Correct, you can't ask if person is a citizen. There is actually a long list of things you can't specifically ask, but there is always a legal way, you might want to ask your corporate lawyers about that (of course, they might not know, plainly because not all lawyers are knowledgeable)
You might not be able to ask specifically about the H1, but there are ways and 100%legal ways to ask so you can ascertain if person has H1, wants H1, etc. Not very difficult, I do it all the time.
Not all H1s are worth the effort, agree; but that kind of thinking borders into assuming that no foreign talent is good; and don't agree with that
Second prior opinion.
First the disclusure: I was H1B long ago and now a citizen. Never treated bad as an H1 neither had to be tied to the company who got me the GC.
Can't agree more: there aren't that many good programmers out there. I now in a position that hires and most of the resumes that get my way are showing a poor candidate. The ones that are truly good (regardless of origin, and I can tell when someone is on a H1 or looking for one) are often already being hired, by the time I get them an interview or offer.
In an effort to try to get talent, I also teach at a local college, and out of every class, I might have 1-2 people really interested in IT, and it is often the case that those are people who have worked in IT as developers and are trying to get new skills/certifications. Of those, that supposedly are 'experienced', maybe 1 out of 10-15 is truly half way decent, the others have very poor programming skills/habits. Yes, I can try to improve their skills and often I do try, most times I get resistance. Add to all this the current SoX, HiPPA (list you favorite regulation here) and the discipline that it is required to work under those regulations. Simply put, I have a very very small pool of tealen I can tap, result is that I have to look very hard to find people. Some of this is remediated by my company using outsourcing, which I'm trying to limit and keep the 'company people' in the interesting projects.
Flame me if you wish, that doesn't change the fact that there is not much real talent out there.
Slashdot Mirror
Correct, you can't ask if person is a citizen. There is actually a long list of things you can't specifically ask, but there is always a legal way, you might want to ask your corporate lawyers about that (of course, they might not know, plainly because not all lawyers are knowledgeable)
You might not be able to ask specifically about the H1, but there are ways and 100%legal ways to ask so you can ascertain if person has H1, wants H1, etc. Not very difficult, I do it all the time. Not all H1s are worth the effort, agree; but that kind of thinking borders into assuming that no foreign talent is good; and don't agree with that
Second prior opinion. First the disclusure: I was H1B long ago and now a citizen. Never treated bad as an H1 neither had to be tied to the company who got me the GC. Can't agree more: there aren't that many good programmers out there. I now in a position that hires and most of the resumes that get my way are showing a poor candidate. The ones that are truly good (regardless of origin, and I can tell when someone is on a H1 or looking for one) are often already being hired, by the time I get them an interview or offer. In an effort to try to get talent, I also teach at a local college, and out of every class, I might have 1-2 people really interested in IT, and it is often the case that those are people who have worked in IT as developers and are trying to get new skills/certifications. Of those, that supposedly are 'experienced', maybe 1 out of 10-15 is truly half way decent, the others have very poor programming skills/habits. Yes, I can try to improve their skills and often I do try, most times I get resistance. Add to all this the current SoX, HiPPA (list you favorite regulation here) and the discipline that it is required to work under those regulations. Simply put, I have a very very small pool of tealen I can tap, result is that I have to look very hard to find people. Some of this is remediated by my company using outsourcing, which I'm trying to limit and keep the 'company people' in the interesting projects. Flame me if you wish, that doesn't change the fact that there is not much real talent out there.