It's the evil you know vs taking a chance on the unknown. Plus the short-term thinking that plagues most people.
This is why most companies fail eventually. Hiring and promoting based on relationships instead of skills. You can grow a relationship. But a bad employee will never get any better. Especially if you bump him up to management.
Did you stop and think why he is the team leader and not you? Maybe having a deeper understanding of something is more important than playing with multiple things at once.
Always switching technologies will get you only basic knowledge in each of them. Going past the surface requires daily use and years of constant evolution. That's how you become an expert in something. Deeper understanding. Not broader.
Learn what? A new thing every year? How do they become experts then?
Just because you learn a new language or technology doesn't mean you become better at problem solving. It just means that you can solve problems using a different tool.
So people that specialize in a field and become experts have no respect for the job. But the ones that hop around each year based on what's "hot" are better.
You do realize that you're basically dismissing experts because they specialize instead of learning the basics for another technology each year. Or has one year become enough to be an expert on something?
So basically be a freelancer. Market yourself heavily and learn whatever language or technology your employer uses. At this point, why get a job? You can easily earn more as a freelancer or contractor.
Employers want cheap workers and experience is seen as expensive. This is why most companies have one or two real developers and dozens of juniors learning on the job.
If you're experienced, you're better off building a startup.
You're fresh meat and cheaper. There are no downsides for hiring college grads. You take a low pay and learn the exact technology stack the company is using. But when you decide to change jobs, that's when the real fun starts.
- if they want timed coding challenges or quizzes, skip them
- if they want you to work for a couple of days on a task to see your abilities, skip them
- if they don't accept a Skype interview and insist on going to their headquarters in another city, skip them
- if you're creative and like innovation, you're pretty much fucked because you don't fit the standard way of thinking
There is no shortage and there is no actual demand. Companies just want better people for less money. They say that are no more good developers. But what they mean is: "There are no skilled suckers that will accept our ridiculously low pay".
You need to jump through hoops only so they can get an easier recruiting process. You're no longer a valuable resource. You're just a mindless robot that needs to meet specific keywords. Doesn't matter if you learn, adapt or solve problems. All that matters is how you fit on a very specific recipe. Interviews are the same. Vomit the fizzbuzz solution, some "core programming" buzzwords and maybe two or three generic tasks with stupid loaded questions. And you're hired.
Software developers are now just employed freelancers. Doesn't matter how you think or what you can do. All you need is keywords and experience with highly specific things.
The interviewer is not actually interested in challenges you faced. He is interested in how to handled them. So simply prepare a good story about how you overcame adversity and solved a huge problem with an extremely intelligent solution. Interviewers love that kind of stuff.
You're confusing white noise with independent audio cues.
Plus, I don't think anybody ignores keyboard typing sounds. They work just like car engine noises. Audio feedback for a physical action. The example you're searching for is keypad tones for smartphones. That's the concept behind your idea.
Sounds become annoying with time. But visual cues are often automated and ignored. This is why the current solution works best.
Because of the way we evolved, a sound automatically makes our brain alert. At first it's ok. But with time we learn that there is no actual danger. And the sound only becomes annoying. Making us alert for nothing.
Visual cues are treated differently. If something is deemed safe or accepted by the brain, you automatically start ignoring it and focus on something else. So an acknowledgement comes only when something is different. And even then, we simply notice it. It's not an actual alert like sound is.
So the idea is bad. It goes against the way our brains work.
I'm going to be that guy and say that this is a bad idea. When you're jumping through hoops to get attention, people get used to it. And they start expecting it by default. Especially when it's for a job.
There are very few companies that do not follow the standard interviewing practices. So if you try to filter them, you won't have enough to get a job.
Instead, you can try approaching things differently. People want to judge your abilities when they feel that it's critical to get the best employee. So you basically need to eliminate their fears. Networking and making friends works pretty good. If you are recommended by an existing employee, the interviewer will take it easy on you. Internships also work pretty good. There is less pressure. And when you prove yourself after a couple of weeks you can demand a salary or walk.
Homework is never a good idea. Searching for a job usually takes you through many companies. If at least half of them give you homework, you will waste days or even weeks just solving imaginary problems that nobody cares about. Solving tasks at home sounds like a good idea at first. But after you do it and the company chooses someone else, all you get is a bitter aftertaste.
As a personal note, it really helps if you treat the interviewers like stupid children. Some readers may be offended by this, but it really works. When you finally accept that he has no idea what he's doing, it will be much easier to control the interview.
Interviewers are rarely good programmers. If they start with something like FizzBuzz, you can easily tell that they don't have the ability to understand things. They just take ideas from somewhere and run with them. No originality, no abstract thought and no critical thinking. Once you see that and realize that you are better, performance anxiety will no longer be a problem.
You're basically being judged by people following a generic checklist they got from a blog or "top 10 interviewing tips" article. Understand their reasoning and you will own them.
Companies complain there is a shortage. Everybody rushes to fill the demand, including students choosing a CS major over something else. Companies are then over-flooded with supply and get to pick what they want. It's a common tactic in capitalism.
If there really was a shortage, CS students would be recruited straight out of college. Instead, every software company wants years of experience for entry-level jobs. If they afford to put up ridiculous job requirements, they don't really need you. They simply want someone better for less money.
What does your team work on? Is software the main product or you're just a software division in a company with a different focus? Also, what percentage of the hired expats are British?
I lived in Amsterdam for the most part of last year. And dev meetups are rare and it's usually web stuff or startups.
There are only two types of meetings that happen almost every day:
1. The Appsterdam hub meetings. And they aren't for software engineers. It's mostly random startup people networking in the hopes of finding something.
2. The expat meetings. And it's mostly random expats networking in the hopes of finding something. Or at least trying to have a good time.
If you know any software engineering meetings, post them here so everybody who is interested can save some time. But I agree with Berlin and London. You can have more success there. Bigger cities with a lot more companies and communities.
This is why most companies fail eventually. Hiring and promoting based on relationships instead of skills. You can grow a relationship. But a bad employee will never get any better. Especially if you bump him up to management.