Pardon me for asking, but...
 

In light of these job postings, what exactly constitutes an "URGENT" need for a programmer? I've managed developers, and I can honestly say that I've never seen-or even _heard_ of-a programming emergency...

Assuming such needs _are_ life-threatening, why doesn't the salary offered ever reflect this sense of urgency?

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

pat.t...@gmail.com wrote:
> In light of these job postings, what exactly constitutes an "URGENT" need for a programmer? I've
> managed developers, and I can honestly say that I've never seen-or even _heard_ of-a programming
> emergency...

Short career so far?

> Assuming such needs _are_ life-threatening, why doesn't the salary offered ever reflect this sense of urgency?

You've heard of "spam", right?

When do spammers avoid hyperbole?

But then, your questions are certainly rhetorical.

--
Lew

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

On 26/10/2012 3:25 PM, Lew wrote:
> pat.t...@gmail.com wrote:
>> In light of these job postings, what exactly constitutes an "URGENT" need for a programmer? I've
>> managed developers, and I can honestly say that I've never seen-or even _heard_ of-a programming
>> emergency...
>
> Short career so far?

Do people still read Brooks' "Mythical Man-Month"? He said "adding
people to a late project makes it later". So if you have a programming
"emergency", maybe hiring somebody at the last minute isn't going to
help. Nevertheless, people seem to do it.

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

Funny!

Thanks!

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

On 10/26/2012 2:47 PM, pat.trainor@gmail.com wrote:
> In light of these job postings, what exactly constitutes an "URGENT"
> need for a programmer? I've managed developers, and I can honestly
> say that I've never seen-or even _heard_ of-a programming
> emergency...
>
> Assuming such needs _are_ life-threatening, why doesn't the salary
> offered ever reflect this sense of urgency?

Job posts to usenet are usually totally clueless recruiters or
scammers.

Exceptions are when a regular post a link to an ad that he/she
believe could be interesting for readers.

Arne

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

On Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:15:50 -0400, David Lamb wrote:

> On 26/10/2012 3:25 PM, Lew wrote:
>> pat.t...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> In light of these job postings, what exactly constitutes an "URGENT" need for a programmer? I've
>>> managed developers, and I can honestly say that I've never seen-or even _heard_ of-a programming
>>> emergency...
>> Short career so far?
> Do people still read Brooks' "Mythical Man-Month"? He said "adding
> people to a late project makes it later". So if you have a programming
> "emergency", maybe hiring somebody at the last minute isn't going to
> help. Nevertheless, people seem to do it.

That truthism doesn't mean no project no matter how close or far from its
deadline can ever be sped up no matter the amount of programmers added.

Liebe Gruesse,
Joerg

--
Ich lese meine Emails nicht, replies to Email bleiben also leider
ungelesen.

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

Joerg Meier wrote:
> David Lamb wrote:
>> Do people still read Brooks' "Mythical Man-Month"? He said "adding
>> people to a late project makes it later". So if you have a programming
>> "emergency", maybe hiring somebody at the last minute isn't going to
>> help. Nevertheless, people seem to do it.
>
> That truthism [sic] doesn't mean no project no matter how close or far from its
> deadline can ever be sped up no matter the amount of programmers added.

What exactly does that assertion contribute to the discussion?

It is such an overwhelmingly bad idea to throw staff into the middle of a
programming team in the middle of a project, with such consistently negative
results when tried as has been objectively verified for decades, that Brooks
is not the only one to offer the advice to avoid it, nor to substantiate that
advice with evidence.

To paraphrase Steve McConnell's /Rapid Development/, it's not that late
addition of personnel to a project is the worst mistake one can make, but it's
repeated so often with such predictable (harmful) results that it deserves to
be labeled a "classic" mistake.

You won't always lose betting against the casino, but don't back a plan based
on beating the house.

--
Lew

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

On Sat, 27 Oct 2012 20:43:09 +0200, Joerg Meier <joergmmeier@arcor.de>
wrote:

>On Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:15:50 -0400, David Lamb wrote:
>
>> On 26/10/2012 3:25 PM, Lew wrote:
>>> pat.t...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>> In light of these job postings, what exactly constitutes an "URGENT" need for a programmer? I've
>>>> managed developers, and I can honestly say that I've never seen-or even _heard_ of-a programming
>>>> emergency...
>>> Short career so far?
>> Do people still read Brooks' "Mythical Man-Month"? He said "adding
>> people to a late project makes it later". So if you have a programming
>> "emergency", maybe hiring somebody at the last minute isn't going to
>> help. Nevertheless, people seem to do it.
>
>That truthism doesn't mean no project no matter how close or far from its
>deadline can ever be sped up no matter the amount of programmers added.

"truism".

You can win at Russian Roulette. Nonetheless, the usual advice
is to avoid playing.

Lew said good stuff. Let me add that if a project is far from
its deadline, then "URGENT" is probably not very accurate.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

On Friday, October 26, 2012 1:47:41 PM UTC-5, pat.t...@gmail.com wrote:
> In light of these job postings, what exactly constitutes an "URGENT" need for a programmer? I've managed developers, and I can honestly say that I've never seen-or even _heard_ of-a programming emergency...
>
>
>
> Assuming such needs _are_ life-threatening, why doesn't the salary offered ever reflect this sense of urgency?

Basically, they need someone to fix a Maps application so people no longer end up at Dunkin Donuts when they're trying to get to Starbucks.

Re: Pardon me for asking, but...
 

On 29/10/2012 10:09 AM, bob smith wrote:
> On Friday, October 26, 2012 1:47:41 PM UTC-5, pat.t...@gmail.com wrote:
>> In light of these job postings, what exactly constitutes an "URGENT" need for a programmer? I've managed developers, and I can honestly say that I've never seen-or even _heard_ of-a programming emergency...
>>
>>
>>
>> Assuming such needs _are_ life-threatening, why doesn't the salary offered ever reflect this sense of urgency?
>
> Basically, they need someone to fix a Maps application so people no longer end up at Dunkin Donuts when they're trying to get to Starbucks.
>

In this case the fix is easy: go back to using the working 3rd-party app
you dumped in the first place.