5 ms·
"Calderon learned to code at an intense boot camp for Latinos. She says the men in her class have had an easier time getting jobs than the women, even though th
by paulhauggis 11y ago
"Calderon learned to code at an intense boot camp for Latinos. She says the men in her class have had an easier time getting jobs than the women, even though they learned the same skills."
Honestly, after reading this, it really makes me wonder about why she wasn't getting hired. A bootcamp in coding isn't going to really give you enough skills to do the job.
Superficially, you might be able to get a few things to work and mash together some frameworks, but to truly understand, it takes many more years of learning and discipline.
I wouldn't hire someone that only went through a bootcamp for a developer position.
- randall 11y agoI would if they were aligned with the company mission. I'd hire basically any ex professional video editor / producer with boot camp coding experience. I want engineers who empathize first. I don't need the 10x engineer who doesn't care. That probably will change as our company grows, but the first maybe 10 engineering hires should probably empathize with the problem for which you're solving, vs be a top flight cs major.
- busterarm 11y agoYour company looks like it's doing something seriously cool. It sort of reminds me of how revolutionary Video Toaster was back when Amigas were a thing. I wish I knew more about this space - Video is super interesting and a problem I would love to work on.
- randall 11y agoWell we're not hiring yet but we should chat!
- jtreminio 11y ago> "I think, overall, when I do go interview, I kind of have I guess what some people would term flamboyant taste in colors and patterns," she says. "I do tend to wear very like loud and dangly and big earrings and I have gone in like bright green sports coats and things like that, but I still think are professional — they're just colorful." Depending on where she's interviewing, that dress code may not match what they're after. That said, my last several jobs I landed, I went in blue jeans and conference swag (startup tshirts).
- thirdtruck 11y ago> That said, my last several jobs I landed, I went in blue jeans and conference swag (startup tshirts). That's the implicit dress code. It's just hard to notice because it's converged on standard male developer attire. Conversely, a female interviewee is caught in the paradox of (a) appearing "too informal" by social standards for feminine attire if she dresses the way described above, or (b) appearing "too formal" if she does conform to social expectations for her gender. Never mind that women have an inordinately hard time finding non-unisex conference swag in their sizes in the first place.
- A_COMPUTER 11y agoThis comes across as coded speech for "I don't have to suppress my individualism, everything should change for me." Well, she's in Texas, not the Silicon Valley bubble. If she chooses to do that then she's going to have a harder time getting a job. (Also, if you look at her Twitter, she got a job about a month ago, so she apparently found a place where she's a good fit.)
- pjc50 11y agoNo more so than the traditional developer refusal to wear suits and ties, surely?
- thoman23 11y agoWait, you went to the interview in blue jeans and a t-shirt? Do people do that? What's wrong with putting on some real clothes for one day?
- lighthazard 11y agoDepends on where you interview. A lot of startups in the east coast, in the past few years, have changed attire requirements and the people interviewing you might be in even lazier attire.
- meowface 11y agoOne major tech company I interviewed for explicitly recommended blue jeans, and said I'd be outdressing the interviewer if I went any higher than that.
- itsdrewmiller 11y agoThe exact same thing should apply to the men, who are apparently having an easier time getting hired...
- paulhauggis 11y agoWe don't know the skills of any of the men that got hired. Her idea is that they are getting hired. Did one of them get hired? Did all of them get hired? What were their skills before the class?
- learnstats2 11y agoWe will never know about this one individual data point, but discriminatory hiring happens at all levels. It would not surprise me if men were accepted into the class from a lower skill base. That's the reality for this industry.
- richmarr 11y agoNot saying your skepticism isn't valid, there's always value in a contrary opinion, but let's be clear, the research points to discrimination being a measurable effect. Studies on this topic support an opinion that descrimination is likely. Eg. Moss-Racusin et al (2012) which found that female students applying for jobs were seen as less competent than male students with identical application materials. Eg. Heilman et al (2004), which found that women who succeed in male-dominated fields are percieved as not likeable.
- paulhauggis 11y agoMan, the people here on HN really doesn't like open and honest discussions. If the whole point is to circle-jerk one type of opinion, why bother even having a comment section?
- Spooky23 11y agoThat's what she said. It also sounded like she showed up to job interviews with loud and gaudy clothing. Interviews are a show, you need to appeal to the audience.