[Chicago] Sanity Check

[Lance Hassan]

Peter, I think that is pretty close...for the rest of the thread...the cost
assumption is just that, it's an assumption, and that cost, even if
accurate, is much less to them then making  a mistake, or finding out after
booking tickets and flying you out and doing all the warm and fuzzies that
the candidate can't program their way out of a paper bag. As has been
pointed out the number of resumes flooding those places where you would want
to work is mind boggling and HR departments are singularly inept at figuring
out a good resume from a bad, and a keyword thrown in vs. actual project
experience and analysis...they do an initial weed out and then pass it on to
an equally stressed and typically less motivated hiring manager who really
only wants to hire someone who will secure his next 6 months bonus. The sad
truth is that most resumes don't get read past the first 2/3 of a page. And
maybe, maybe, the first few bullet points in the work experience section
make any impact...This is a sanity/reality check...we used to be able to
call a client up and say "you need to see this person"...now even with our
fairly select and narrow vertical of clients, tests, both technical and
logical are a reality and we work with very few shops which have or use HR
as gatekeepers. 

There is always the alternative:  But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce
them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
--Declaration of Independence...

Thank You
Lance Hassan
Roy Talman and Associates

-----Original Message-----
From: chicago-bounces+lance=roytalman.com at python.org
[mailto:chicago-bounces+lance=roytalman.com at python.org] On Behalf Of Peter
Fein
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2010 10:00 AM
To: The Chicago Python Users Group
Subject: Re: [Chicago] Sanity Check

On 12/02/2010 06:43 AM, Jason Huggins wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 8:31 PM, Peter Fein<pfein at pobox.com>  wrote:
>> Need to sanity check with a broader group... I've had a few phone 
>> interviews lately, which have been followed by demands for 
>> programming tests. I am THIS
>> CLOSE: || to telling the next company that asks to shove off.
>
> The only way to avoid dancing for "The Man" is to become "The Man".
> Translated: start your own company. Then you won't have to play these 
> silly games anymore. It's that simple.

Hugs, I think you've nailed it - I think much of the interview process is
unnecessarily demeaning and just there to set the stage for longer-term
abusive power relationships.

Though I've heard from two recruiters that tech hiring in the Bay area is
the busiest it's been since '99, so perhaps that'll shift. I'm not asking to
be treated like a prima dona, just don't waste my time.

Speaking of time, assuming these things take about a day each, at the salary
rate these companies are offering, that's upwards of $500/test (let alone
what it would be at a consulting rate). Does that influence anyone's
thinking?  Maybe I should take that day and write some screenscrapers for
job boards & blast out resumes instead?

> What's not simple, unfortunately, is having the requisite 2 years of 
> income stashed up to survive your startup's initial trough of 
> non-revenue. Once you have sufficient savings banked up, though, yes, 
> tell the next company that asks to shove off.

I had that, and I've spent half of it on a year-long sabbatical.  Oops. 
;-) Can't really say I regret it...

> Of course, dancing for investors is no fun either.  (So, then, it's 
> even better to start your own company *and* not have investors,
> either.)

Hmm, sounds like a case for consulting or a small apps shop...

--Pete
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