I read this with the same mentality. What kind of bubble are we in where programmers require agents along the lines of professional athletes and Hollywood stars?
It makes a bit of sense in the context of the latter two; the contracts are worth so much money that an agent can make a living off of a small percentage of the take. But if you're a programmer who can't handle your own finances, PR or salary negotiation, how well-rounded are you?
I don't love negotiating, I don't do it as a job so I'm not as good at it as I am at developing. If this guy can get me an extra $X per year doing a job I'd like anyway it's only sensible that paying up to $(X - 1) is a win, and that's disregarding time saved.
Well put. I actually thought about proposing a model where a candidate gives me a target salary, and agent bonus could be 1/2 difference between target and actual salary (where salary is above target obviously).
"what kind of bubble are we in" - good question, and that was the key point. Tech recruiting is a big business, but recruiting in lots of other industries is not nearly as big. Why is that?
There are more programmers than athletes and Hollywood stars, but there are many more people in industries where using a recruiter/agent is not the norm. If you think that programmers are good at or enjoy handling their own finances, doing PR, or salary negotiation, I'd encourage you to talk to thousands of programmers and ask them how they feel about that. I have programmers come to me for advice on negotiation and what career moves to take that aren't even active candidates (jobs they found on their own, yet still seeking representation). Programmers that I have met hate that part of the business, hate negotiation and building their brand. Of course there are some that are willing to do it and are good at it, but the majority seem to be completely fine passing that off on to somebody else if they can.
>""what kind of bubble are we in" - good question, and that was the key point. Tech recruiting is a big business, but recruiting in lots of other industries is not nearly as big. Why is that?"
What you say is reasonable.
I'm not sure how I'd answer that question, however, which I guess brings us full circle to why it seems frothy to me. I'm not arguing that there is no business to be had in the space; apparently, it's happening.
But the fact that there is actually demand for such an occupation to require or request agency representation is so far from the norm, it seems like an anomaly, destined to be corrected. Of course, I'm using hindsight, not foresight.
I didn't recognize the demand until I began hearing from independent consultants asking for advice or talking about abandoning their business because they wanted to focus n coding and not marketing and their 'brand'. They liked the work they did, but not the work of running a business. Likewise, engineers in full time perm jobs were asking for career advice on a regular basis - not just negotiation, but whether to stay hands on vs manage, whether to get a certification, to take pay cuts for a better tech environment, etc. The answers depend on the candidate's situation, but I became a trusted advisor to many. I gave this expertise away, and I think a model exists where an agent would do these things and more. May sound 'frothy' now, but its a new idea.
Comments
I read this with the same mentality. What kind of bubble are we in where programmers require agents along the lines of professional athletes and Hollywood stars?
It makes a bit of sense in the context of the latter two; the contracts are worth so much money that an agent can make a living off of a small percentage of the take. But if you're a programmer who can't handle your own finances, PR or salary negotiation, how well-rounded are you?
I don't love negotiating, I don't do it as a job so I'm not as good at it as I am at developing. If this guy can get me an extra $X per year doing a job I'd like anyway it's only sensible that paying up to $(X - 1) is a win, and that's disregarding time saved.
Well put. I actually thought about proposing a model where a candidate gives me a target salary, and agent bonus could be 1/2 difference between target and actual salary (where salary is above target obviously).
That would be a neat experiment.
"what kind of bubble are we in" - good question, and that was the key point. Tech recruiting is a big business, but recruiting in lots of other industries is not nearly as big. Why is that?
There are more programmers than athletes and Hollywood stars, but there are many more people in industries where using a recruiter/agent is not the norm. If you think that programmers are good at or enjoy handling their own finances, doing PR, or salary negotiation, I'd encourage you to talk to thousands of programmers and ask them how they feel about that. I have programmers come to me for advice on negotiation and what career moves to take that aren't even active candidates (jobs they found on their own, yet still seeking representation). Programmers that I have met hate that part of the business, hate negotiation and building their brand. Of course there are some that are willing to do it and are good at it, but the majority seem to be completely fine passing that off on to somebody else if they can.
>""what kind of bubble are we in" - good question, and that was the key point. Tech recruiting is a big business, but recruiting in lots of other industries is not nearly as big. Why is that?"
What you say is reasonable.
I'm not sure how I'd answer that question, however, which I guess brings us full circle to why it seems frothy to me. I'm not arguing that there is no business to be had in the space; apparently, it's happening.
But the fact that there is actually demand for such an occupation to require or request agency representation is so far from the norm, it seems like an anomaly, destined to be corrected. Of course, I'm using hindsight, not foresight.
I didn't recognize the demand until I began hearing from independent consultants asking for advice or talking about abandoning their business because they wanted to focus n coding and not marketing and their 'brand'. They liked the work they did, but not the work of running a business. Likewise, engineers in full time perm jobs were asking for career advice on a regular basis - not just negotiation, but whether to stay hands on vs manage, whether to get a certification, to take pay cuts for a better tech environment, etc. The answers depend on the candidate's situation, but I became a trusted advisor to many. I gave this expertise away, and I think a model exists where an agent would do these things and more. May sound 'frothy' now, but its a new idea.