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You don't want to hire "the best engineers"

I think this might be the meanest thing I've ever written.

Seriously - just say those eight words to any room full of recruiting people, and everyone will give a wry chuckle and roll their eyes. Would you rather spend four months in stasis waiting for a senior candidate who hits the ground running on day one, or hire a skilled midlevel hacker who will be at full capacity in two weeks immediately? You say “I want a candidate with these traits,” and sit on your hands until one materializes, until you run out of money, or - more likely - until someone manages to worm through your unrealistic expectations and convince you to compromise for them.

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