thedwick

They’ve finished putting up the rafters for the roof. So I think they’re done framing (less than 3 weeks!) and now start to close stuff off with roofing and siding and whatnot. I can walk around in the framed-out rooms and really get a feel for them and now I’m even more eager for them to finish.

We’re starting a new college grad recruiting program at work. We’re hiring four people to four different groups where they will be paid out of the ‘recruiting program’ budget for 18 months and then we have to find a home for them. I’m going to be in charge of one of the graduates. There are a few ways this is interesting to me…

I was hired many moons ago into a failed college recruiting program here. “Program” was too strong a word for it, really they just hired about six people and didn’t do anything special with them (us) after we were hired. There had been talk of rotations and mentorship, etc, but as soon as the program’s champion left the company, it all evaporated. I had the sense there wasn’t much support for it in the first place. Sortly after the program started, most of the graduates in it quit for other jobs.

Now I’m on the other side of the table. If this program ends up the same way, then it will be partially my fault. I’ve hired a couple dozen people over the course of my career so far, but this one is different and in some ways more exciting. I get to shape an eager, fresh person and somewhat influence the initial trajectory of their whole career. I’m hoping their optimism wears off on me and I’m hoping I have some kind of wisdom to impart to them.

I recently read a post by Joel Spolsky about why so many resumes you get when you post a job opening suck (and they do). He theorizes that really good people get a really good job out of college and pretty much stay there for their career (link). Personally I don’t think they stay there, but I do think they stay within the interpersonal network they form from that job on. They rarely search Craigslist for jobs. What does that say about me, as someone who has used Craigslist to look for jobs? Hmmm.

PS–I’m also looking to hire real pro database developer, skilled especially in Sybase. Usually when I hire I’m not as concerned about an exact set of technical skills and instead hire on raw talent, but for this spot I really do need a Sybase pro, if anyone in Internet land knows of one.