Hmmm. I'm not one of the people you're really looking for here, but I could take a stab at reasons why I haven't been beating a path to your door...<p>a) I haven't really heard of you. A few words here and there over the years, but how much do you get out there and tell the geek community you exist? I'm guessing it's specific to a few specific tech areas - which I haven't seen.
b) You're in London, you talk about "working hard" and being in your "Clerkenwell office". I've worked round there before, but really? I want a company who's more about working smart - and not in one place all the time. How much do you <i>really</i> need to physically see me? Commuting, plus a little bit of a tiny hint of "macho hard work culture" (probably unfair, but...) is enough for me to take a place off my list. It's a sellers market, generally.
c) Also... money. London is expensive. Everyone knows London is expensive (and they're right). You don't say anything about money - no hints, etc. My reaction (being picky) is that it probably isn't enough to make it worth my while (and also that you may try and make me the lowest offer you think you can - I'm assuming you don't have open pay scales).
d) Effort. You talk about your tough hiring - multiple rounds, tests, a day working with you (you don't say whether you'll pay me for this...) Why would I do this? If I'm smart, capable, good at what I do, I probably know people who want to work with me already - why jump through these hoops for a possibly good job then?<p>These may be unfair points - I hope not, but perhaps - but finding good people right now is about attracting them, not throwing up barriers or making them work for it.
Reading your internships page (<a href="http://www.lokku.com/jobs/intern.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.lokku.com/jobs/intern.html</a>):<p><pre><code> > Will you pay for my travel to London?
No.
> Can you help me get a work permit?
No. You need to be able to work in the UK.
</code></pre>
The internship sounds really interesting, but maybe if you want more people applying from all over Europe, you should be a little more open about your relocation policy? (I understand that the cost of travel might not be prohibitively expensive intra-europe, but it kind of reads as "Can I apply if I'm not in London? No.")
Several years ago I treated Lokku as the coolest place to work in London according to my criterias. It was the only one map-obsessed, small, open-source friendly, no-bullshit startup in a nice location. Unfortunately I was a Java guy and they were looking for Perl people.<p>I believe you cannot underestimate the impact it makes on London geo scene. Without Lokku, London will be a rather dull place from geospatial perspective.<p>If I were in the Uni now (I graduated in Hungary), I would definitely apply.
<i>Will this internship make me filthy rich?
No. If it's money you're after go work in the sub-basement of a bank on an obscure back end system that no one will care about. If you want the chance to work on critical projects used by millions of people, to have a voice in designing complex systems, to have your ideas be valued, and to learn an exceptional amount in a very short period of time then this is the place for you.</i><p>Come again? I don't care how successful these guys are- I hope whoever crafted this page isn't judging the communication portion of the interview. To whom is this kind of language supposed to appeal?
Sorry, but this entirely missed the point.<p>Developers, hell, almost all office workers, should think remote working <i>first</i> then worry about relocation.<p>The comments all through here are quite right - it is hard for anyone to move country, even talented, young, healthy, unattached interns.<p>In the future workers will be able to work with any company in the world. This will scare the hell out of all companies and they will improve the pay and conditions.<p>On the other hand, I <i>strongly</i> urge anyone with developer skills and no family ties to move to <i>any</i> major city in Europe and live and work for a few years. Just go. The job is far far less important than simply being there.
I believe the reason why Portuguese developers are not flooding UK (I don't completely agree, I see them coming more and more but slowly) is that any reasonably good developer in Portugal still can find work in consulting and state related IT firms. They work long hours and earn low, but enough to live comfortably there.
> Come to London<p>... and don't forget to bring your mobile phone - we'd like to get to know each other a little better:<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/10177765/Travellers-mobile-phone-data-seized-by-police-at-border.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/10177765/Travellers-mo...</a>