RE: FN-FORUM: Programmers (was:- iframes)

date posted 14th May 2007 21:13

Ben.

Over the years I've been to some very good interviews, the best ones taking
the format you have discussed, and some very poor ones. The worst being an
interview in a non-generic room with business managers who had no knowledge
about IT and it would have been very easy to spin them a dit or two.

I think it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, to build up the skills
and the knowledge you need the work, but to get the work you have to already
have a good portfolio. But this is just in freelancing and contract.

There are loads of graduate opportunities out there to help build up a
portfolio. To go straight into contracting or freelancing with little or no
experience or real commercial exposure must be very difficult, and perhaps
it is our duty to mentor those with these limited experiences, helping to
raise standards in return.

Forums like this do a lot to help raise standards which I believe is crucial
if the market is to remain sustainable. Then we get back to what makes a
good programmer?

Peter

Ben Wrote

In the case of putting together a dev team, a wise project manager of mine
used to short-list project candidates based on CV, references, previous work
and face-to-face impressions, then hand them over to me for a chat about the
technical aspects of the project.

I'd sit down with them in front of a PC and go through the architecture of a
system closely related to the technology we needed them to work with. As we
went through, I'd ask them about related work they'd done in the past, how
they'd approached particular problems, etc.

I feel most written tech tests are far too subjective (who is to say one
approach is always better than another? Is memorising components of the W3C
DOM really necessary, when a reference chart would suffice?), partic in the
hands of someone that doesn't understand the subject and thinks there is a
single cut-glass answer to every tech question.

If you can get a hands-on techie that knows the domain to chat with the
candidate for half an hour, they'll soon sort the contract blaggers from
those that know their stuff. Just make sure it's in your techie's interests
to find someone suitable - it's no good if they're going to be in
competition with the new recruit!

Of course, this approach isn't normally practical for a typical client
seeking a freelance developer. Where we sub-contract work to freelancers,
though, I don't hesitate to quiz them on their proposed technical approach -
it's my responsibility to ensure their skills are up to scratch, check their
work and remedy any deficiencies.

Cheers, Ben

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Ben Johnson, Neogic Web Solutions
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