Hiring programmers. Tips from the programmer

Already I stumbled upon materials about hiring programmers several times and read them not without interest, because I am a programmer myself , and I was curious to find out how we are evaluated at interviews.

My impressions? I am sad ... Almost all materials, in my opinion, resemble "bad advice."

Immediately make a reservation, the whole article is a purely personal opinion, but it has found support in the person of friends and fellow programmers.

So…

First meeting, interview without a specialist

HRs, don't be fooled. You will never understand how good a programmer is ...

Unless only when you can plug electrodes into his ear and run end-to-end testing. But while there are no such technologies, all that you can appreciate is the adequacy and, at least in part, the motivation of the person sitting in front of you.

And believe me, that's enough .

After all, your task is to find a person who can join the team, work productively in it and reward his work in the way he expects and which your company can provide (money, recognition, interesting projects, etc.).

All attempts to ask for some technical nuances will look inappropriate and helpless. Personally, I am very annoyed when I ask about what they themselves do not understand. I just want to get up and leave.

What else can you ask at the first stage? Depends on the specifics of the vacancy.

If you need an experienced person - ask about the experience, find out what problems he solved, what difficulties he overcame.

If you need a person who can be trained , give him a couple of logical tasks, check your mental alertness.

The information gathered at the first stage will be enough to eliminate 80% - 90% of candidates.

Part two. Interview with a specialist

DO NOT ASK THE THEORY outside the context of the practical experience of a specific developer!

I personally know a few people who studied with me on programmers. All theoretical calculations bounced off their teeth, but when it came to real programming, they could not do anything worthwhile.

So, in my opinion, you need to ask the candidate?

Ask for technical details from their previous experience, especially those that overlap with future work.

By the way a person talks, it will be clear:

• Is he realistically versed in the question, or has he simply come up with these items in order to get a price.
• How much his experience and knowledge are suitable for the current vacancy.
• Can he cope with future work.
• Can he learn if he has no such experience.

And, as it seems to me, this is enough to make the final choice.

You can learn more about a person only on probation.

I hope this material will be at least useful to someone, thank you for your attention.