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Patrick McKenzie

What Patrick McKenzie thinks about hiring

@patrick-mckenzie · 24 positions · 0 changes of mind

Software engineer and writer, known online as patio11. Ran the small software business Bingo Card Creator and Starfighter, then worked at Stripe; writes about the mechanics of money at Bits about Money and wrote for years at Kalzumeus about careers, negotiation and the business of software.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

Patrick McKenzie 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.

8 dated positions, 2011 to 2012, in their own words. Our reading of what Patrick McKenzie has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingA company is not sensitive to the few thousand dollars a candidate is afraid to ask for, because the fully-loaded cost of employing them dwarfs it.

    Their wordsThis is a roundabout way of telling you that companies are not sensitive to small differences in employee wages because employees are so darned expensive anyhow.

    ↗Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valuedkalzumeus.com 2nd of 4 in this piece

  3. Our readingAsking a candidate for their salary history is a way to justify paying them below market, so a candidate should never name a number first.

    Their wordsThey are all using your previous anomalously low salary — a salary which did not reflect your true market worth, because you were young or inexperienced or unskilled at negotiation or working at a different firm or in another line of work entirely — to justify paying you an anomalously low salary in the future.

    ↗Salary Negotiation: Make More Money, Be More Valuedkalzumeus.com 4th of 4 in this piece

  4. 3 months earlier

  5. Our readingEngineers are hired to create business value rather than to program things, and the only goals are adding revenue and cutting costs.

    Their wordsThe person who has decided to bring on one more engineer is not doing it because they love having a geek around the room, they are doing it because adding the geek allows them to complete a project (or projects) which will add revenue or decrease costs.

    ↗Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advicekalzumeus.com 1st of 9 in this piece

  7. Our readingWhich language or stack an engineer knows barely matters, because a good engineer picks up a new one in weeks.

    Their wordsIn the real world, picking up a new language takes a few weeks of effort and after 6 to 12 months nobody will ever notice you haven’t been doing that one for your entire career.

    ↗Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advicekalzumeus.com 4th of 9 in this piece

  9. Our readingColleagues and bosses are counterparties rather than friends, and an interviewer being friendly is part of a transaction.

    Their wordsYou should be a good person to everyone you meet — it is the moral thing to do, and as a sidenote will really help your networking — but do not be under the delusion that everyone is your friend.

    ↗Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advicekalzumeus.com 5th of 9 in this piece

  11. Our readingEngineers overestimate the competition and are usually good enough for the company they believe is out of their reach.

    Their wordsKey takeaway: you probably are good enough to work at that company you think you’re not good enough for.  They hire better mortals, but they still hire mortals.

    ↗Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advicekalzumeus.com 6th of 9 in this piece

  13. Our readingMost jobs and most good candidates never appear publicly; hiring travels through personal networks instead.

    Their wordsMost jobs are never available publicly, just like most worthwhile candidates are not available publicly

    ↗Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advicekalzumeus.com 7th of 9 in this piece

  15. Our readingAcademic credentials — grades, major, the prestige of the degree — barely matter to industry hiring.

    mathematics

    Their wordsYour major and minor don’t matter.  Most decisionmakers in industry couldn’t tell the difference between a major in Computer Science and a major in Mathematics if they tried.

    ↗Don't Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career Advicekalzumeus.com 8th of 9 in this piece