[kwlug-disc] Job offer: J2EE Software Development Manager

[Paul Nijjar]

> Uh.. but don't we get into the whole 'money is
> dirty' conundrum if we start asking for donations from companies 
> who want to leverage our community?  I see the 'payback' to us - 
> the LUG - is that companies looking for Linux talent, come to us 
> first.  Maybe we need someone to screen people who want to post 
> to the list for Linux-related jobs so we don't get all manner of 
> junk being posted, but for legitimate positions - do we want to 
> start accepting or worse, requiring donations for postings?

Right now Richard and I are the gatekeepers for people who submit stuff to us through the contact form on the website. (I don't know how this happened, exactly: one day I started getting [About KWLUG] e-mails in my INBOX and I didn't question it.) 

There's already some junk (and some job postings) that we screen out. In general we forward stuff that is likely to be relevant. That decision is arbitrary and subject to our whims, but partially because there are two gatekeepers I think it has been going okay so far. The effort so far has been easy. We just get the mail and forward it (much to Bob Jonkman's consternation, given that we don't even clean off the extra [About KWLUG] subject line). 

I mostly agree with Lori and Oksana in thinking that the value to the LUG is that potential job-seekers who are interested in the LUG can see us as a resource when looking for work. There is some evidence that the LUG is already seen as a networking/job-hunting resource. Once upon a time I went to UW Alumni Services to work on my resume. The counsellor saw that I was involved with the LUG and got really interested in finding out whether it was a good resource for people looking for jobs. Apparently she had been recommending that people looking for Linux jobs join the LUG for the networking opportunities. That feels a little skeezy to me (and given the wide variety of discussion on the list I am not sure it is so fruitful) but I don't think it is entirely negative.

I would oppose collecting donations for the FLOSS Fund to post ads. That goes against the principle of keeping the Fund completely voluntary, and it is a headache to administer. 

As far as the relative disadvantage to Netdirect by including job postings from strangers: I think it is an extreme example. I am pretty sure John has solicited applications to his company once at a LUG meeting. Furthermore I think that he would get inundated with applications if he ever did post a query to the list. The advantage John (and Glenn, and Rob Day, and the many other enterpreneurs on the list) have is that they have developed relationships and trust by being on the list. People trust them and they know some good people that gives them an edge when trying to find high-quality workers for their projects. A person who just participates in the LUG via a web form doesn't get that. 

- Paul





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