What David Heinemeier Hansson thinks about hiring
Creator of Ruby on Rails, CTO of 37signals, and creator of Omarchy.
David Heinemeier Hansson did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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21 dated positions, 2022 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what David Heinemeier Hansson has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsIt's far more akin to hiring a bunch of extremely intelligent and capable coworkers with whom you might occasionally disagree.
- 5 weeks earlier
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Their wordsAnd I think what we're seeing right now with some of the layoffs is a testament to that, not AI. It's just that during the pandemic, a bunch of overhiring went on, and now AI is a convenient excuse to slim down. But I do also think AI is going to expose some roles as just not being productive ways for humans to spend their time, and therefore we must come up with new ways of spending their time.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Agentic Engineering, Vibe Coding & Linux | Lex Fridman Podcast #501youtube.com 26th of 41 in this recording
- 5 months earlier
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Their wordsIf we look at the long-term success rates, we have had more long-term employees from I've worked with this person for 2 years, we should hire them than we have from the open calls.
↗DHH’s new way of writing codeyoutube.com 16th of 21 in this recording
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Their wordsThere is no shortcut here. You simply just have to be good. And you will not get good if you do not practice. And if you think your place of employment is not worthy of your best, you're cheating yourself.
↗DHH’s new way of writing codeyoutube.com 17th of 21 in this recording
- 9 months earlier
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Their wordsI think part of the secret there is that Elon actually knows things. And when you know things, you can evaluate the quality of work products. And when you can evaluate the quality of work products, you can very quickly tell who's full of shit and who will actually take you to Mars.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 29th of 36 in this recording
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Their wordsthe main pivot point for getting hired was not your resume, was not the schooling you've had, it was not your grades, was not your pedigree, it was how well you did on two things. A, your cover letter. Because I can only work with people remotely if they're good writers.
↗DHH: Future of Programming, AI, Ruby on Rails, Productivity & Parenting | Lex Fridman Podcast #474youtube.com 30th of 36 in this recording
- 3 months earlier
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Their wordsa programmer who's either straight out of school or fresh off their first internship or short-stint job is essentially all potential
↗Why we won't hire a junior with five years of experienceworld.hey.com
- 3 weeks earlier
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Their wordsThen you need someone who cares about the outcome above the effort
- 6 months earlier
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Our readingAn AI-written cover letter reads as slop to the person receiving fifty of them, so do not send one.
Their wordsI can tell when AI wrote your thing because it uses the same phrases in the same setup as all the other ones
↗DHH Is Right About Everythingyoutube.com 10th of 8 in this recording
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Their wordsI do think open source is a cheat code and that doesn't mean that everyone has to have
↗DHH Is Right About Everythingyoutube.com 11th of 8 in this recording
- 12 days earlier
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Their wordsProgrammers continuing to become more expensive, computers continuing to become less so
↗Optimize for bio cores first, silicon cores secondworld.hey.com 1st of 3 in this piece
- 5 months earlier
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Their wordsOne where colleagues earn a spot by being really good in their given position
↗You're not guaranteed a spot on the teamworld.hey.com 1st of 3 in this piece
- 3 months earlier
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Their wordsIt's relatively easy to lay off people, which makes companies less afraid of hiring when the going is good
- 6 months earlier
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Their wordsthe competitive hiring advantage for remote-first companies is back
↗Working remotely is a competitive hiring advantage againworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 4 weeks earlier
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Their wordsUsing race, and other protected identity markers, to advantage some candidates over others is illegal
- 4 weeks earlier
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Their wordsNobody, anywhere has a faultless hiring process that can bat a perfect ten out of ten
↗Start them in the deep endworld.hey.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 3 months earlier
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Our readingHiring is a cost for SaaS startups
Their wordsEntrepreneurs everywhere are suddenly having to count each hire as a cost rather than a trophy
↗SaaS startups will have to care about productivity againworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 4 months earlier
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Their wordsyou needed someone with a product vision of what the customer wanted to have a shot at recovery
↗Apple fired 4,100 when Steve Jobs returned in 1997world.hey.com
- 10 months earlier
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Their wordsDiversity certainly can be of merit in itself, as the team acquires a broader perspective and more closely resembles its customer base, but not as a displacement for core competency
↗The merit of hiring by meritworld.hey.com 1st of 2 in this piece
- 4 days earlier
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Our readingMany job applicants do not put in the effort to ensure their application fits the opening
Their wordsVirtually none of whom seem to have bothered reading the basic requirements for the opening or comply with the instructions on how to make a successful application
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Our readingMost SaaS businesses of our size and above should own their infrastructure rather than rent it
Their wordsBut hiring managers is hard! Much harder than hiring individual contributors who can be evaluated in large part on the strength of their individual work.