i would help anyway i can On Fri, Jul 24, 2015 at 12:21 AM, der.hans wrote: > Am 23. Jul, 2015 schwätzte Keith Smith so: > > moin moin Keith, > > der.hans, is there a solution to this and if so what is it? Great piece by >> the way. >> > > Danke. > > The best solution I have is personal contacts via relevant technical > groups. > > Sure, there is some networking via normal social interaction or social > media, but user groups, conferences, technical mailing lists, etc. have > much higher signal to noise ratio for technical hiring. > > The most important aspect of this is to be involved in the community. > > For developers that means you should be working on Free Software projects > and getting patches accepted. That's your portfolio. It's also a great way > to find companies who are hiring people to work on the project. > > For everyone ( including developers ) that means participating in > community groups and events. PLUG and SCaLE are great examples of that. As > are relevant IRC channels and mailing lists. > > Community participation also helps keep you fresh and helps stoke your > motivation. > > HR is important ( especially when you want to know about benefits ), but > very few companies have HR versed in tech. > > Expecting technical chops in HR isn't realistic. I don't expect HR to > be versed in all the technology I've worked on over the years, just as > I don't expect to know how to evaluate the resume or skills of someone > applying to be an accountant or marketer or graphic artist. > > I do know a few recruiters who at least understand they should be involved > in the community. They're the ones I talk to when I have questions :). > > Talking to people on the team that's hiring or directly to the hiring > manager skips HR and talks to the relevant customer ( the team that is > hiring ). Find out what the real job and figure out if it might be a good > fit from both perspectives. > > Most of my jobs have come from inside referrals or seeing someone in IRC > mention that they're looking for someone. I've also earned quite a few > referral bonuses in the last couple of years. I've also referred people > into companies I don't work at. > > So, what can "we" do? > > Last year I hosted several job events at Stammtisch. We had a couple of > hires through that. There were two types of events: job networking; resume > assistance. > > The job networking event works best if we have hiring managers or > engineers from teams that are hiring attending. > > The resume assistance was me and one of the recruiters I know going over > resumes and helping people improve them. A big part of the assistance was > helping entry-level and junior-level applicants list all of their relevant > experience. > > I would like to continue with the job events, but we need more people > helping. For instance, I had planned to have one during the last 3 months, > but kept getting busy and not announcing it. > > Who is interested in helping? > > ciao, > > der.hans > > > On 2015-07-22 22:40, der.hans wrote: >> >>> Am 22. Jul, 2015 schwätzte Nathan England so: >>> >>> moin moin, >>> >>> 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. >>>> >>> >>> ( None of this is pointing at any specific person or company, it just >>> seems like the best place in the thread to mention it. ) >>> >>> There's an open secret about tech unemployment, it's been really low for >>> years, even when general unemployment was really high. >>> >>> Due to this apparently being a secret, we get job descriptions that list >>> every technology someone can cut and paste from Internet search results. >>> >>> But, since tech unemployment is actually low, it's hard to find >>> candidates. >>> >>> In tech we're also usually looking for specialists. Do welding companies >>> ask for someone expert in one particular welder? Are there dozens of >>> brands of welders to choose from such that skills ( from the viewpoint of >>> HR ) don't transfer to another brand of welder? Sorry, you only know java >>> welders... >>> >>> So, we have a lack of candidates because people have jobs and don't >>> need to look around and also because job descriptions are searching for >>> unrealistic lists of skills while simultaneously focusing on narrow >>> fields. >>> >>> Then, when candidates do appear, many get overlooked due to the narrow >>> field view or lack of buzzwork bingo on their resumes. The habitually >>> unemployed or new to the field seem are really up against heavy odds, >>> even >>> in the low unemployment state we've been in for years. >>> >>> Even an expert will have a learning curve to learn how your environment >>> does it. The example I like to give is that if you hire Larry Wall to >>> join >>> your Perl team ( or Guido von Rossum for Python or Rasmus Lerdorf for >>> PHP... ), he will need time to learn how your team works. Granted, if he >>> then makes suggestions your team should probably listen intently :). >>> >>> For entry and junior level positions, look for candidates that are good >>> at >>> technology and learning, then give them room to grow into the specific >>> position. You need that anyway because your environment *is* different. >>> >>> For senior positions, find those who know the field, then see if you >>> think >>> they can become the expert you need. The most likely reason we're looking >>> is to do something new :). >>> >>> Also, please cross-train so when someone does leave the rest of the team >>> isn't left with huge gaps in knowledge and experience! >>> >>> ciao, >>> >>> der.hans >>> >>> Nathan >>>> >>>> On 2015-07-22 10:45, Keith Smith wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi, >>>>> >>>>> I posted for an entry level LAMP developer a week or so ago figuring I >>>>> would find a number of people wanting to break into LAMP development. >>>>> What I received was a lackluster response. I was offering $22/hr 1099 >>>>> with the potential to bill 40 hours a week. I figured by the time >>>>> that person pays for health insurance figured at $250/mo, pays he self >>>>> employment tax, and takes some vacation time and holiday time off, >>>>> this compensation would be about $18 an hour W2 or $36,000 a year. >>>>> >>>>> Here is the contract description: >>>>> >>>>> I am looking for an entry level LAMP developer. Would like someone >>>>> with entry level PHP skills and entry level Linux skills. Stuff like >>>>> the ability to add a user, add a sudo user, and configure vhosts on >>>>> apache. I will give directions with examples and they will be working >>>>> on a development VPS so if they blow it we just spin up another. As >>>>> for PHP skills if this person knows how to write a MySql connection >>>>> string and is able to insert, update, delete and list.... this person >>>>> could be what I am looking for. This is a maintenance job. This >>>>> person would need to know some HTML and CSS. jQuery would be a plus. >>>>> >>>>> This contract could last as long as 2 or 3 years. At that point we >>>>> would need to either up the compensation or understand when this >>>>> person takes off for other opportunities. >>>>> >>>>> Is the compensation fair? Any ideas why I received such a lukewarm >>>>> response? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Your feedback is much appreciated. >>>>> >>>>> Keith >>>>> >>>> --------------------------------------------------- >>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>>> http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >>>> >>>> >>> --------------------------------------------------- >>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >>> http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >>> >> >> >> > -- > # http://www.LuftHans.com/ http://www.PhxLinux.org/ > # Free, Libre, and Open Source enthusiasts are collaborators. Maybe we're > # involved for slightly different reasons, but in the end, we're all > # essentially trying to go the same direction. -- der.hans, 2012Jan25 > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- *Amy Nielsen*