Gary Haran.com

Companies in Montreal and across all of North America are having a hard time finding the talent they want. It’s no wonder companies like StandoutJobs.com are aiming to fix this using video. They’re setting out to prove that a video can transparentely presents the type of working environment and culture of a company and that this better than a monster ad can attract top talent.

The place I worked at before joining Ziplocal.com paid over 9000$ to a headhunter to get me to join their company. I had aced the headhunter’s timed skill testing online questionnaire so he had no trouble selling me to the rather paranoid employer who wanted only the “créme de la créme” (those were the exact employer’s words). The headhunter had no problem convincing me to start the whole process he said something about two 24 inch monitors.

While I can understand the guy at shipping not needing a large widescreen I don’t understand why it is considered acceptable by some employers to provide programmers with 14.5″ monitors. Isn’t it like giving surgeons steak knifes instead of scalpels?

I’ve heard of very good developers leave a work place because they didn’t have a say in the replacement model for their 8$ keyboard that broke for the second time.

Employer: “But it’s the same keyboard everyone uses! I don’t see why yours breaks all the time!”
Programmer: “It’s not the same keyboard *everyone* uses. You use a laptop keyboard with an attached monitor that is twice the size of my 15″ CRT.”

I know a very good programmer faced with two job offers. He turned down the one which paid 5000$ more and accepted the one where he could use Linux instead of Windows to write web applications. This kind of information isn’t what employers are necessarily aware of. He was an avid FOSS advocate and he loves his work environment to exactly match that of the servers.

I met a technical writer who argued that an office window was worth about 5000$ a year to her. She had a dried up monkey hand on her desk she had illegally imported from Africa. She was the coolest technical writer I ever met.

While in these two last examples the price for having to use Windows(TM) happens to be the same as having an office window most programmers are misunderstood. They’re not acting snob by asking for a good chair. Their ass actually hurt from that plastic ikea chair. The large monitor allows them to speed up their work flow. Multiple windows are open, log files always in view so they don’t have to alt-tab and switch apps all the time.

If you are willing to dish out 9000$ to get a single programmer sign on consider this instead:

Per Programmer

* 24 inch iMac - 2250$
* large desk (one big enough that 2 colleagues can comfortably see a demo on your monitor) - 480$
* good chair with a few inches of cushion - 349$
* amazon books allowance - ~250$
* library for holding the books - 120$
* best of breed headphones - 300$
* accomodating work hours - 0$
Total cost per programmer: ~3749$

Shared by all employees

* automatic espresso machine with plenty of buttons and choices - 1500$
* tea kettle for tea drinkers with a blue light to say when it’s on - 55$
* 2 fancy sofas for the lounge area - 4500$
* a few posters for the walls - 200$
Total cost for all employees: 6255$

One of the standout jobs video explains humorously how caffeine is the most important food group to developers. The video then goes on to show all the different sources of caffeine they offer for free to their employees. Think they got attention? They sure did. Think they attract great local talent? They sure do. They understand the true cost of recruiting.

I have some great co workers who discuss freely on various subjects. This last week we had the chance to discuss fidelity, “libertinage” and marriage on our lunch hours.

I’ve been happily married for close to 2 years now and it didn’t come to me as an easy choice. Before my commitment I had been in multiple open relationships. Wind of this must have reached the priest who officiated our wedding. He spent the entire sermon time explaining why marriage was important and what it represented. He used the words *limit* a total of 16 times and looked almost only at me the entire time.

Some of my colleagues are free spirited and would like more freedom but are unable to afford it in their current relationship due to constraints confered by the couple’s understandings. Others would not even consider anything outside the scope of what their life offers them.

Multiple arguments have been made for the open lifestyle. Analogies with food came up: “We don’t eat the same meal every day. Diversity is helpful in appreciating even our favorite meals.”, “Yeah but some foods hurt your health in the long term.”.

Other more interesting concepts came from colleagues in how their relationships with different types of friends helped shape the person they currently are. Analogies to the one night stand and the person you meet only once for just some chit-chat. Say a cab driver asks you a question regarding politics you might see it as easier to speak to him about it than you would your own mother. Discussing this point of view with someone you barely know could result in some interesting discussions you wouldn’t otherwise have.

Perhaps the most interesting point that was raised is that as you pair yourself with someone you accept a part of life that is inescapable. Life is about the struggle to know what you want, the struggle to achieve it and accepting to live within the bounds that nature and circumstances handed you.

We already have a project aimed at providing us with Open Source Video Card. We already have open source software. If I had experience building printers I’d be working on an open source printer. Seeing the way that HP cheats it’s clients I’m surprised no one started such a project.

Seriously I’m sick and tired of printers becomming cheaper and cheaper yet paying more and more for cartridges. Couldn’t we fix this with an open source printer?

2006 - Yesterday my wife and I went shopping for a sweater. I found one I liked but at 115$ it was way too expensive for me. I kept on walking and in another store settled for one at 40$ (down from 49$).

1996 - I was debatting at the high school. The resolution was “Be it resolved that men and women should pay the same fee for car insurance” and one of my arguments was that society had allowed for unfair behavior to occur for too long.

Just like restaurant owners don’t charge different prices for the same meal, hairdressers and insurance salespeople should not make people pay differently based on sex or how much you’ll like your hair cut.

Girl in the opposition: “But women don’t get their hair cut as often” she heckled
Me: “That’s no justification, it’s an excuse”.

2006 - Walking out of the store we entered another. My wife found a sweater she liked.

Woman at the counter: “That’ll be 20$.”
Me: “I didn’t notice it was on sale!”
Woman at the counter: “It isn’t”
Me: “Wow! Men easily pay twice as much for the same stuff!”
Woman at the counter: “The difference is that a woman will be sick and tired of her clothes in 3 months.”

So I guess we’ll always pay whatever people are willing to pay.