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Comment by ericb | Hacker News Reader

Purely anecdotal, but I went to a Boston Ruby group meeting a couple weeks ago. I didn't hang out for long, but both of the 2 people I talked to were there to hit on developers! One offered me a job in the elevator. Last week, a funded startup called me with a job offer out of the blue--they new a friend of a friend.

I think it depends on the job you're optimizing for--ruby and python are good choices when optimizing for startup jobs.

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It's hard to find Ruby talent (I have a Ruby product team). But any clueful employer will hire a strong Python dev for a Ruby slot, any Lisper for pretty much any non-C slot, and even a Java dev if they rockstar their interview.

The people who have Ruby slots tend not to keyword screen.

The people who have Java slots do (or, at least, their directors do).

> I didn't hang out for long, but both of the 2 people I talked to were there to hit on developers!

+1 for using the dating metaphor for recruiting/finding a job. How often do developers get hit on in the dating world? On dates or even just talking to a girl, I find I quickly steer the topic 'what do you do' to something like 'Heard of Facebook? I want to build stuff like that'

For a brief moment, I experienced the revulsion an attractive woman might feel when leered at like a juicy steak. It was enlightening.

> It was enlightening.

I assume you didn't give them your digits/contact info.

Wow. Can you expand on this? Is it really like that for women when we go ga-ga?

It happened when a b-school grad tried to talk me into joining his startup. I contract sometimes, so if he was funded, I'd have "given him my email." It was the sense of having something someone really wants when what they are offering isn't something you're interested in. The predatory leer also triggers some part of the "flight" instinct.

It was also enlightening in the sense that the rejection wasn't about him (he was a Sloan grad, and a nice enough guy), or his idea--it just wasn't a match. I work on unfunded startups, I'm just busy now and didn't care for his idea.

When I had to politely repeat how busy I am, I could suddenly see how being an attractive woman who had to fend off advances could be exhausting, and how easy it would be to stop being polite if you had to do it all the time.

People who become total jerks because others show interest in them deserve no pity.

Regardless, the analogy is broken because one case is about what you are and the other is about what someone wants to take from you.

"What is a date, really, but a job interview that lasts all night? The only difference between a date and a job interview is that in not many job interviews is there a chance you'll end up naked at the end of it." -- Jerry Seinfeld

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