O/T : Looking for an entry level LAMP developer for contract work.

Fri Jul 24 00:41:41 MST 2015

Am 23. Jul, 2015 schwätzte Paul Mooring so:

> Just as an anecdotal counter-point.  We posted a position for a Systems

Not just anecdotal, but a good example. See below :).

> Administrator position last year with some rather aggressive requirements
> that we definitely did not expect candidates to have all of.  Even with a
> somewhat long list of requirements we had over 150 applicants in just the
> first week.

You work for a cool company. Lots of people would love to work there. I'm
certain that helps get the applicants. I'm glad to see an industry rife
with successful companies that attract talent.

This is also a good example of how referals help from the employer's
perspective. You likely aren't going to refer in someone you don't want to
work with or someone who will suck at the job and result in you putting in
long hours to clean up their mess or get their job done. For these and
less obvious reasons, someone you refer has probably already been filtered
better than anything HR could manage.

> I suspect most of those applicants knew we didn't expect them to be masters
> of everything on the posting, but we did hope to filter some of the pool
> down by "scaring off" some potential applicants.  The reality of the
> situation (at least for us) is there's a lot done to filter the list that
> job searches find absurd because there's just too many incoming
> applicants.  The good interviewees didn't list all the tech on there resume
> or lie about having experience they didn't because of the job listing and
> we didn't hold that against them.

Yeah, making claims you can't backup goes poorly during the team
interview.

ciao,

der.hans

> On Wed, Jul 22, 2015 at 10:40 PM, der.hans <PLUGd at lufthans.com> 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 $36,000 a year.
>>>>
>>>> Here is the contract description:
>>>>
>>>> I am looking for an entry level LAMP developer.  Would like someone
>>>> with entry level PHP skills and entry level Linux skills.  Stuff like
>>>> the ability to add a user, add a sudo user, and configure vhosts on
>>>> apache.  I will give directions with examples and they will be working
>>>> on a development VPS so if they blow it we just spin up another.  As
>>>> for PHP skills if this person knows how to write a MySql connection
>>>> string and is able to insert, update, delete and list.... this person
>>>> could be what I am looking for.  This is a maintenance job.   This
>>>> person would need to know some HTML and CSS.  jQuery would be a plus.
>>>>
>>>> This contract could last as long as 2 or 3 years.  At that point we
>>>> would need to either up the compensation or understand when this
>>>> person takes off for other opportunities.
>>>>
>>>> Is the compensation fair?  Any ideas why I received such a lukewarm
>>>> response?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Your feedback is much appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Keith
>>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss at lists.phxlinux.org
>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
>>> http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>>>
>>>
>> --
>> #  http://www.LuftHans.com/        http://www.PhxLinux.org/
>> #  Don't step in front of speeding cars, don't eat explosives
>> #  and don't use m$ LookOut :). - der.hans
>> ---------------------------------------------------
>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss at 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/
#  Fairy Tale, n.: A horror story to prepare children for the newspapers.