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What the h*ll are you looking for? A backend or a frontend?
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Italiano (Italian)
As usual, I’m going in hard—being direct is in my nature… You probably figured that out from the title 😁
Let’s start with the classic question IT engineers and developers ask themselves when reading certain job offers:
“Do companies actually think that developers and/or IT engineers are all idiots?
Or is it simply that they have people as ignorant as goats—pardon the expression, borrowing from Vittorio Sgarbi—meaning that whoever’s handling their recruitment doesn’t even know the difference between a backend developer and a frontend developer?”
Honestly, I believe the reason should be sought elsewhere… Because the offered gross annual salary (RAL) fully justifies the reasoning. And who can blame them?
Absurd ads
I take a random fresh ad, but I assure you that just looking around a bit you can find thousands of them…
Ad title: PHP Back-end Developer
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Knowledge of object-oriented development principles
- Experience in development with the PHP language
- Knowledge of the main frameworks
- Knowledge of software versioning models and tools (GIT/SVN)
- Knowledge of the SQL language
- Knowledge of the web and its protocols
- Knowledge of operating systems such as Windows and Linux
- Knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
- Good knowledge of the English language, both spoken and written
- Proven problem-solving skills related to achieving results
PREFERRED REQUIREMENTS
- Knowledge of the main web CMS: Drupal / WordPress / Magento / Adobe Commerce
- Knowledge and experience in (full stack) web application development
- Certifications obtained on enterprise products. Example: Adobe Commerce
- Experience in implementing online payment systems and/or e-commerce solutions
Confusion, ignorance, or opportunism?
Now, even a blind person here would see that they are not looking for a Back-end developer, as the ad title unequivocally suggests… What they are actually seeking is a Full Stack developer, and the funny thing is that in the preferred requirements they state it clearly without any half-measures!! “Knowledge and experience in (full stack) web application development.” Moreover, right there in the required qualifications, the knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript stands out as clear as day.
Personally, I would never apply to such a job posting, because I consider it an insult to my intelligence but above all to the entire profession.
Con tutto il rispetto, queste non sono posizioni per le quali si può aprire una ricerca rivolgendosi a persone completamente incompetenti, facendogli credere che gli asini volino. Sono ruoli in cui chi si candida deve essere una persona allenata a usare bene il cervello. Non puoi pensare, con l’obiettivo finale di pagare una “Ferrari” 10 euro, di prendere in giro uno sviluppatore che, al contrario di certi ciarlatani, conosce perfettamente quali competenze richiedano lo sviluppo front-end e quali il back-end; cercando di mascherare tutto facendo passare la ricerca di un Full Stack come quella di un Back-end o di un Front-end per pagarlo meno. Questo è un inganno ridicolo nel quale non cadrebbe neanche un bambino di 10 anni che deve finire!
It would definitely be more appreciated and honest to write: “We are looking for a Full Stack developer, we offer this compensation.” This way, candidates are not misled, and respect for the required professionalism is demonstrated by setting clear and transparent expectations from the very beginning.
In this way, everyone would know exactly which role is being sought and, depending on the offer, could decide whether to apply or not, without wasting precious time. In many cases, the company would not receive any applications, and at that point, perhaps, it would realize that it is necessary to increase the compensation!
Job offers to be ashamed of
Not to mention all those job offers that demand absurd skills, ones that even NASA employees might not possess, for ridiculously low salaries… I have read ads from companies looking for expertise in Back-end PHP, .NET, JAVA, Python, version control systems (GIT, SVN, DevOps), container orchestration systems (Kubernetes, Docker), REST API and SOAP, various PHP frameworks including Symfony/Laravel, knowledge of ecosystems and API integration of AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure services. For the front-end: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, React, Vue.js, Angular, with a preferred requirement in hybrid app development using Cordova, Flutter, or Ionic… All this for the modest sum of 1,200 euros, ladies and gentlemen! I mean… Aren’t you even a little ashamed? It makes me laugh, but honestly, this is something to cry about!
I don’t want to get in the middle of this, and although I don’t consider myself the last wheel in the IT field—probably the second to last, but not the last—I personally know very high-level professionals I have worked and still work with, who probably struggle to even reach half of these required skills… And all this for a salary of 1,200 euros per month? 😂😂😂😂😂😂
It’s truly unbelievable and frankly an insult both to those who work seriously and to the value of the profession itself.
You are ridiculous!!! To all these crafty little opportunists, exploiters of people in difficulty, I sincerely dedicate a big f*** off.
The responsibilities of entrepreneurs
I believe entrepreneurs should pause to reflect with a strong sense of self-criticism and adopt a perspective grounded in very simple market laws…
I have a cousin who had the courage to leave Italy and went to work in France. They were looking for a Front End developer: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React.js — and for Node.js, if you don’t know it, no problem, we will invest in your training… Period! Is there anything else to add? Every time I hear from him, he makes me feel like an idiot for stubbornly believing that things can change here in Italy too, and he keeps repeating to me: “A professional like you would earn staggering amounts here in France.”
Monthly salary: 3,800 euros per month plus bonuses, and may God increase them. The company offers continuous training and updates. It is clear that in France entrepreneurs have understood that investing in human capital, in their own employees, is crucial to successfully face the challenges of tomorrow and to continue growing and remaining competitive.
If the approach doesn’t change, failure is just one step away.
Let’s come back to Italy…
We often meet “old-school” entrepreneurs… When you talk to them about automating business processes — which could save them up to 90% of their current labor costs, considering they have to bear outrageous expenses for employees who spend the whole day in front of Excel files doing in one day what software could do in a fraction of a second — they look at you as if you came from Mars. They don’t understand a thing of what you’ve explained, but they are too full of themselves to admit it or realize that if they don’t move in this direction now, the only path ahead will be failure!
Yes, I’m talking about failure, and I shout it to everyone, without fear of contradiction, fully aware that I am not exaggerating the matter in any way. Because we also have meetings with young entrepreneurs who fully understand the potential of process automation; they realize they can save a lot on labor costs and therefore can lower the prices of their services, making them more competitive in the market, and they achieve impressive results.
And this is where the usual question arises: “A consumer finds a product at €20 and the very same product — probably with some flaws since everything is the result of ‘manual processing’ — at €40. Which product, do you think, would they actually buy between the two?”
And as a corollary, a second question arises…
“People who, until now, have bought the product for €40 — when they realize that another company offers a better one for €20 — will they continue buying the €40 one?” It would be like believing that if tomorrow a brand of OLED TVs came out producing TVs of equal or even better quality than those made by well-known brands, people would still buy the ones that cost twice as much… Totally illogical!
This is how failure becomes inevitable… The new generation of entrepreneurs will be able to aggressively enter the market with lower prices because they will be more efficient, having lower costs. And all the customers of the old companies, when they see that it is possible to save significantly by having products born from automated processes — and therefore certainly more reliable in terms of “human error” and production speed — will not take long to close contracts on one side and open them on the other. This argument is even more valid the larger the company is. In large enterprises, if I can find a washer for 2 cents less with the same quality as the one I have used until now, at the end of the year I could have a few million euros more in liquidity.
Obsolete ideas and cult of personality
It is truly very difficult to make a person understand—someone who built their wealth in 1980 following a completely analog methodology—that we are no longer in 1980. There are those who, wisely, ask themselves questions, look around, and realize that the world has changed. They understand that in 1980, that exceptional spray for cleaning windows without leaving streaks was only available if you took your car and drove 20 km to the store where you were sure to find it. Now, you go on Amazon, and the next day it’s delivered right to your doorstep. But he, stubbornly, continues to drive 20 km, wasting gas, time, and maybe getting frustrated in traffic.
There are those who have understood that we live in a world very different from the one in 1980. These are the people who will survive and, in fact, will only see their revenues rise. But within five years, companies that have not embraced process digitalization and still rely on pen and paper, or at best Excel sheets, will meet a very bad end.
Many readers might say: “Okay, but then you won’t need so many people anymore; they’ll lay off half of them.” That’s not necessarily true… However, continuing to pursue a business model that in a couple of years will collapse — well, at least everyone will be out of a job!
That said, you can still maintain employment levels by choosing to invest human resources in other company departments, such as marketing, to increase your business scale, since on the processing side you can now virtually scale infinitely thanks to your investment in automation.
The world evolves, and especially in private companies — which are the economic engine of the Italian system — you must be able to adapt to the times and market demands. Only in this way can you have a solid company.
The economy doesn’t work solely based on the amount of money in circulation; much more important is the speed at which that money changes hands. If the current trend continues, soon we will have fewer and fewer active companies in the market, and wealth will concentrate in the hands of a few, because when others decide to move, it will already be too late.
The importance of certain roles and their recognition
Let’s start by giving value to people… A Full Stack developer who solves problems in your company and saves you a million euros a year cannot be paid 800 euros per month. Entrepreneur!?!?!? Be consistent first with yourself and then with others!!! How can you show up with a mere crumb to someone who helped you keep 5,000 loaves in the cupboard?
Someone who has worked their tail off studying book after book, pulling all-nighters to prepare for university exams, constantly keeping up with the latest technologies (and there are a couple of new ones every two months), while their peers were hanging out smoking on the village square wall, would never come to work for you—earning you a million euros a year—in exchange for 800 euros a month, which is basically what those who were smoking get.
Are we going to recognize a difference or not? And if you think you’re clever proposing job offers that should only be ashamed to be published, maybe it’s time to rethink your approach… Because if you follow this kind of logic, you’re probably not that smart after all.
