You might be a developer if...
If you are one, or know one, you have probably seen that developers are a different breed of people. In my history as a developer, I have dealt with interviewing candidates and trying to weed out the keyboard jockeys from the true developers. My typical approach has been to try and identify what kind of engine is the candidate's brain and how does it work.
- Is it a 2 stroke or a 4 stroke?
- Is it an inline, V, boxer or rotary system?
- How many cylinders does it have?
- What kind of fuel does it run on?
These obviously aren't the exact questions I am trying to figure out, but there are true marks to both a thinking pattern and an engine build, which are either marks of strength or a point of weakness.
What makes a developer?
In writing up a recent job listing, I found myself taking a different approach, which eventually brought me back to the thought of developers as rednecks. Probably a connection which couldn't have less related, but it resonated with me that as a population we tend to have a belief that we can identify a redneck within the moment we set eyes on one. With a desire to be able to identify a developer in a similar fashion, I decided I may be able to target the appropriate audience using targeted humor. It is common knowledge that geeks tend to have a completely different sense of humor than others (of course it doesn't always hold true).
I have witnessed the failure of a wrongly positioned pun, as identified by these two reddit threads.
"Warranty void if removed" sticker on an SSD box.
Posted in /r/pics = 4 upvotes (~~~ embed:pics/comments/1255x8/we_guarantee_our_products_so_long_as_you_never/) reddit metadata:fHBpY3N8aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmVkZGl0LmNvbS9yL3BpY3MvY29tbWVudHMvMTI1NXg4L3dlX2d1YXJhbnRlZV9vdXJfcHJvZHVjdHNfc29fbG9uZ19hc195b3VfbmV2ZXIvKXw= ~~~
Posted in /r/geek = 1254 upvotes (~~~ embed:geek/comments/1258ka/we_guarantee_our_products_so_long_as_you_never/) reddit metadata:fGdlZWt8aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucmVkZGl0LmNvbS9yL2dlZWsvY29tbWVudHMvMTI1OGthL3dlX2d1YXJhbnRlZV9vdXJfcHJvZHVjdHNfc29fbG9uZ19hc195b3VfbmV2ZXIvKXw= ~~~
Same content, but with very different reactions.
Using Targeted content to attract geeks and repel laymen
In my recent job listing, I tried to use obscure humor combined with references that would be known by a large portion of the developer culture.
Do you love taking things apart, just to see how they work and if they still do when you put them back together?
Do you use tabs, instead of spaces?
Do you have an odd attraction to technology, maybe even to the point that you support robosexual marriage?
Are you sometimes too literal when having conversations, often leading to the confusion or discomfort of others?
Are you a black knight of challenge, letting no challenge pass?
Unfortunately I will not know for sure how well these attract or repel the appropriate candidates, but I can sure hope that it works and I end up with some fun loving, intelligent developers. It is my true belief that a development team is not successful by solely having developers who are good with code, but with developers who are good with code and have personality.
You might be a developer if...
- You have used a semicolon to end a sentence;
- You have argued over the proper usage of braces
- You think you don't have commitment issues because you commit multiple times a day
- You have asked your significant other for an error log, so you can trace where things went wrong
- You ignore hashtags on posts, because syntax dictates they aren't supposed to be output
- You use bang, whack, slat, dubs, tick, splat or mod in conversations when talking about characters
- You know what character 10 and character 13 are in ASCII
- IE is a dirty word in your vocabulary
- When you hear the word Polymorphism, you recall every interview you have ever been in
- The word java rarely means coffee in your conversations
Targeted content seems like a great idea. It takes a geek to know a geek. That was a great read, thanks for sharing.