practice.
- bendyBus 12y ago
  (1) Surely culture and technology stack are reasonably independent of the dimensions considered here (2) Wouldn't you agree that this asks an important question which is currently absent from the hiring conversation? (3) Even if the spider plot is an imperfect representation, isn't it a helpful starting point for a conversation between a potential employer and employee? (4) I'm not sure what your concern is about toy models and management. All models are toy models, the only thing which matters is whether they lead you to ask the right questions.
jghn 12y ago
I like the concept but personally when I look at a resume I never* look at job titles anyways - they're effectively meaningless when compared between companies. Instead I read what they self-describe themselves to be doing, which is basically what you're doing albeit in visual form. * Within a single company titles usually are meaningful, so title changes while staying at the same company I'll take note of - particularly promotions
- exelius 12y ago
  Once you get to a certain size of company, you have the normal career path of (entry level functional job) > manager > director > vice president. Depending on the size of the company, there may be sub-levels such as junior/assistant > senior > executive/general. The levels usually mean the same thing across companies. If someone goes from a manager to a director at a big company, that usually means something. Depending on the company, some titles can have negative connotations - "executive director" at many companies means "director who will never get promoted to VP". Also, if they worked at a bank, "vice president" means nothing. Nearly everyone working at a bank is a vice president - government regulations restrict access to certain customer data and the ability to enact transactions on behalf of the bank to VP and above, so the solution is to just give everyone the title of VP.
  - jghn 12y ago
    I'm thinking more in the realm of things software developers (as that's what TFA is focused on) are often referred to as. For instance, an anecdote I like to give here is that I've worked at companies where "senior software engineer" meant "we didn't hire you fresh out of college and you're not a manager" (i.e. nearly everyone) and I've worked at places where SSE meant "you're nearly a manager in terms of seniority" I was going to make the VP at a bank point but you already did for me :)
    - exelius 12y ago
      Yeah, I will agree that below manager level titles are pretty meaningless in general.

by GordyMD 12y ago

arno_v 12y ago

Ok, if you are indeed asking the same questions that helps. I would add some information per item with some explanation or definition, so it is as clear as possible what is meant by the different terms.

GordyMD 12y ago
It is available right now if you hover over the labels on the chart. It is definitely not immediately obvious though so we shall have to work on that - thanks!

scrapcode 12y ago

I've got a problem. I've been coding for 12 years, yet have zero professional experience. How does your service rank me?

GordyMD 12y ago
We don't do any ranking per se we just present how you want to spend your time. So it does not factor it in. It is up to you to decide what level of seniority the type of position you would consider going for. It might be a bit misleading that we use Github for sign up right now, this is mainly just to ensure only developers are signing up - as the service only exists for them currently. We do not use Github for any number crunching.

TheOtherHobbes 12y ago

I find it interesting that your graph leaves out any mention of innovation or invention. It also ignores corporate cultures. Backend engineering for a web startup is very different to backend engineering for a Wall St HFT house. I wouldn't expect someone who worked in one to be expert in the other. Even within the web startup world, fullstack with MEAN is very different to fullstack with PHP/Apache/MySQL - not just technically, but culturally. So I think what you have is one of those toy models that management love so much. I'd like to see some hard big-sample-size evidence that it really does improve hiring outcomes in practice.

bendyBus 12y ago
(1) Surely culture and technology stack are reasonably independent of the dimensions considered here (2) Wouldn't you agree that this asks an important question which is currently absent from the hiring conversation? (3) Even if the spider plot is an imperfect representation, isn't it a helpful starting point for a conversation between a potential employer and employee? (4) I'm not sure what your concern is about toy models and management. All models are toy models, the only thing which matters is whether they lead you to ask the right questions.

jghn 12y ago

I like the concept but personally when I look at a resume I never* look at job titles anyways - they're effectively meaningless when compared between companies. Instead I read what they self-describe themselves to be doing, which is basically what you're doing albeit in visual form. * Within a single company titles usually are meaningful, so title changes while staying at the same company I'll take note of - particularly promotions

exelius 12y ago
Once you get to a certain size of company, you have the normal career path of (entry level functional job) > manager > director > vice president. Depending on the size of the company, there may be sub-levels such as junior/assistant > senior > executive/general. The levels usually mean the same thing across companies. If someone goes from a manager to a director at a big company, that usually means something. Depending on the company, some titles can have negative connotations - "executive director" at many companies means "director who will never get promoted to VP". Also, if they worked at a bank, "vice president" means nothing. Nearly everyone working at a bank is a vice president - government regulations restrict access to certain customer data and the ability to enact transactions on behalf of the bank to VP and above, so the solution is to just give everyone the title of VP.
- jghn 12y ago
  I'm thinking more in the realm of things software developers (as that's what TFA is focused on) are often referred to as. For instance, an anecdote I like to give here is that I've worked at companies where "senior software engineer" meant "we didn't hire you fresh out of college and you're not a manager" (i.e. nearly everyone) and I've worked at places where SSE meant "you're nearly a manager in terms of seniority" I was going to make the VP at a bank point but you already did for me :)
  - exelius 12y ago
    Yeah, I will agree that below manager level titles are pretty meaningless in general.