[dpc_pw]

Very similar experiences here. And I was interviewing people we've tried to pouch from best paying companies like Google, and had stream of newgrads from the top-notch schools. So I'm assuming candidates I've been dealing with were far above the average.

From what I can tell, there's a sea of people who can barely do anything with some hand-holding, then each level of knowledge, competence and experience you want to go higher, you have to slice the pool by 100. By the time you get to level where people can competently drive non-trivial projects, there's a severe shortage.

[confidantlake]

If you find yourself rejecting most candidates from Google and top notch notch schools, maybe the problem is not the candidates but your standards.

[dpc_pw]

We weren't "rejecting most of candidates from Google" - I never said that. We were trying to pouch some really good people from them. The standards weren't the problem because we were hiring a lot of SWEs. Literally hundreds in few years. And companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc. do have a large pool of above average pool of engineers. But it's not like just because someone works there makes them necessarily a hire. Same with schools.