What's your approach to sourcing Engineers?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36718523

3 10 3 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Specifically, hiring managers at startups. I presume you begin by targeting other startups with tech stacks matching up with yours?

nnurmanov• 3 years ago

Would you be interested in outstaff engineers? We provide such services to one client, she is happy.

gregjor4• 3 years ago

You "source" parts for a machine or boxes of cereal for a store. "Sourcing" people communicates perfectly how you think of them: interchangeable resources.

Matching people based on "tech stacks" rather than building a team that multiplies individual talents describes poor hiring priorities. Ideally hiring focuses on adding business value and finding people aligned with the product or service goals, not on languages and tools. Smart and gets things done, as Joel Spolsky aptly put it. Not "has React on resume." Try using an AI. Good luck.

DecentRecruiter2• 3 years ago

You're arguing against facts.

This is how the recruiting profession functions. Sourcing is first step of the recruiting process, whether or not you personally don't like the term.

I should clarify that I'm referring to startup recruiting (which is why I posted on HN).

Most startups do not have the time or resources to train engineers who aren't skilled in their primary technologies. Sourcing for stack-match is the most efficient way to hire engineers who can dive into the codebase ASAP.

gregjor4• 3 years ago

You’re arguing with someone who has 40+ years in the software business, including hiring and building teams. And 15 years freelancing, so I know about diving into code with no training.

The process implied by the post may represent the most efficient way to fill chairs. It does not, in my experience, describe an effective way to build a team or a product. Putting the focus entirely on “tech stacks” backgrounds the actual goal of adding value to the business. Competent programmers can learn new tools quickly, I have never observed that as a blocker.

Programmers complain constantly about job postings that focus exclusively on very specific technologies, as if knowing Postgres excludes them from learning MySQL in a week, or having used Python means they will need years to get up to speed with Ruby. I agree. Cast a wider net selecting for competence and experience and curiosity rather than a shopping list of mostly ephemeral languages and tools.

The extremely high failure rate of startups, and dissatisfaction with hiring and retention practices, should give hiring managers and recruiters pause. No one you might want to hire likes the tech stack focus, and it doesn’t seem to work very often.

codingclaws• 3 years ago

For good developers, different stacks are very similar, so it's kind of a pointless metric. It'd be better to see how good they are are fundamentals.

zerr• 3 years ago

Imagine a prospective client refuses your services because they seek React devs, but you only have experience recruiting Angular devs...

Here is a good read:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/4k994j/if_...

mchannon• 3 years ago

I would often put out feelers on upwork, asking for a 1 hour project in the expertise area. Interview 100 people, hire (for the hour) 10, make offers to the top 1 or 2.

What's your approach to sourcing Engineers?

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