1) Anything that can be effectively described as "blue collar" will probably be replaced by automation within 3-10 years depending on the job. 2) Creative thinkers should be valued more highly in the tech field than those that can just follow orders blindly. Very few tech fields emulate an assembly line and the ability to think for yourself and develop an alternative solution is and should be highly valued. 3) Most people in the tech field, both employees and employers, are probably intellectual to a degree and free thinkers in and of themselves. So the cycle continues.
I'd also like to point out that this idea of a blue collar work ethic is somewhat flawed. There is not specific work ethic associated with the blue collar worker naturally; it's just a result of never having enough money for pleasure, so work becomes a part of the routine. The job doesn't matter as much when you're dirt poor as long as it's making money, and the risk of job loss is what you're describing as loyalty. This is really nothing more than a capitalist machine at its worst, not some utopic worker's attitude we should all aspire to.
A lot of management hates this. Less skilled managers, just want a dev shop where they can build and assemble parts.
I wouldn't work for this guy, I want to work with people who are smarter than me and from whom I can learn new things. That said, he's right to not want someone like me, I get bored pretty quickly when I'm the smartest guy in the room so I try like hell to avoid that situation. But to each their own of course.
How would is such a person define success for themselves, and how does your prescribed plan achieve that?
In other words, are you prescribing a plan that is beneficial for the company, but bad long-term for the employee, because they didn't grow enough by not 'devoting their life to their job'?
I get this.
"a reliable person who can actually, really, like, totally for real drive a problem to resolution and then go spend time with family. if there's an emergency, they pick up their phone and try to help."
this is a small percentage of the population, but big enough. it's why we (based in california) have a 75% remote workforce. hint: we still pay california $. that's how you retain talent. everyone on my team lives in huge houses and i live in an apartment.
you'd (well maybe not you, but you know what i mean) be surprised at the number of super-intelligent ("smart") people who can't solve problems when the pressure is on.
My job entails emergencies from time to time, and it's rewarding to solve an issue at the customer, before it gets out of hand, while still solving problem on the long-term roadmap during the day.
What I do regret is the complete lack of remote, meaning I will pretty much leave this job soon, as my fiancée is currently living on the other side of the planet.
It's great to see companies that do care for employees well-being in other ways than office perks, and I'd love to see more of that in the future. Are you still looking for applicants?
i don't recruit on hn. i will say this though: most people like you, if given the opportunity to work for a smaller, unknown firm for less money remotely, and a larger well known 'famous' firm for more money on-site, they will usually choose the latter even if they really want to work remotely.
in other words, "i want to work remotely" usually really means, "i wish i had all the upsides of BigCo with none of the downsides."
I can't blame you on that one.
Still, I want to address something. Remote work is a different paradigm, it doesn't make a lot of sense to compare the two of them. The upsides are pretty different, and so are the downsides.
I'm sure some people do not realise it requires a wildly different skill set, as well as a different mindset, to work remotely. The first thing that comes to mind is communication, the next is processes, and that's not the end of the list.
I'd take the job getting me closer to my loved ones any day over a job at BigCo personally, especially considering I feel strongly about the upsides. To each his own, I guess.
Are you willing to share any communities or other resources you do use for recruiting? No pressure at all here, just curious.
(Not always successfully -- I have to admit -- but I try).
I've seen a couple of such shitstorms where we had to hack on production systems to get them back to work quickly before thoroughly fixing the actual problem. Almost always, it could have been prevented with proper unit testing, code reviewing and more thought-out deployment processes.
The best advice to take from your post is to make sure you know which type of company you're applying to. A small bootstrapped lifestyle business probably won't hire like a hot SV funded startup, which makes a lot of sense.
I thought you had 100% retention rate?
Those who left were hired at an earlier time when I thought hiring the top tier Ivy Leaguers was the way to go.
By the way 7 figures covers everything from 1,000,000 to 9,000,000 - so I read it as being barely seven figures in profit, or I would accept if the actual bottom line profit were 700k-1M (so that it's a bit of an exaggeration to call it all "profit"). However the top line (sales) has to be (well) over 1m or I am unhappy/consider it too much embellishment.
OP - what does the top line look like? Roughly how many employees do you have?
100% owner also means they bootstrapped and were a solo founder.
Basically you've described my serious, competent, self disciplined ex-mil and reserves/NG coworkers. Wait... do I work for you?
Technical managers have to be sensitive to new information, * especially * when it ruins their spec.
What he wants is stability. You'd be surprised how many very smart people put a premium on that sort of thing, especially when they get older.
An employee with limited options = A more stable employee
NYC isn't exactly a place where you have limited options. You want limited options? Try to find a job upstate.
From perspective the employee it isn't stable. Sounds like he'd get rid of you, if you disagree with anything.
[0] https://hbr.org/2011/02/hire-for-attitude-train-for-sk
[1] https://www.eremedia.com/ere/hiring-for-both-attitude-and-ap...
Your hiring strategy is not "your" hiring strategy: its every mindless, exploitative, and compassionless corporation in the universe. In otherwords, youre overwhelmingly average! Youre contributing to the very problem youre having: no one wants to work for an entity that operates like this.
Perhaps the takeaway for all of us is that we all need to be humble and at least pretend we need our jobs, even if we're aggressively saving for an early retirement.
As such, I tend to hire those who don't take oneself too seriously. The OP's redflags I feel are corollary to this observation.
Be humble and get shit done.
- Questions... people need to ask questions (but not ad nauseam).
- Compensation... 'need a job' should not translate to a desperate wage
Understanding and acknowledging your employees have a life after work is important. The only question I have is how, or do you give out bonuses from your yearly profits.
I understand your reasoning when it comes to well defined business requirements with well defined technical problems. But once the initial set of requirements are done, how do you proceed? I suspect you need at least some amount of overachievers to fill mid-level management roles.
I look to hire people who just need a job. People who are qualified, but not overly qualified. People I know will depend on the job for a long time, but not looking to make it their lives. Hard workers - getting there on time, but also leaving at the stroke of 5. Ivy league schools are a red flag. Huge resumes are a red flag. These people will constantly question whether every decision is optimal, prod incessantly at company strategy, continuously try to impress, and are always hungry for praise, recognition, and "interesting work." When they get bored after 6 months, they quit and go somewhere else (remember they can easily do so because of their pedigrees), often to a competitor, bringing company secrets with them.
I need someone loyal, who knows how to take orders without question, and is prepared to do the work that needs to be done day in and day out because they want the paycheck. Reading the above, you might think I'm a terribly demanding boss, but using this hiring strategy has produced a 100% employee retention rate and by all accounts we are all quite happy.