DriftLogic

I read job boards. Like all the time. It’s a barometer for the tech industry. You can tell what’s hot, which way the technology is going, and where I might end up should I need a new gig.

Most job ads tend to take the same format, who they are, what they’re looking for, what you’ll get in exchange. Those are the basics of posting a want, the three W’s: What we want, what you want, what they want. The better companies have shorter ads and general statements about technology (See: Freshbooks). Bad ads have long descriptions and very specific technical requirements (See: Just about any posting on Workopolis). Then, there are special cases of really bad ads, lets call these the star ads.

What’s really nice about douchey ads is they’re dead easy to spot. They usually include the words ‘rockstar’ or ‘ninja’ and have code placed somewhere in a prominent location. All code job ads are particular turnoffs (see: a crappy ruby ad). Ads that include code are generally self defeating, and potentially backfire if written poorly (do you really want to show that you can’t write code to begin with?). Most developers can read through a code post in C Syntax and pick out the important bits. Okay, you’re looking for ruby. Right, you were on the Today Show (so were these guys). Really, who doesn’t think that they’re a smart, highly productive, curious, driven, team player?

I get the concept of trying to challenge people in your job ads. Employers are trying to stand out just as much as job seekers in attracting talent, but ads like this don’t show the potential that the kind of workers they attempt to attract desire: Opportunity. Ambitious and curious employees want the opportunity to rise above or explore technologies and opportunities. Things like book allowances, conference reimbursement, and paid time for personal development go further than your smartly typed ad (this blog posting by 37 signals gives me employee stiffies every time I read it). Not because of the job perks, but because they show a culture of personal and professional growth within the company.

There’s also a special kind of job ad that serves as not only a total turn off for applications, but about the company as a whole. Lets call these, the challenge ads. Challenge ads think that they’re smarter than they really are and include a unique kind of hubris reserved for ‘rockstar ninja hackers’. Case in point found here.

From the job ad alone, they’re looking for a ‘Hardcore PHP’ developer. If that means that I fall asleep to postings by Rasmus and wake up chewing through extension code, then I guess that’s not me. I think developers should have broad interests, and I’m not alone.  There are some other general turn offs to this ad, from the massive, unattractive logo pushing the job description below the fold on every normal human resolution, to the biz speak description of the developer team. But the real winner in this ad is the method for application.

If you think that you ‘have what it takes’ to become a ‘Hardcore PHP’ developer, you’re directed to http://proveyourworth.net. Defying anticipation, the site is as big a turn off as it sounds. A large ninja graphic and XKCD comic set the tone of what’s to come. I’m not going to go through the ‘challenge’ presented, but effectively, you’ll be bouncing back and forth through URLs reading source and opening up firebug to look at request headers in a challenge worthy of level zero in The Python Challenge.

Sites like this do nothing to make accomplished developers want to join your company. If anything, you should treat developers in the same way as anyone who might be viewing your site. They’ve come with a task in mind, the faster you fulfill that task, the sooner they’ll be encouraged to get in touch about working for you. If you’re asking someone to buy into your companies vision, show them what that vision is, why they should be a part of it, and what rewards are there for people who decided help you get there.

(BTW: Web development already has a set of Rockstars, and 37 signals got there first.)