<div dir="ltr">i would help anyway i can<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jul 24, 2015 at 12:21 AM, der.hans <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:PLUGd@lufthans.com" target="_blank">PLUGd@lufthans.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Am 23. Jul, 2015 schwätzte Keith Smith so:<br>
<br>
moin moin Keith,<span class=""><br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
der.hans, is there a solution to this and if so what is it? Great piece by the way.<br>
</blockquote>
<br></span>
Danke.<br>
<br>
The best solution I have is personal contacts via relevant technical<br>
groups.<br>
<br>
Sure, there is some networking via normal social interaction or social<br>
media, but user groups, conferences, technical mailing lists, etc. have<br>
much higher signal to noise ratio for technical hiring.<br>
<br>
The most important aspect of this is to be involved in the community.<br>
<br>
For developers that means you should be working on Free Software projects<br>
and getting patches accepted. That's your portfolio. It's also a great way<br>
to find companies who are hiring people to work on the project.<br>
<br>
For everyone ( including developers ) that means participating in<br>
community groups and events. PLUG and SCaLE are great examples of that. As<br>
are relevant IRC channels and mailing lists.<br>
<br>
Community participation also helps keep you fresh and helps stoke your<br>
motivation.<br>
<br>
HR is important ( especially when you want to know about benefits ), but<br>
very few companies have HR versed in tech.<br>
<br>
Expecting technical chops in HR isn't realistic. I don't expect HR to<br>
be versed in all the technology I've worked on over the years, just as<br>
I don't expect to know how to evaluate the resume or skills of someone<br>
applying to be an accountant or marketer or graphic artist.<br>
<br>
I do know a few recruiters who at least understand they should be involved<br>
in the community. They're the ones I talk to when I have questions :).<br>
<br>
Talking to people on the team that's hiring or directly to the hiring<br>
manager skips HR and talks to the relevant customer ( the team that is<br>
hiring ). Find out what the real job and figure out if it might be a good<br>
fit from both perspectives.<br>
<br>
Most of my jobs have come from inside referrals or seeing someone in IRC<br>
mention that they're looking for someone. I've also earned quite a few<br>
referral bonuses in the last couple of years. I've also referred people<br>
into companies I don't work at.<br>
<br>
So, what can "we" do?<br>
<br>
Last year I hosted several job events at Stammtisch. We had a couple of<br>
hires through that. There were two types of events: job networking; resume<br>
assistance.<br>
<br>
The job networking event works best if we have hiring managers or<br>
engineers from teams that are hiring attending.<br>
<br>
The resume assistance was me and one of the recruiters I know going over<br>
resumes and helping people improve them. A big part of the assistance was<br>
helping entry-level and junior-level applicants list all of their relevant<br>
experience.<br>
<br>
I would like to continue with the job events, but we need more people<br>
helping. For instance, I had planned to have one during the last 3 months,<br>
but kept getting busy and not announcing it.<br>
<br>
Who is interested in helping?<br>
<br>
ciao,<br>
<br>
der.hans<div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
On 2015-07-22 22:40, der.hans wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Am 22. Jul, 2015 schwätzte Nathan England so:<br>
<br>
moin moin,<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
The company I currently work for has 3 developer position openings and in 4 months we've had only two candidates apply. That seems to me a real need for developers. Either that or the job description is too complicated for them to get past.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
( None of this is pointing at any specific person or company, it just<br>
seems like the best place in the thread to mention it. )<br>
<br>
There's an open secret about tech unemployment, it's been really low for<br>
years, even when general unemployment was really high.<br>
<br>
Due to this apparently being a secret, we get job descriptions that list<br>
every technology someone can cut and paste from Internet search results.<br>
<br>
But, since tech unemployment is actually low, it's hard to find candidates.<br>
<br>
In tech we're also usually looking for specialists. Do welding companies<br>
ask for someone expert in one particular welder? Are there dozens of<br>
brands of welders to choose from such that skills ( from the viewpoint of<br>
HR ) don't transfer to another brand of welder? Sorry, you only know java<br>
welders...<br>
<br>
So, we have a lack of candidates because people have jobs and don't<br>
need to look around and also because job descriptions are searching for<br>
unrealistic lists of skills while simultaneously focusing on narrow<br>
fields.<br>
<br>
Then, when candidates do appear, many get overlooked due to the narrow<br>
field view or lack of buzzwork bingo on their resumes. The habitually<br>
unemployed or new to the field seem are really up against heavy odds, even<br>
in the low unemployment state we've been in for years.<br>
<br>
Even an expert will have a learning curve to learn how your environment<br>
does it. The example I like to give is that if you hire Larry Wall to join<br>
your Perl team ( or Guido von Rossum for Python or Rasmus Lerdorf for<br>
PHP... ), he will need time to learn how your team works. Granted, if he<br>
then makes suggestions your team should probably listen intently :).<br>
<br>
For entry and junior level positions, look for candidates that are good at<br>
technology and learning, then give them room to grow into the specific<br>
position. You need that anyway because your environment *is* different.<br>
<br>
For senior positions, find those who know the field, then see if you think<br>
they can become the expert you need. The most likely reason we're looking<br>
is to do something new :).<br>
<br>
Also, please cross-train so when someone does leave the rest of the team<br>
isn't left with huge gaps in knowledge and experience!<br>
<br>
ciao,<br>
<br>
der.hans<br>
<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Nathan<br>
<br>
On 2015-07-22 10:45, Keith Smith wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Hi,<br>
<br>
I posted for an entry level LAMP developer a week or so ago figuring I<br>
would find a number of people wanting to break into LAMP development.<br>
What I received was a lackluster response. I was offering $22/hr 1099<br>
with the potential to bill 40 hours a week. I figured by the time<br>
that person pays for health insurance figured at $250/mo, pays he self<br>
employment tax, and takes some vacation time and holiday time off,<br>
this compensation would be about $18 an hour W2 or $36,000 a year.<br>
<br>
Here is the contract description:<br>
<br>
I am looking for an entry level LAMP developer. Would like someone<br>
with entry level PHP skills and entry level Linux skills. Stuff like<br>
the ability to add a user, add a sudo user, and configure vhosts on<br>
apache. I will give directions with examples and they will be working<br>
on a development VPS so if they blow it we just spin up another. As<br>
for PHP skills if this person knows how to write a MySql connection<br>
string and is able to insert, update, delete and list.... this person<br>
could be what I am looking for. This is a maintenance job. This<br>
person would need to know some HTML and CSS. jQuery would be a plus.<br>
<br>
This contract could last as long as 2 or 3 years. At that point we<br>
would need to either up the compensation or understand when this<br>
person takes off for other opportunities.<br>
<br>
Is the compensation fair? Any ideas why I received such a lukewarm response?<br>
<br>
<br>
Your feedback is much appreciated.<br>
<br>
Keith<br>
</blockquote>
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-- <br></div></div><span class="">
# <a href="http://www.LuftHans.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.LuftHans.com/</a> <a href="http://www.PhxLinux.org/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.PhxLinux.org/</a><br></span>
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