

Why It's So Hard To Find A Software Engineer - erratic
http://www.businessinsider.com/engineer-shortage-2010-9

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canterburry
I think what isn't mentioned in this article are some of the unrealistic
expectations posed from employers as to what a "skilled" software engineer is.

I have countless times seen job requirements demanding X+ years of some
acronym when the technology has only been around for half of X.

Also, candidates are rejected by the people who interview them, each with a
particular bias as to what they expect. Typically, a technical interviewer
(i.e. fellow software engineer) will be heavily biased towards their own
preferred technologies, philosophies or approaches. Anyone who doesn't share
them with equal enthusiasm or depth of knowledge just isn't "skilled" enough.

Software people, and especially programmers have A LOT of ego, and it comes
out especially strong when judging candidates.

I think startups probably do need an all star team to get off the ground and
succeed. But once a company goes into operations mode, you need a mix of both
stars and "average" programmers. The stars will probably tackle the new and
untried while you also have a stable of people who don't mind doing the day to
day boring maintenance bit without complaining too much.

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ahi
You're right about the X+ years phenomenon, but I also see tons of job
requirements demanding X/2 years of some incredibly obscure technology that
maybe 1000 people even know exist. So maybe there's 100 competent engineers on
the planet half of whom have less than one year of experience. Even if you're
offering good money you just aren't going to find any candidates. It seems to
be an enterprise thing with tech that is only used by top 100 companies or so.
The problem isn't too little supply, but too little demand.

edited so it makes some sense.

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gacba
WTF? The NYT says this just a few days ago:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/economy/07jobs.ht...](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/economy/07jobs.html)
and now this article says the opposite? Can't have it both ways.

