Bullshit

EVERYBODY knows what they want

They just aren’t ready to believe it and feel it yet

It’s been a “minute”

A minute indeed

Bet.

Negotiations always be like

I talked to _ and we don’t normally do this, but since you’re so _, we’re gonna give you _ and you gotta sign by_

We’re super [emotion]

Translated:

“This happens all the fucking time. We got a good deal. You did too. Hurry up and sign”

“Fulltime” is just a > 1 year contract

Like hiring a plumber, call up anybody you know is a “coder” or “programmer” and say I need this and this and this. Company agrees to a price or hourly rate for the coder. It takes them 1-3 months (hourly, project-based, whatever) to see if it goes well, if they’re lucky.

Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn’t. You need a coder again.

You have 10 coders to pick from, how do you pick the best one?

You can go by price

You can go by previous experience

You can go by bias/culture fit/mutual understanding

So you create a process to filter so you have a best chance of hiring somebody who won’t waste 1-3 months

Over many years we ended up with phone screens (why?)

Design questions (why?)

Coding exercises (why?)

As a “coder” the value to a company you apply for is “you could save yourself 1-3 months by putting me through this process.”

“Would you be willing to pay $200 to have me go through this process? $200 doesn’t seem like a lot vs $20-$60k over 1-3 months. How many coders are you going to interview?”

They probably wouldn’t pay $200 for every candidate, would they? But at some point, they’d probably say ok I think it’s worth paying $x to make sure I’m not fucking up bad

What about the other way around?

Coder wants some $ to write code. Company approaches him, agrees. But turns out they want unrealistic deadlines. They don’t pay for conferences. They have a shitty tech stack. So coder starts asking those questions to companies

It’s pretty obvious now, but I had never gave it much thought. Understanding it better, I’m more comfortable asking for compensation for a take-home

Imagine a company (this has happened to me) as a first step sends me a take-home. What’s it worth to me to prove to them that I can do what’s in there? Potentially a job that pays a lot, yes. What’s it worth to them? $0? $20? It must be worth something? At minimum, it’s worth the time it takes for them to review the take home! Think about that

Notice the background music. It’s so over-used. Over time people will see less value in this bullshit. Creativity in marketing is drying up.

Hopefully it goes the direction less fluff = effective marketing

People that buy fancy studio microphones are just so goofy

Your phone works fine

Your macbook’s microphone array works fine

Your headset works fine

Feeling kinda meh to be part of Forbes’ 30 under 30 in the content creation category

Spam this on LinkedIn:

I’m _, recruiting for several high-level Software Engineering roles across all types of companies available through Hired. Your experience stood out to me as a great fit for multiple full-time and remote positions available through our platform.

Most people will follow frameworks and patterns that are trending. Rails, Tech stacks, SAFEs, fundraising rounds

But few people, probably excellent negotiators, will use creativity and end up crafting something by hand.

That’s how these frameworks started!

Frameworks can allow more people participate, because there is a shared understanding. But doing things by hand should not be forgotten. And it’s the path to full squeeze

Work out upper body and lower body. Don’t ever neglect either. Work out everything. Stretch everything

Enjoy