Do you really want a “Rock Star” Designer/Developer
May 26
This job posting came through one of my RSS feeds.
Rock Star UX Designer/Flex Developer wanted
I always cringe a bit whenever I see job postings looking for rock star this or ninja that. People seem to throw these terminology around lately as if they really knew what the implications meant. Does any firm really want that? Let’s examine this a little.
By definition, a rock star is a famous singer, composer, and/or musician. A rock star spends a big chunk of his/her time touring and giving concerts. They also have music and other merchandise that they sell. They probably spend lots of time promoting their work to build awareness and increase sales. Some rock stars can be demanding divas who require certain types of bottled water or bowls of M&Ms sans the brown ones if they are to play.
If we were to translate this to the software development world, a rock star designer or developer would be famous in their niche in the world, maybe because they created the framework du jour or have some recognized open source project. They spend a big chunk of their time touring and speaking at conferences. They also write industry articles and publish books that they sell. They probably spend lots of time promoting their work to build awareness and increase their personal brand so they can sell more books, charge more for their work and their speaking.
So is this what the firm that wants a “rock star” designer/developer really wants? My guess is no. The firm just wants a good candidate to do the work. Most of the time the person doing the hiring or writing the job posting has no idea what qualities or qualifications to look for and throw around the terms ninja and rock star as catch all.
And what about ninja? What makes you a ninja developer? Do you need a degree in computer science AND a black belt in martial arts? Do you need to be proficient in 5 programming languages and 5 weapons? If that’s the case, very few people would be qualified and it doesn’t even make any sense.
There’s really no point to this blog post other than to rant. Basically people need to do their homework and figure out what are the things they are looking for in a “good” designer/developer instead of being lazy and just saying I want a rockstar this and a ninja that.
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May 27, 2010 @ 08:41:31
It’s sort of interesting to take it a step further: To anyone who is a real, solid producer in this business, a company asking for a ‘rock star’ is, at least the way I read it, looking for a hero-oriented developer — someone who will work long hours and deliver heroics at their own expense (time and sanity) for the good of the company. What company doesn’t want this? But advertising that this will be the expectation is a sure way for anyone with real experience shipping software to pre-filter your job posting.
No, what’s more likely is that the people who respond to an ad like that are narcissists. Maybe they’re good designer/developers, maybe they’re not. But more importantly, they self-identify as ‘rock stars’ which has a good chance of meaning that they’re more interested in themselves than in what they do for a job, or what’s good for your company.
Likewise, when using the word “ninja,” it seems likely that you’ll attract people who lack a certain business tact. We might call them “juvenile” or “non-customer-facing.” Again, though, there’s a self-selection bias. Even if I were willing to pick up the cross of the long hours and outlandish expectations implied by explicitly asking for rock stars and ninjas, if the word ninja in a job posting grabs my attention, chances are I’m young and inexperienced.
I agree. These words serve little purpose other than to warn off the really good people.
May 27, 2010 @ 08:53:37
Thanks for the insightful comment. I wonder if companies asking for heroics of their rock star developers are willing and ready to compensate them the way real world rock stars are compensated. My guess here is no again. That was another point that I overlooked when writing this piece. Rock stars make orders of magnitude more than their non famous counterparts. That’s because they also attract orders of magnitude more people and thus revenue. We all know that a great developer can produce orders of magnitude better work than a mediocre developer but their compensation rarely reflects that.
Jun 23, 2010 @ 22:25:29
Are you just vexing because you really are a true Ninja Developer?
Apr 06, 2012 @ 13:21:05
lol I love this post. Like you, I also cringe and the veins tighten on the side of my head when I hear “rock star this or ninja that”. You got right to the old nuts.