The Beautiful Simplicity of an Austin, Texas Software Engineering Legend
Here is another post that discusses how Humility and Simplicity can so greatly impact how the other party in a positive way. While I have to keep his identity confidential, this individual has been recognized as one of the greatest software engineers in Austin for 20+ years. Let's call him Matthew.
While the stream of layoffs are continuing in the Tech industry, the good news that is not being spoken about enough is that hiring has ticked upwards. That said, if you are actively interviewing, please digest this post regarding how we present ourselves to a particular audience, in this case, the company interviewing us. Given Matthew's incredible status here in Austin, it has truly been an honor to have known him for so many years.
What is so amazing about this story is that even with the immeasurable level of brilliance that Matthew possesses, he's driven by Simplicity and Humility. And in these current labor markets, when software engineers embrace the dynamic of Simplicity yet knock the technical assessment out of the park, I cannot express how positive of an impression it will make on a company. Matthew and I kicked off the job search in early March and upon waking up on a Tuesday morning and opening up my email, I had received a message from him letting me know the three hard requirements that he needed out of his next employer. Here you go:
Good morning, Mark! I'm ready to get this going and after doing some thinking about my next job, I wanted to share these three items that I must have out of my next employer.
I want something where I can draw a line between the company's success and an improvement in the world. It doesn't have to be anything super significant but I love working at a company that has a true mission for its future to make a positive impact on our society.
A really clear understanding with my manager regarding what is expected of me. I find great joy in clarity with my manager. Especially in this AI driven world right now, I am concerned about potentially unrealistic expectations about what me, the software engineer + AI can do. Who knows what that expectation is? But a clear understanding of what my boss needs from me truly sets me up for success.
And lastly, I want to have an impact and a genuine influence on the engineers that I work with and that means working in person and onsite with others. Given Austin's traffic, commute times do matter but I'm willing to go upwards of 35-45 minutes each way because working with other brilliant Developers brings me a great deal of happiness in my job.
I compiled a list of companies for Matthew and he selected a few of them and from there, I submitted his resume along with his words above and I'm serious, my clients responded immediately to him. We scheduled some introductory conversations with each of the companies and verbally, Matthew confirmed with the hiring managers the three requirements above and that only generated more interest in his candidacy. But as you can imagine the, truly special moment was Matthew's performance on the technical assessment. Upon starting his job search in early March, by early April, he was at final stages with five companies. And by next week, I am anticipating multiple offers being put on Matthew's table and yes, I see some of the firms doing their best to outbid the others.
It can be a formal job interview or even a casual social setting but we always have to hope for a moment "to present itself" and should you be a software engineer on an active job search, do your absolute best to create a moment where you can tell a company's internal recruiter or hiring manager how simple and well grounded your core requirements are. If you re-read Matthew's needs above, he wants to work at a company where he feels a sense of purpose, he wants to be around others in person so as to have the biggest impact and he wants absolute clarity from his hiring manager in terms of what is expected of him. You can just imagine how well received these three requirements are when the company's hiring manager or internal recruiter hears them.
I am working with a lot of IT professionals who have been out of work for several months and upon having a phone calls with them, I am often on the receiving end of some pretty long narratives. I can't fault these professionals for wanting to cover every single item of their background but we can never forget how important it is to keep and hold another party's attention. In fact, just last week, a senior engineering manager requested to speak with me over the phone and upon introducing himself, he spoke for approximately five minutes straight. Not once did the moment present itself to where I could reply and I have to admit that my eyes glazed over. From an attention standpoint, I was struggling to stay engaged. He covered every single aspect of his leadership experience as well as the optimal environments he was looking for. And compared to the beautiful simplicity of Matthew's requirements above, if this engineering leader is delivering this same kind of narrative to internal recruiters at startups and established companies, there very likely could be some red flags attached to his application. He's been out of work since September of 2024 and nowhere near any offers.
In a way, this post discusses an art form regarding our delivery to another party. Presenting ourselves in a particular light can shine very nicely on us. In Matthew's case, the approach was simple and modest and just look at how it has complemented his job search to a very positive degree. And while I'm at it, let me tell a quick story about a closely related dynamic to Simplicity. I'm talking about self-deprecation and the nice value it can bring to another party. As my reading audience knows, I always love telling stories about Peter Grabowski. A few months ago, I had connected him with a startup founder, simply to have a conversation about what his company was doing and how Peter could be a point of contact from an advisory standpoint. We scheduled a virtual meeting while Peter was on the West Coast and we had a small mixup due to the time zones. We got it sorted out but when this happened, Peter sent this note to me over Linkedin,
Sorry about the mixup here, Mark and thanks for getting this rescheduled. I'm a Dummy when it comes to timezones.
It was a nice moment of self-deprecation from Peter but knowing I was the audience here, I responded with these words,
Dude! You're not a Dummy. In terms of class, sophistication and intelligence, you are 3500 levels above me man! You're f*ckin' brilliant and if there is any Dummy here, it's me!! LOL. But I'm serious man, you're utterly brilliant brother!
Peter had every right to blame me for this time zone disconnect but rather, he personally expressed disappointment in himself for the mixup. But his moment of expressing disappointment in himself happened to be to an audience who holds him in the highest regard and felt compelled to correct him immediately. And I certainly made sure to do so in very emphatic form too.
If you are on an active job search right now, perhaps play around with the impression you can make on a company when you present your job search requirements in a modest and simple light. This kind of initial impression sets you up nicely should you deliver on the technical assessment in grand fashion. And from there, you are a solid 2 for 2 with the company and the result is that momentum will be very much in your favor. Look at what it's done for Matthew. He started a job search about a little over one month ago and he is now late stage/offer stage with five firms! Again, our current labor markets have a lot of candidates going on extended narratives about their background and what they are looking for in their next job. And I'm here to say that internal recruiters continue to feel quite a bit of fatigue in having to hear these candidates out. Let's never forget the incredible value that comes with presenting ourselves in a simple and modest light to another party. It doesn't matter what our profession is but upon doing so, pretty much every time, we surprise to the upside.
And that is exactly what this software engineering legend has done here in Austin since mid-March.
Thanks,
Mark Cunningham
Technical Recruiter
512-699-5719
http://thebiddingnetwork.com
Recruiter and well-known taco lover
3mogreat post Mark Cunningham - simplicity in tech goes a long way.
Senior Software Engineer | Smart and laid back
3moBeing able to distill things down to a few key points is great for communication. There's probably something like a rule of three at play, where any more than three or four bullet points can't be remembered anyway.
Head of Product, eComm. ROI, not just "features".
3moA great reminder about the multi layered beauty of simplicity, especially if paired with such modesty. And I think this extends to almost everything we do; taking a step back and reassessing a project, a design, an email, it pays off to look at things and wonder: am I over-complicating this? Thanks for sharing Mark Cunningham !
Plays well with others- works even better with them!
3moGreat read and an excellent reminder- thanks for sharing Mark!
CTO at FairNow.ai
3moLove this approach - shows clarity in communication, intent, team player and a forward looking bias. You can see a candidates history from their LinkedIn or resume, don’t need to go over that in an intro call. Hire for culture, build the team right, so hire people that are looking in the right direction and have the ability to learn, grow and take ownership (and of course have the baseline skills, but tech is constant learning).