JOB: Ruby on Rails Developer

[Joshua Zeidner]

On 8/31/07, Craig White <craig at tobyhouse.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 2007-08-31 at 18:53 -0400, alexanderhenry at cox.net wrote:
> > ---- Derek Neighbors <derek at gnue.org> wrote:
> > > JOB TITLE: Rails Developer
> > >
> >
> > I've been in an outbound sales position since December of 2006, and I have made my revenue numbers for the first time this quarter.
> >
> > Derek, I want to ask you an honest question which I would ask any client who has, say, had me take the time to do three $50,000+ quotes but never converted to an order.
> >
> > Why has this position been open for more than two years?  Are you expanding?
> >
> > What are your real expectations in a relationship between yourself and a developer?
> >
> > Tell me about the last three developers who have held this position.
> >
> > Your honesty is appreciated, Derek.
> ----
> was this Q meant for the list?

  I feel like my recent postings may have prompted these questions so
I'll comment here.  There does seem to be some kind of tacit stigma
attached to posing questions to job posters.  I am of the belief that
posing such questions is a good thing.  Im sure many have had negative
experiences in the Phoenix dev job market (if you want to call it
that), and allowing feedback will allow developers to quickly locate
the situations that they are seeking.  As for employers, if we are
looking to foster a local job market for phoenix, the community does
have some level of right in publishing the 'hiring' history of
employers.  If the employer has been through a dozen people in the
last year, I think the PLUG community deserves to know that.  I know
of several people here in phoenix who churn through developers (at the
developers cost), and believe that there are no repercussions in doing
so[1].  Eventually, when you've run through all the good people in
town due to your lack of management and people skills, you can do one
of two things 1) dip into the more inexperienced pool of people 2)
start complaining that 'we can't find good people!' (Im sure you've
heard that one from B. Gates).  Ultimately, the local community
suffers, starts to get a repuation as a bad place to work, and
developers and innovative companies go elsewhere.  Part of the
advantages to working in Silicon Valley is that there are a lot more
options for developers.

   More options = more attractive.  More attractive = more local
talent.  More local talent = business destination.  This equation has
been more or less proposed in phoenix before.  But what they didn't
quite get is that you have to support the /developers/, not just the
people with money.  Commercial destinations are typically
characterized by their support for employment law, tenant law, etc.,
not the other half of the equation as some would have you believe.
This is certainly the case in New York and Silicon Valley[2].

  Ultimately, we like to believe that Derek is looking for someone to
stay for a while.  He should and probably does understand that good
business is built on sound relationships that last a long time.
Whatever shortcomings his shop /may/ have will become entirely evident
to the candidate within weeks, if not days if he/she is more
experienced.  Why not just be totally up front in the first place, and
save everyone the time and money?  Let everyone have their say, so
Derek can find the team member he is looking for.

  Btw- I have been interested in developing some kind of bonding
system for IT contractors.  I am very familiar with the current state
of professional developer orgs in America.  If anyone is interested in
this idea, speak up!

  Thanks everyone, and happy Labor Day.

  -jmz



[1] the fact is the cost of churning through developers is extremely
high.  Typically this cost is embedded in either customer fees, or
somehow incurred by the developer depending on contractual conditions.
 Typically studies do not emphasize the costs of developer churn
because the /studies are done BY EMPLOYERS/.

[2] in regards to some of my recent comments on the evolution of
Phoenix,  Phx is quickly becoming one of the more important urban
environments in America.  With urbanization inevitably comes employee
rights.




>
> --
> Craig White <craig at tobyhouse.com>
>
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-- 
.0000. communication.
.0001. development.
.0010. strategy.
.0100. appeal.

JOSHUA M. ZEIDNER
IT Consultant

( 602 ) 490 8006
jjzeidner at gmail.com