The last Hacker Fair was pretty awesome as a potential recruiter - a bunch of bright people showing off stuff they're proud of (some of them slightly jetlagged, which can be amusing), really engaged in an informal environment where power isn't perceived to be on the recruiting side.
If the same group of companies attend as last time, it would be a no-brainer to attend if you're interested in a job at one of them. In many ways, I found the questions asked by the candidates about the companies to be a lot closer to what I think people generally want to know, and it was great to watch two companies both trying hard in front of each other to impress the candidates.
Reversing the format of Job Fair is a great idea, because the bay area job market is backwards; employers have to chase potential employees. It's refreshing to finally see a(ny) traditional institution updated to meet a changing context.
The hope is more to get rid of resumes. They're kinda bullshit, especially for anybody who makes things for a living. You need to see and feel the quality of their work.
I love the hacker dojo. Every time I come here, I meet great people. Not only are the people awesome to hang out with, it is very worthwhile to get out of your "cave" and share your opinions and thoughts about the programming world. Who knows, you might even get lucky meeting someone that may be your next cofounder!
Yeah, unlike reddit with their "catchy" titles. This place tries hard not to be another reddit. Your post titles would get edits by a moderator if it seems a little "too" catchy.
Anybody have good ideas for a booth? I'd like to get hired as a front-end developer/UI designer. Outside of just bringing my iMac down there to show off stuff I've built, I'm drawing a blank.
1) You can make a big board behind you which looks like a website visually and explains why you're a good hire
2) You can bring a big monitor (and a power strip) to place behind you which shows screenshots of your work on rotation
3) If you do logos, print them out and stick them on stuff
4) Make fun of a little-kid's science fair tri-fold board and print out areas that say "methodology" "data" and shit. Show a UI experiment and your results in this light.
5) Show a project you've done at various stages, pointing out how things changed over time, and why you did it.
6) Show a before and after for a project revision, showing what you changed and why
If the same group of companies attend as last time, it would be a no-brainer to attend if you're interested in a job at one of them. In many ways, I found the questions asked by the candidates about the companies to be a lot closer to what I think people generally want to know, and it was great to watch two companies both trying hard in front of each other to impress the candidates.