There was an interesting detail in Ian Leslie’s latest newsletter about DeepSeek:
‘DeepSeek explicitly hires inexperienced programmers. They’ve said their ideal employee has 3-5 years of experience and that if you have 8 or more they won’t even consider you. In industries that exist at a frontier of rapid innovation, experience is a burden, knowledge a curse.’
As a fifty-something with lots of experience that was quite something to read, even though I’m not looking for a job, or to work for an AI company. DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, has publicly emphasised the company’s preference for hiring individuals based on creativity and passion rather than extensive experience. In a 2023 interview with 36KR, he said: ‘Experience is not that important. Basic skills, creativity, and passion are much more important.’ The core technical positions are primarily filled by recent graduates or those with only a year or two of experience. Liang believes that while experienced individuals might adhere to established methods, less experienced employees are more inclined to explore and innovate.
I feel somewhat conflicted about this approach. On the one hand I get that in fast moving industries like AI valuing creativity and a willingness to explore new ideas over the length of one’s professional experience can be beneficial. I’m a big believer that qualities such as enthusiasm and a desire to explore are typically undervalued in the hiring process.
But then I also think that experience doesn’t automatically equate to becoming entrenched in outdated thinking or more conservative in your ideas. Gaining more experience doesn’t necessarily mean that you become less likely to be an original thinker. A study analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau found that the average age of entrepreneurs at the time of their company’s founding is 42. For the most successful startups, the average founder age is 45. I would argue that those of us that believe in lifelong learning and exploration are just as open to new ideas, just as curious and willing to explore as anyone. It’s an attitude, and it doesn’t have to be related to age or experience.
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