Half-assed job requirements yield half-assed programmers
I get a fair number of head hunters emailing me about “Exciting New Opportunities!” but today’s was so wonderfully generic that I thought I should share it, with the addition of my own comments:
Experience in an object oriented language such as Java, C#, or C++
> … because that filters out so many people who have never touched at least ONE of those.
Understanding of web services technologies such as SOAP, HTTP, WSDL, XSD, and REST.
> Nice buzzword list; I’m glad you strung them all together instead of logical separations
Strong understanding of performance, memory and I/O
Strong knowledge of data structures, algorithm, enterprise systems, and asynchronous architectures.
> Oh, so you’re looking for good programmers — I get it!
Strong understanding of system and application performance characteristics.
Ability to work in a fast paced and agile development environment
> Agile development… and enterprise systems.
Passion for developing products which provide a great customer experience
Motivation to drive tasks to completion and take ownership of projects
Experience leading teams or managing projects a plus.
> Remember what they taught you in college about interview questions like “tell me about a time that…”
Familiarity with a Unix/Linux development environment
> Everyone who had to use Linux for their OS class claims this. How many are comfortable in a terminal all day?
Should be genuinely excited about technology, have a strong interest in learning about and playing with
the latest technologies. Must be a self-starter and motivated.
> Why not say something about technical blogging, side projects, or OSS contributions?
BS/MS in Computer Science, (PhD a plus)
> PhD dropout a bigger plus
I know NOTHING about this job after reading it. I am not excited about it. I have no compelling reason to follow up unless I’m desperate and don’t have many other options.
Software companies who use headhunters: if you find they’re advertising your job opening with this drivel, fire them immediately.
