Would you have answered this job ad?
groups.google.com
groups.google.com
Everyone asks for "communication skills" and everyone says they're the best and that their shit doesn't stink, too.
I will also note that the ad is promoting explicit high-level programming skills and states that "[F]amiliarity with web servers and HTML would be helpful but is not necessary." This would have cut-off a lot of people who were riding the "web development" bandwagon (rudimentary HTML, perhaps some CGI scripting) and gotten the attention of lot of skilled people looking to catch a quick IPO.
Note that it doesn't say work 3x longer. I measure time in hours not days, so finishing something 3x faster doesn't mean 120hour weeks, it means finishing something in 13 hours instead of 40.
But working extra hours doesn't make one more productive than average and no employer should measure productivity that way. If person A works 80 hours per week and gets as much done as person B that works 40 hours per week no employer will claim that A is as productive as B.
On a side note, given that I do contract work currently you can be certain that both me and my employer measure time in hours not days.
- experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable) systems. Mostly the yet maintainable bit.
- must be willing to relocate
- Well-capitalized, we will cover moving costs, meaningful equity ownership
- Alan Kay
- @netcom.com
with: "Requirements: BS or MS in Computer Science or equivalent (PhD a plus). Several years of software development experience. Extensive experience programming in C++ and/or Java. Enthusiasm for solving interesting problems. Experience with Unix/Linux or Windows environments, C++ development, distributed systems, machine learning, information retrieval, network programming and/or developing large software systems a plus."
The first is from Amazon, the latter is from Google.
Great companies grow where top-notch engineers meet exciting market meet confident coworkers with high expectations. :-)
"Energetic detail-oriented software engineer who wants to create systems with mind-numbing performance. Should enjoy working with people, solving non-trivial problems, and communicating these solutions. Should also wish to learn more about how others have engineered high-performance systems. We desire someone who is an expert in at least some of the following areas and eager to learn the others: distributed computing, compilers & interpreters, fault tolerance, network & storage devices, high-performance computation, algorithms & data structures, os/kernel experience."
That's from my last employer, which has been around for 8 years and has I believe about 4 recurring customers. In the 2 years I was there, they got no new major customers and only a few consulting jobs. 3 key employees have left in the last 8 months.
My point is that all job applications basically look alike. It's very difficult to pick out winners just from the job-app. In hindsight, the big successful companies all require top-notch engineers, exciting markets, and confident coworkers with high expectations. But many employers have that (or ask for it; it's often hard to tell the difference until you've been working there for a while) and still fail.
"It's easier to invent the future than to predict it." -- Alan Kay
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."
"Arrogance in computer science is measured in nano-Dijkstras"
Interestingly enough, Amazon was (if I recall correctly) started as a research project: David Shaw (of the hedge fund D. E. Shaw) asked Bezos (then a VP there) for a list of ways to make money online. At the top of Bezos' list was bookstores. Shaw decided it wasn't worth the risk, Bezos decided it was, so Bezos left the company to found Amazon. Shaw ended up starting Juno, though, so it's not a total loss.
"Well-capitalized start-up seeks extremely talented C/C++/Unix developers to help pioneer commerce on the Internet. " -- Good. I want to work with only other top notch developers.
"You must have experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable) systems, and you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible. " -- Ok. I get it, you want the very good fast types. But are you willing to pay for it?
"Familiarity with web servers and HTML would be helpful but is not necessary. " -- Awesome. You just showed that you know what is important. Don't you love adds that say must know HTML. How hard is to learn anyways?
"Your compensation will include meaningful equity ownership. " -- Awesome. This is what I wanted to hear. You want great developers, but you are willing to compesate them in a meaningful and fair way.
If I knew C/C++ that well, at the time, and if I wasn't in school, and if I was around the area of Seatles, I would have responded to his ad.
I am still waiting for some ad like this, but in the mobile space.
2) "if I wasn't in school, and if I was around the area of seatles". If I knew this was going to be Amazon, I would MOVE to Seattle and take a leave of absence from school.
Not true. Auctomatic had a job ad for a long time looking for a so-so developer. I answered it right away but was distracted from learning smalltalk at the time.
Here it is: http://blog.auctomatic.com/?p=4 . It's hilarious.
i wonder which amazon employee/ founder was hired as a result of that ad.
was a seattle a big startup hub in the early 90's? What else was there besides MSFT in the tech sector?
So it really depends on whether or not I see it.
(click on "Show quoted text") http://tinyurl.com/52gdhr
I can't figure out any other reason why someone would downmod, but hopefully it wasn't because of that.
Actually, I can think of at least two offers that I may kick myself for not taking up. But if I did, I might kick myself for giving up my own startup. If only we all had 20/20 foresight...
Yeah, not nearly enough of that going around.