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Recruiting and the Technical Mind
(and how to think like one)
Fire on the
talent!I can’t
see any!
We have a serious problem
Not answering when I ask for more specifics about the kind of work such as tech stack or interesting classes of problems. I get this one a lot, and my goal in asking for more details is to find out if I or someone I know might be a good fit. If you refuse to say anything more than ‘uses Python’, I'm probably not going to respond back.
It’s a very serious problem
Asking me if I'm interested in a job using a technology that appears NOWHERE on my resume AT ALL and yet clearly requires significant expertise in the technology
Oh no…it’s even worse
Asking me to spam all my friends in exchange for an iPad in the off chance that one of them takes the job.
Far worse…
Being entirely unwilling to provide the name of the company advertising the position
Oh dear…
Calling me at work – or at all, for that matter. I'm way more likely to answer you via email and I'm not sure why I get the argument, ‘No, trust me, I know how you want to be contacted’
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
When debugging, novices insert corrective code; experts remove
defective code
(listen to how people describe their projects)
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
Java is to JavaScript what Car is to Carpet
(please don’t fake what you know if you don’t know)
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
It's hard enough to find an error in your code when you're looking for it;
it's even harder when you've assumed your code is error-free
(when assessing, use broken or obfuscated code testing)
If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must
be the process of putting them in
~Edsger Dijkstra
(ask for the developer’s reaction during the interview)
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live
(ask how they work with psycho-code)
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
There is not now, nor has there ever been,
nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is
the least bitdifficult to write bad code
~Flon's Law(ask opinions about alternatives to existing stack)
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with
no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves
(legacy code is a reality and everyone works on it)
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
Any code of your own that youhaven't looked at for six or more months
might as well have been written by someone else
~Eagleson's law
(making decisions based solely on code repos is folly)
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
Good code is its own best documentation
(assess code with and without documentation)
Coding Wisdom For Recruiters
Engagement & Assessment
(best ingredients + best recipe + best chef = ?)
Secrets to Engagement• The People are the ingredients• You must know Cultural Differences; their
Likes, Dislikes, Quirks• Look for tools other than the hammer –
because not everything is a nail• You don’t want to lead the horse to water –
you want to make them thirsty• Most of all, be knowledgeable & personal
Subj: De acuerdo con "Visual Networking Index" de Cisco... ...in Mexico, IP video will be 85% of all IP traffic in 2018, up from 66% in 2013;...total Internet video traffic (business and consumer combined) will be 82% of all Internet traffic in 2018, up from 64% in 2013;...Ultra HD Video-On-Demand will be 5.2% of IP VOD traffic in 2018, up from 0.0% in 2013 (353.3% CAGR). I'm not assuming anything about your happiness at work but I am assuming that as someone who seems to like technology, you might be interested in how the exploding use of video has forever changed the structure and landscape of how Educational institutions teach and interact; how Enterprises develop their employees and culture; and how Media & Entertainment companies stream and monetize content... ...and how COMPANY’s open-source video platform is poised to be the superhighway in Mexico on which the above growth travels. Por supuesto , el crecimiento significa contratación - y en este momento , significa ingenieros de ventas. So I'd enjoy connecting with you here and answering your questions about COMPANY and Mexico. One more thing - if anyone you know needs career assistance, I'll help them any way I can (I have a very large professional network). Even from New York. Really. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end. Steve
Curb Appeal• Research your target group• Humor works…sometimes• Controversial issues?• Specific problem to be solved?• The power of the ellipse…
Emails and InMails
Lead-Off Home Run• Don’t go the “Pick me! Pick me!” route• If you can, make it short and sweet• Continue the pace of the Subject line• Have fun…show your personality
Emails and InMails
Yeah, Recruiters Do Suck• They know why you’re reaching out to
them so you might as well be in on the game
• They’ve already trashed 246 crappy emails and InMails this week – so they’re really good at it
Emails and InMails
The Behavioral Contract• So (a) I won’t contact you anymore unless
you want me to, (b) I’ll go away if you tell me to, and (c) I’ll help any friend of yours who might have a need to change jobs or find a job - even if they aren’t in software development. Not all recruiters are {actually, Google “recruiters are “}.
Emails and InMails
Why We’re special• One line preferred unless you really have a
story to tell that ties into why you’re contacting them
• You know those novels about your company that proceed the “meat” of your job description? No. Just NO.
• Be honest
Emails and InMails
You’re Beautiful To Me• There are many reasons why this person will
be receiving your email – tell them why• Be prepared to go into more detail when they
respond – because the good ones will ask• Our API Layer is heavy node.js. Since you’re
one of its 500+ authors, I’m reaching out to you because others who use node.js probably look up to you
Emails and InMails
Sourcing Cool• Demystify the blackhole and show them
“yours”• Then I read some of your Tweets and
checked to see if Googling ‘FIRST LAST’ forum produced posts of yours (you seem to like vaadin.com); I know it looks like cyberstalking but in the recruiting world it’s called ‘research’
• In case you dislike recruiters, feel free to Google me without () – (steve-levy recruiting), and see for yourself that I'm not like ‘them’ Emails and InMails
It’s Up To You• Give them the power for the “next move”• Feel free to ping me if you need more info
–here's something I wrote about our layers; relay this email on to those whom you think might be interested (perhaps coming off contract or pissed off that they’re not doing the things they were promised in their current role); or I suppose ignore me if this email creeped you out
Emails and InMails
Hey Escher, get your ass up here right now!
What Techies Want• They want you to be honest; never fake it• They want to know the real job not the
tasks• They want to know the entire stack• They want to discuss your problems – not
get grilled about contrived CS 101 material
• They want a real mentor• They want to be heard once on the job• They want to have an impact – that’s mine
TechAnical Assessment Mistakes• The 7-10 years problem• Trusting self-assessment as a Rockstar• Not asking to write the “right” code• Hire but not for my team• Ignoring spelling errors• Not focusing on technical and people skills• Fear of hiring someone better
Putting Assessment Together• A/B Testing Your Process. How do you
know that it works? Or are you simply cutting & pasting from a previous job?
• How We Really Work. Scrum, Agile, Waterfall, Paired, TDD, BDD, Design Patterns: Do you assess they way you really work?
• How Our Best Developers Work. Is this built into your assessment process?
• Community Matters. Do you really care that many want to be part of something even larger than the company?
• 360 Relationships. Are you building all relationships into your process?
• Great Code. How do you define and “score” great code? “We’ll know it when we see it”?
• What They Really Want To Do. Do you care about what excites them? How can your company help them achieve this goal?
• Use Humor. “If you had just boarded a plane and discovered that your team of programmers had been responsible for the flight control software, would you immediately disembark?”
Putting Assessment Together
Code Testing Today• It has to be real life to be “predictive”• Hire for performance, not school• Code Challenges differentiate good from
great developers• Hackathons are the new career fairs• Since great programmers live everywhere,
you need to engage them everywhere
Your Recruiting Challenges?• What one thing would you like to improve?
Questions?
If you prefer, email your questions to me…
www.linkedin.com/in/stevenmlevy
@levyrecruits
Technical Recruiting Reads• Read this:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/GuerrillaInterviewing3.html
• This too: http://www.fastcolabs.com/3015662/want-to-recruit-better-developers-give-them-broken-code
