MS has inflated salaries for the last ten years at least - paying above and beyond market for people with mid-level skills.
There is definitely a shortage of highly-skilled engineers who can develop great consumer-facing products - and MS has helped create a market (along with a variety of others) where because you can be over-paid and under-skilled most people aren't developing the level of knowledge and skill set that companies need now.
Microsoft's employee performance evaluation scale is 1-5: most are 3s (meets minimum requirements) and less than 10% are 5s (exceeds all performance expectations and has "rescued" projects). Does a 3 deserve a $90k salary and 5% increase annually? Would you hire one?
Job boards don't work because they don't allow for that "human element" - I rely heavily on email campaigns & networking to fill positions. Most inside recruiters aren't willing or capable of doing that. They rely on job boards & newspaper ads (which are all poorly written). LinkedIn, Jobster, ZoomInfo, even the awful armpit of mySpace are all better sources for me than any job board.
If you think the recruiter (specifically inside recruiters) are getting between you and a job, you're wrong. My hiring managers don't have the time (or the desire) to tell 30 different people about our company and do basic fit & skills assessments. When they meet you, they want to go deep and find out what you're capable of - they don't want to talk about the benefits package and how long we've been in our current location.
I think the tone of a lot of replies hint at something else: entitlement. So many candidates act as if we are lucky they replied to our inquiries. Get over yourself! There are more people with your skills (or better) in line for the role, and we are going to hire the one without the attitude. Culture & personality fit are at least 50% of hiring decisions.
Salaries and salary negotiation are another issue - every time we make a hire, we have to consider internal equity and parity. We are also willing to hire junior people and develop them. Negotiations start when I ask what salary range the candidate is targeting and end when the offer letter is signed. I always tell the candidate our compensation philosophy and benefits package before they give me their range - and let them know that it's written in pencil.
Candidates have to be willing to talk to (inside) recruiters, I'm their advocate. Of course, I'm lucky - I report directly to the CEO and don't fall in the HR/Finance function here.:-)
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MS has inflated salaries for the last ten years at least - paying above and beyond market for people with mid-level skills.
There is definitely a shortage of highly-skilled engineers who can develop great consumer-facing products - and MS has helped create a market (along with a variety of others) where because you can be over-paid and under-skilled most people aren't developing the level of knowledge and skill set that companies need now.
Microsoft's employee performance evaluation scale is 1-5: most are 3s (meets minimum requirements) and less than 10% are 5s (exceeds all performance expectations and has "rescued" projects). Does a 3 deserve a $90k salary and 5% increase annually? Would you hire one?
Job boards don't work because they don't allow for that "human element" - I rely heavily on email campaigns & networking to fill positions. Most inside recruiters aren't willing or capable of doing that. They rely on job boards & newspaper ads (which are all poorly written). LinkedIn, Jobster, ZoomInfo, even the awful armpit of mySpace are all better sources for me than any job board.
:-)
If you think the recruiter (specifically inside recruiters) are getting between you and a job, you're wrong. My hiring managers don't have the time (or the desire) to tell 30 different people about our company and do basic fit & skills assessments. When they meet you, they want to go deep and find out what you're capable of - they don't want to talk about the benefits package and how long we've been in our current location.
I think the tone of a lot of replies hint at something else: entitlement. So many candidates act as if we are lucky they replied to our inquiries. Get over yourself! There are more people with your skills (or better) in line for the role, and we are going to hire the one without the attitude. Culture & personality fit are at least 50% of hiring decisions.
Salaries and salary negotiation are another issue - every time we make a hire, we have to consider internal equity and parity. We are also willing to hire junior people and develop them. Negotiations start when I ask what salary range the candidate is targeting and end when the offer letter is signed. I always tell the candidate our compensation philosophy and benefits package before they give me their range - and let them know that it's written in pencil.
Candidates have to be willing to talk to (inside) recruiters, I'm their advocate. Of course, I'm lucky - I report directly to the CEO and don't fall in the HR/Finance function here.