Everyone thinks they're hiring the top 1%
Martin Fowler : “We are still working hard to hire only the very top fraction of software developers (the target is around the top 0.5 to 1%).” Me : “We get between 100 and 200 [resumes] per opening.” I remember when I started working for David Shaw he told us they only hired "1 out of 200." I hear this from almost every software company. "We hire the top 1% or less," they all say. Could they all be hiring the top 1%? Where are all the other 99%? General Motors? I had an insight the other day. Quiz: If you get 200 resumes, and you hire 1 person, are you hiring the top 0.5% of software developers? "No," you say, "your screening process is unlikely to find the best person out of 200." Agreed. OK. Let's say you had a magical screening process that actually allowed you to find the "best" person.