There has been a lot of discussion in regards to my last post, “How to get a job working on Dashboard” (which is now: “‘How not to get a job working on Dashboard”). We were twittered, discussed and responded to in a rather… ferocious fashion. I feel like people misinterpreted the post entirely and there a few things I’d like to set straight and put into context.
Who wrote the post:
I am a web developer. Yes, that’s right I am a developer; I fit the job description I posted with no problem and earn only slightly more than “market” (look on the left). I am 22 years old and live a normal life like most other developers; I attend meet ups, I try to contribute to open source projects, I use open source projects and I think I generally fit the “web developer” mold. I have twitter, vimeo, facebook, digg, etc. etc. I am like most of the people reading the post. I posted it to hacker news, so in a sense, I ignited the forest fire.
Disclosure: I have no options and no equity in the company.
Why I wrote the post:
The post had multiple goals; Start a conversation, get feedback, get more applicants & discourage people who are motivated SOLELY by money. It is about money, yes, but it’s not JUST about money. It’s about liking the people you work with, enjoying your work environment and believing in what you’re working on. We could pay anyone $75k to start cranking out lines of code and come in at 9 or 10 and leave at 5. But that’s not what we want, I believe it’s clear what we want. Someone who is looking for a genuine opportunity.
Other Issues:
- “Trust” is subject to a written agreement enforceable by law. I said “Trust me” as an employee, providing an endorsement to my employer as a respectable employer.
- It was unprofessional. Fine, I agree. I made a mistake. So what? I was trying to discourage unmotivated people from applying, we only have a small amount of funding and we’re trying to make it stretch in this economy.
- We are SMALL. Four people, 3 of which are taking NO SALARY and INVESTING THEIR OWN CAPITAL. I am the only person on salary. So to address Isaac Schlueters post, we don’t need to fire any business development people, in fact we need them. They help get and close funding and get feedback from larger companies on the product.
I hope I am able to address a lot of the concerns expressed in the 84 comments on Hacker News and the comments on the actual blog post. So after considering all of the above information, please feel free to apply! We really do need good people.
You say “I believe it’s clear what we want. Someone who is looking for a genuine opportunity.” But you’ve failed to disclose exactly what said “genuine opportunity” is.
Opportunity to make more money? That’s clearly not it.
Opportunity to work fewer hours / have more time for personal projects? I think you’ve ruled that out as well.
Opportunity to invest in a startup that, if it makes it, will pay off in big way? Hmm. No options and no equity you say? Doesn’t sound like that’s it either.
It looks like the only “opportunity” you’re offering is a chance to make a company I have no stake in phenomenally successful. Take a number, buddy. That’s the exact same offer every other employer in the world makes. There’s nothing opportune about it.
My name is spelled “Schlueter”, not “Schuetler”.
Note the position of the L.
You may be a skilled web developer, but there are clearly at least a few basic things you need to learn about business and how to properly represent your company online when blogging.
No one questioned your motives or why you posted the applicant’s cover letter online. I’m sure others who are involved in startups such as yours can even sympathize with the problem you have been having, but it was your approach to dealing with and/or sharing this problem that really turned people off.
And this post is a turn off too, because it reeks of adolescence. You couldn’t admit that what you did was wrong and move on like a professional adult. The whole post is just one long series of excuses, with the exception of the half a line where you mention “It was unprofessional. Fine, I agree. I made a mistake.” .. but which you immediately discount afterward with “So what?”.
If I were you, I would tone done my ego a bit, step back from this situation and try to learn from it. Incidents like these have the potential to do major damage to a startup’s reputation.
Good Luck.
@Joshua Emmons
Thanks for understanding why a business would not discuss options or salaries on a blog.
I disagree with Brandon’s comment in it’s entirety. Clearly he has his ideas about what being part of a company means, but quite frankly, that’s all BS. In some jobs, you might get in trouble for posting the redacted cover letter and mocking it, but guess what? In others you won’t. I can assume that everyone at the company found the letter amusing, and I don’t for a minute believe there are universal rules you as a developer or an employee automatically have to adhere to.
What’s unprofessional? Do you write good code, and meet your deadlines? That’s professional. Do you show up on time and put in a full 8 hours+ every day? That’s irrelevant. Do you wear a polo shirt to work or a t-shirt that says “Fuck off I’m coding.”? It doesn’t matter, unless you work in an environment that makes it matter.
Ironically, commenting about moving on “like a professional adult” come across to me as holding a rigid picture of how things should get done, and that type of attitude is always a huge red flag when I give interviews, and would also be something I’d watch out for in a company that was looking to hire me.
In other words, relax, and don’t worry about negative responses to you initial post (and definitely don’t apologize because a few people online decided that you should). If anything, the post makes the company come across as somewhere I would want to work, if I lived in South Florida. Of course, then I’d have the problem of living in South Florida ;P
Clearly you missed the point.
My comments had nothing to do with how their blog post was handled internally. That’s another matter altogether. If Auston’s partners and co-workers want to congratulate him for the post he made and feel that the consequences of that post did their company any good, that’s truly their perogative and none of my business.
My comments related to the most effective communications strategies that any company should employ – no matter if the company is large and everyone employed there wears a suit and tie, or small and everyone there wears “polos” to work. Growing companies frequently need new talent. If you come across as a company full of pricks who posts every cover letter you don’t like on your blog, you are going to alienate yourself from a very large portion of the talent pool.
On the plus side, if pricks are what you are looking for, you may attract other pricks who feel it is appropriate to communicate via your blog in any way.
I am all for casual cultures at work — I wear a t-shirt and jeans to work every day. But how you choose to present your company to the world matters whether you like it or not. And if you are a company that is looking for external venture capital investment, just see how well the decision makers at the VC firms respond to companies that have no filter for what they put on their company blogs.
And in terms of your defintion of “professionalism”, I guess that depends on what your ultimate goals are. If your goals are to solely produce software or web applications that work, go ahead and use your blog as a platform to be a prick. But if you ever expect to make solid, profitable business partnerships or acquire outside VC investment, your investor’s definitions of “professionalism” will be a little bit more broad, and will almost always include being able to conduct yourself like an adult.
Company blogs repost e-mails all of the time?
I’m sure you 37signal’s fan boys know this:
http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1169-no-but-instead-of-no
@jared
“Thanks for understanding why a business would not discuss options or salaries on a blog.”
But it’s okay to mock candidates on said blog?
Is it okay for candidates to mock a company conducting a job search?
I think cockiness of telling a company how to run is a lot different than saying “could you clarify for me?”
We can all ridicule someone very easily.
It’s really hard to think, apply our brains and give constructive criticism.
I don’t get you, and I really want to understand where you’re coming from. You’re obviously bright, you have a skillset and you want to build something cool and/or become financially independent.
You want to choose the most effective way to do that. Either you can work for a startup, take little pay and a lot of equity, and work your buns off as everyone shoots the moon.
Alternately you can lend your skills to an established company with less chance of fast success, and get fair compensation for your time.
It seems like you’re taking a startup salary (hint: experienced devs in Silicon Valley or NYC make north of 100k) with no equity. Sure, if the startup booms you may become a top dog — or not. There is NO REASON for a startup at this stage to withhold equity. None.
Please reply.
I guess I don’t really see that “cover letter” as a serious applicant; he as much as says so in the email. He is making a point about what he believes fair wages are for web developers — something that is definitely a problem for many freelancers out there (some companies just don’t feel they should have to pay what the work is worth). He also brings up another major problem for freelance developers, the so-called Dreamweaver designers.
The job posted was for a web developer, however, and in my book there’s no such thing as a web developer who doesn’t “code by hand” as he put it. It’s impossible, we’re talking about programming here. His criticism is entirely out of place; he’s not talking to a client that’s balked at a quote they didn’t expect, he’s contacting a company that has listed a development position. If it sounds appealing to him, then he should apply and be respectful, if not (say, the pay is too low for him), then he can keep looking. Writing in with “advice” that’s seemingly off-topic comes across very poorly. Posting that part of his email doesn’t strike me as something that would alienate the developer community. After all, they didn’t post his resume, or his portfolio, only the bit that was entirely out of line.
He probably didn’t post his resume or portfolio because he wasn’t interested in the position, but that’s beside the point. I was more curious about why you’re spending your time at the shop, without equity.
@notphil
I’ve been through the interview process with BlackBerry and offered a position, for only about $15k more than I make now. But if I was to work at RIM, then I would probably have to report for duty at 8:30 AM sharp everyday, deal with 5 meetings a week and lots of hierarchy (and probably have my history logged/chats logged).
I chose here because
1. I want to present ideas and see them implemented immediately.
2. I don’t want to be nagged for coming in 30 minutes late, the work is getting done, so it doesn’t matter.
3. The trade off is $15k, which after taxes comes out to about $240 a week, I can live without that in exchange for a place where joking is ok and wearing shorts is acceptable.
4. I have been offered equity, I am working out a deal in the near future, but I feel that I was offered equity because I earned it. Not because it come’s standard with the job. I haven’t accepted because I have some personal things I need to take care of first.
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