So I recently talked to a release engineering team leader at a very well-known american software+hardware company located in California.
They contacted me looking for top-notch build infrastructure engineers and we spent a very interesting hour discussing their technological stack and people processes. On the surface – they are moving in the right direction – automating all the things, using Chef for config management, codifying the infrastructure, using Artifactory for binaries… But one thing struck me in our conversation. The team leader (clearly a very smart and talented guy) said : “I’ve been trying to hire for two years. Good professionals are so hard to find…”
I agreed at first – we all know the market is starving for technical talent.
But reflecting on our conversation afterwards I realized that he in fact showed me the number one symptom of how far their team is from ‘doing devops’.
Yes – hiring is challenging. I’ve discussed this before. It may take some time to find the person whose mindset, values and the overall vibe suite your expectations. Even more so – if you’re low on budget, as the market has become highly competitive. But – for this specific team leader the budget was not an issue. He was failing to hire because of his organisation’s unwillingness to invest in mentoring and development.
He was looking for the ready-made fullstack ninja with a very specific skillset. there is no other way to explain his 2 year long quest.
Can you see how this totally opposes the ever important Devops value of Sharing? So you’ve built a few things to be proud of, you’re technologically savvy, you’re on the bleeding edge. Now is the time to share your knowledge! Now is the time to go hire bright novices. They are out there, they are hungry to learn from your experience and by sharing with them you will build the real devops on your team.
So if you’re failing to hire for more than a couple of months – don’t blame the market. Don’t complain about lousy candidates. Go revise your hiring process and more importantly – the way your team works. You may have all the technology, but it looks like your culture is broken. And with broken culture – even if you eventually succeed in hiring , you’ll have hard time reaping the true benefits of the Devops way – agility, quality, motivation and trust.
And may the devops be with you!