

Ask HN: Please Help Us Find Someone - auston

We have been looking for a talented hacker for about 2 months and we can not find anyone in South Florida looking for a job at a start up! We have only had like 3 applicants! We're paying at or above market and providing plenty of perks. We're still in the early stages, so who ever is hired will have a tremendous influence on the company and it's products...<p>We've used SnapTalent, Startuply, Craiglist, CareerBuilder, Krop, Indeed &#38; More!<p>If you know any talented hackers in S. Florida, please send them here:<p>http://www.krop.com/jobs/n6ky3/<p>or here:<p>http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/eng/907168620.html<p>Thank you HN!
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Brushfire
Let me preface this by saying I've had similar problems in other parts of the
country when hiring developers. Below is just a loose collection of
thoughts/ideas on the topic.

Your job post is probably only halfway there in attracting totally awesome
people. You dont make the job sound AWESOME.

1 - There are no specifics mentioned regarding compensation. Although this is
the standard elsewhere in the world, and for non-hacking jobs, we had much
more success just being completely upfront with people about what we were
offering and why, including stock/healthcare/benefits. Hackers are generally
pretty no-nonsense people when it comes to $$, and in your area (like ours)
your best chance of getting someone is stealing them from another software
job.

Generally people don't list exact salary because either (A) they dont want to
tell so that they can feel you out (what was your salary at your last job
bullshit) or (B) its actually under market pay. If you are SURE you are over
market average, say so with actual numbers. If you aren't, then don't expect
to find someone quickly.

2 - The remote worker is a good idea if your team can handle it and your
requirements don't change rapidly. Regardless, to everyone saying 'remote is
the way to go' this is very hard to find and hard to make work for most teams.
It shouldn't be, but it is.

3 - Pictures actually do a lot of good in attracting good talent. Is your
office neat? or boring. Are the desks awesome? or crappy. Are the monitors
big? Chairs Comfortable? People Friendly looking? Pictures answer all of these
questions, hopefully to your benefit!

4 - You might start by trying to find someone who wants to do part-time or
contract work, but who is local. They may already have a job, but want some
extra cash. You wont get to place the same time or job constraints on them,
but you may get better work. And if you really like them, you'll be in a
better place after 2-3 months to really make them an offer they cant resist.

5 - Startups are tricky in other parts of the country than CA and MA. If
someone quits their job to work for you, they may have to find another in 6
months. This means you wont get many people to move to your job from a
national job circuit. In addition, it also makes it hard to steal someone from
a bigger/existing software job. This is something you will either have to
overcome by showing them how well funded you are (VC?), or that you are
already making $$ (are you?).

Anyways, hope this helps, good luck. At one point we waited 9 months to find
the right developer, and it really paid off, but the waiting sucks balls.

~~~
lacker
I agree with the comment on mentioning compensation more explicitly. I have
known several startups that were clueless about what "market rate" really is.
Prove you aren't going to waste their time. It also shows whether you are
looking for a great developer or just an average one.

------
noodle
you're just not located in a high tech area (few local candidates), or one
that is particularly appealing to hackers (few want to relocate there), in my
opinion.

i mean, just as an example, i, myself, am looking to relocate and your opening
is something i would be interested in applying for. but moving to boca is a
turn-off for me, and nothing in your post makes me want to overcome that. you
don't mention the pay or perks, etc..

edit: also, if you're not finding success, you might want to consider a remote
employee (which i would definitely be interested in applying for, btw). edit2:
or a mostly remote employee who spends some time in the office, or something
like that

~~~
auston
Thanks for the suggestion. I just changed all the ads to include the perks you
would get from working with us.

~~~
astrec
_Shell-jitsu_?

 _Joking (when appropriate)_? Would that be in the _sweet_ break room or
somewhere else?

You're a startup, so hiring me is quite risky. Given the location, working for
you entails some risk on my behalf. Your ad is casual in all the wrong places
- you're trying too hard.

Instead, try and improve the tone so that you sound both casual and
effortlessly professional. Sell me your product; tell me what sort of startup
you are (VC, angel, bootstrapped); give me ballpark dollar figure; tell me
about equity; tell me why I should be excited about your technology.

Sell the role.

~~~
noodle
ah, i was right about to post this.

yes, you're a startup in a down market where startups are slicing employees
left and right. a double whammy when you consider the stuff i mentioned
earlier.

you're going to have to convince people to [leave stable jobs and] apply. step
it up, give more info on the company, hard facts, benefits (401k? health?
etc.), salary range, etc..

for what its worth, i'm considering dropping my resume in just to see what you
guys have to offer.

~~~
auston
please do!

------
lacker
I would try to attract someone who thought the job itself sounded interesting.
But I can't figure out what you want your new employee to do. What exactly is
"lead management software"? Why is it cool, and why is your company likely to
succeed?

------
mcdowall
Why not advertise the post on Elance / Guru, if anything at least if you put
the project on there you will get a host of companies (mainly India based)
that can work remotely. Might be worthwhile outsourcing some so at least you
are gathering some momentum for someone to take over.

------
thorax
South Florida has a few companies with really good hackers, but they're pretty
much not working on any web applications outside of major IT groups down
there.

It's an absolutely amazing place to live, so if you offered relocation, you
might have more takers.

------
babyshake
I'd strongly consider going with some working remotely. If you can find
someone who is a self-starter, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

If you manage to survive (get revenue??) for the next few months, then you can
figure out the next step.

------
Dilpil
You may actually already have all of the talented hackers in Florida working
for you.

More likely, you have all the talented hackers who are willing to sacrifice
job security for excitement and potential upside.

~~~
spydez
Eh, I live in mid-Florida, and rumor has it there's another dude somewhere in
the panhandle...

~~~
khafra
Central FL I can believe--I know a few others here in Tampa Bay--but the
panhandle? That's like telling me you know a guy whose brother-in-law saw a
Yeti-in the Sahara desert.

------
wensing
This is ominous, since The Palm Beach Post (my employer) just put out a job
listing for a Python coder to join our group.

------
vaksel
at your stage you gotta hit up local colleges.

~~~
auston
Will do.

------
adriannyc777
Supporting the fam any way I can...

