Ask HN: Do you call yourself Ninja/Hacker? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do you call yourself Ninja/Hacker?

7 pointspaukiatwee12 comments

Do you like a job post "We looking for JavaScript Ninja" or "We are hiring RoR Hacker"? Or some blog title "I am UX Hacker and love to.."?

I personally feel annoying. I prefer to use "Talent" or similar term. What do you think?

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Nope, "Ninja"/"Rockstar" on a job posting automatically makes me not want to apply. "Hacker" is alright, though I never refer to myself as a hacker.

On a side note seeing "we want people who get things/sh!t done" on a job posting really bothers me too... but that might just be me.

No.

If you have to call yourself a hacker, you probably aren't one.

And if you call yourself a ninja, you're doing it wrong.

Whenever I see that kind of thing in a job posting it always seems like an effort to be exploitative.

... of course I never qualify for any of those jobs but then I would never call myself a hacker or a ninja or rock star anyway.

When I see the term ninja, wizard or hacker in a job title it suggests to me that the people recruiting are looking for above average developer. I imagine, the rationale behind that is to do with looking for someone who will bring increased efficiency and productivity by being very intimate with a given technology and deliver value from the start. I am not saying this is the case at all but it seems like a plausible rationale behind such words. However, there is quite a stigma attached to these terms and most of the time the interpretation depends on the context. Many recruiters or companies feel that these terms resonate with developers and work for them like a bait for fish. I would definitely approach them sceptically and seek clarification of what the role involves. Probably the biggest issue with these terms is how do you actually quantify qualities of ninja or someone who has talent? Everything depends on context and these are quite murky waters. Software developer or Web developer as a job title sends much clearer picture of the company recruiting needs.

The term ninja makes me think that the people running the company don't understand software development and have relegated it to a category filled with mysterious doings. I expect the same sort of folks to call it wizardry or magic.

Hacker isn't as clear-cut a term because there are several different trends in the industry using the term in different ways. Are you a 40 year unix veteran who hacks things together or are you a front-end hipster-stack web developer claiming the title? No, most likely the folks using this term on a job posting are trying to seem youthful, but I can't be certain. I just avoid it as much as possible and, like the others commenting, prefer traditional terms that have legitimate and clear use in the industry.

Think about what is implied for a software architect role vs a web developer. There's much more differentiation in the denotation of those terms than ninja/hacker.

I like the term Software Developer.

I wont apply to any job post with the words Ninja or Rockstar.

Hacker... I would read it.

I find it embarrassing, but I chalk it up to a lack of experience. I always assumed that "hacker", as a term of regard and a social signal, could only be granted by others -- it was gauche to use it to refer to oneself.

Me, I write programs.

I'm transported back to 2008 whenever I hear "Ninja." Same with "Rockstar."

"Hacker" doesn't bother me.

Developer, Programmer, Designer, Engineer. Stick with the fundamentals.

Nope.

Seems that i see more and more ninjas and hackers everywhere.

Funny thing is that some don't want an engineer, as somehow nova-days an engineer is less then a hacker or a ninja in someones eyes.