Like many others in the tech industry, I’m tired of companies referring to web/software developers as “ninjas” and “rockstars.” Recruiters’ job postings are littered with phrases like “rockstar developer” and “coding ninja,” which just don’t make sense. Take a look at Merriam-Webster’s definition of ninja:

A person trained in ancient Japanese martial arts and employed especially for espionage and assassinations

There’s nothing in this description that is relevant to software development. Sure, you could probably make an argument about how the physical agility developed through martial arts is somehow related to the professional agility of technology teams practicing ADM, but that’s a bit of a stretch. Ninjas are trained spies and killers. If you’re using war characters as your metaphorical ideals for software developers, wouldn’t you rather look for people skilled in defense who can fortify your city (i.e. make your product as strong as possible)?

Hiring technical talent is often cited as one of the most difficult parts of scaling a startup. Great companies are built by great teams so naturally, when it comes to technical talent, companies are competing harder than ever to entice the best of the best. The rationale you'll typically hear is along the lines of "a great developer is 10x as productive as a mediocre one." That might be true, but it is an impractical startup hiring strategy.

I get very tired of people looking for rockstar and ninja developers. I find it arrogant and actually detrimental to the whole market of development. We are professionals and we should take our jobs serious. We should also make sure that people who start in a company don’t have to deal with a terrible mess rather than being able to contribute immediately.