"The team needs more engineers and we need them today."_ We talk about the engineer shortage. But the problem is not what we think it is. We'll explore how hiring for only CS degrees misses exceptional opportunities. Unconventional backgrounds breed great developers. Homogeneity boxes us in. Diverse teams are more productive, more profitable, and more excited about what they're accomplishing. Diversity isn't just demographics. It's about benefitting from distinctly varied perspectives. Who better than the former philosopher, marine biologist, stage hand, or anthropologist? In this talk, we'll walk through why it's worth competing for them. Forget the rock star; hire the opera singer.

1. Doctor,
Lawyer,
Poker Player,
Physicist.
The Best Engineers
We’re Not Competing
To Hire Yet.

2. Hello!
@cczona

5. Doctor
Lawyer
Poker Player
Physicist

6. Doctor
Lawyer
Poker Player
Physicist

7. WANTED:

8. WANTED:
CS degree
–everybody, ever

9. “…or equivalent”
• What does that mean?!
• Do we all agree?!
• Who is filtered out?!
• Does it get what we need?

10. The Best Engineers
We’re Not Competing
To Hire Yet.

11. Jim Weirich
Ruby Community’s
CS Teacher-in-Chief
• Rake!
• RubyGems

13. Jacob Thornton
Bootstrap
English literature

14. !
!
“A computer is just a regular tool. !
It allows you to communicate and do creative things…”

15. Fabien Potencier
Symfony
Entrepreurship

16. Jacob Kaplan-Moss
Django
Literature!
!
Journalist

17. “Ability to write/communicate effectively is responsible for my career. It’s a myth
that ability to write tons of code is all that matters. Real teams need other skills too.”

18. Ryan Dahl
Node.js
Math

19. Ryan has unique ability that I rarely see in a Software Engineer. That is, to see things
differently. I've seen Ryan question all kinds of things, how a database is written, or
a parser, or a web server. He always seem to come up with a different way to look at
a problem.
-Brock Whitten, Harp & PhoneGap

20. Ryan has unique ability that I rarely see in a Software Engineer. That is, to see things
differently. I've seen Ryan question all kinds of things, how a database is written, or
a parser, or a web server. He always seem to come up with a different way to look at
a problem.
-Brock Whitten, Harp & PhoneGap

21. “WANTED: rock star”

22. “WANTED:!
rock star”

23. “WANTED:!
rock star”

27. “Type a quote here.”

28. Amitai Schlair
Degree in Music Team Lead & Developer !
15 years

29. we hack code.
and we hack people.

30. Kerri Miller
Stagehand, Lighting
Designer, Set
Construction, 12 years
Senior Software Developer !
18 years

31. Eric Rasmussen
Call Center Ops, 6 years
Degree in Psychology
Web and Backend Systems
Developer

32. coding is analytical.

33. Stephan
Oceanographer, 4 years
Graduate degree in Physics
Test manager!
12 years

34. Joshua Ballanco
Biochemist, 12 years
PhD in Computational
Biochemistry
Software Developer!
7.5 years

35. Dan
Degree in Molecular Biology &
Degree in Computational
Biochemistry
Senior Backend Developer!
2 years

36. coding is a work ethic.

37. Nicholas Marrone
Police Officer, 8 years
Degree in Japanese
Ruby engineer!
1/2 year

38. coding is collaborative.

39. Allie Jones
Fine Arts / Weaving Developer!
5 years

40. Blithe Rocher
PhD in Physical Chemistry
11 years
Rails intern!
1 Year

41. coding is archaeological.

42. Diversity Types
Visible!
•gender!
•race!
•age!
!
Invisible !
• class!
• education!
• life experiences

43. disrupt groupthink.

44. disrupt groupthink.

46. diversity, because

47. Danielle Sucher
Lawyer, 7 years Software Engineer

48. “culture fit” is
fear of discomfort.
!
we need the discomfort.

49. concepts into practice.
–Joshua Ballanco

50. because money.
sales!
profit

51. because, innovative.
creative!
challenge thinking!
synthesize

52. because, rock stars noooooo.
disagreement can be visible!
different approaches are evaluated

53. because, productive.
paradox: !
effectiveness and belief of effectiveness

54. which skill set is important.
–Joshua Ballanco

55. Leon Gersing
Actor/Writer/Director, 10 years
Degree in Musical Theater
Software Developer!
13 years

56. crave disruption.
Hire for radically, crazy, implausibly, different.

57. thank you.

58. share unconventional you:
http://bit.ly/1k1d6VZ

59. Photo Credits
• Whiteboard
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uclmaps/10690275616!
• Polizei
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flik/2517171174!
• Fishing Boat
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90369723@N00/8730902405!
• Weaving
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebees/7645824666!
• Spectography
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adelphilabcenter/5999031935!
• Theater flats
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjeik/4383928695!
• Volatile light workshop
http://www.flickr.com/photos/110841637@N08/12831365224!
• Jacob Kaplan-Moss
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4029/4648185053_aa85c6d33b_o.jpg
• Light Board
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72955843@N00/3434919480!
• LinkedIn http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:LinkedIn_logo_initials.png !
• Piano Keys
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgoomany/4976245067!
• Computational Biology chains
http://www.flickr.com/photos/libertasacademica/7290793400!
• Rotary Phone
https://www.flickr.com/photos/traftery/5467650475!
• Rubber Ducks
http://www.paulandpartners.net/images/rubber_ducks.jpg!
• Diverse Stained Glass Faces
http://www.mcgeorgecdo.com/2011/10/celebrate-pacific-mcgeorge-diversity.
html!
• Justin Bieber
http://gossipdavid.com/2012/06/15/justin-bieber-today-show-concert/