About hiring programmers and other engineers

    Here today an article was published about hiring programmers about how to interview them. There a little controversy erupted and I was pulled to write what I think about this.

    Of course, this is my opinion, based on my experience, and it is not a dogma, but so far it (experience) has not let me down.

    This post is addressed primarily to the "HR-schiki", but everyone else, I think, will also be interesting.

    The main postulate:

    The HR manager should not interview the engineer. He should not even come close to him. At all.


    Under the cut, I will explain why.

    I am the head of the development department. I will work with the hired engineer. And the opinion of the HR manager about the candidate does not bother me at all. Well, absolutely. HR can be three times a good psychologist, he can make psychological portraits in 15 seconds. But he is not an engineer . And in order to understand an engineer, to reveal it (and not even professional, but also personal qualities) - you yourself need to be an engineer, you need to be on the same wavelength with him.

    Engineers (and we developers, all engineers. At least it should be) are strange animals. We are usually unsociable, we often do not like people, we have a different system of values ​​and motivations, and in general we have the devil in our heads. But what’s most important and what’s key is that we have a heightened sense of “friend or foe”.

    Managers (any) are “strangers”. As a rule, we are hostile to them. They think differently, they ask questions that we think are stupid, they are the stronghold of such a bureaucracy and corporation that is so alien and hated to us.
    And “their” are other engineers. With "our" we form a single ecosystem. Closed ecosystem. In this ecosystem, we relax. There is no place for bureaucracy, ass licking, and toaddy. There we are on the same wavelength. There we are friendly and only there we show our essence.

    HR will never be able to determine not only the professional level of an engineer, but also his suitability for teamwork, suitability for working with this group, etc. Just because he is not an interlocutor for an engineer, he is a "stranger."

    I, as a development manager, being an engineer myself, will invite a candidate and we will talk.
    I will not ask him moronic questions, such as "why did you choose our company." I will not try to evaluate his psychological portrait. I shit on it all.
    We just drink coffee, talk, smoke on the balcony. First, I will try to rid him of fear of potential leadership (and this often happens). If this fear is not initially, the better, by the way, this is immediately a plus in karma. In no case, no “digging out”, no formalities. We are engineers, we are on the same wavelength. We will drink coffee, talk "for life", about technology, about all sorts of things. I understand what he is interested in, his personality traits, his features.
    It’s enough for me to talk to him for 15-20 minutes to understand whether he is suitable for me or not. As a person. As a member of the team. And even experience and professional skills are sometimes secondary, if the candidate is thinking and interested, he will quickly learn everything that is needed, I will help.
    Of course, I will also ask questions that characterize his professional skills, this goes without saying.

    But can I see him as a lone genius? Which is not a team player at all, but sometimes I need them! I will work with him and he will be effective. Independent unit. Or vice versa, he is one of those who first need to be warmed up and then he enters into a rage, lights up. A lot of nuances.
    HR does not understand this. And she will never understand.

    And only after I approve of this candidate, the HR manager can touch him. To settle the formalities, but nothing more!
    Otherwise, a barrier from the HR department will only weed out the best guys. Because the measurements there are completely different.

    The only thing HR can help with hiring engineers is to get from CTO a list of criteria that will definitely not suit him (well, there, for example, no older than 35 years old, or the area of ​​work is web) and find a list of resumes that satisfy these requirements. All. Point. He will only ruin everything else.

    UPD
    In response to comments about the fact that this format is suitable only for small companies, about departments and everything else, I’ll give a comment on the post from the mumia habrayuzer :
    When I got a job, I was interviewed by my future immediate boss and another group leader. For two hours we just chatted - they asked questions about my life, why I study where I study, why such a specialty, what subjects were interesting and so on and so forth. The question "Why Intel?" Was also. He answered that now I’m interviewing not only with you, but also in two more places. He took it normally (and so what?). Then there were two professional questions. After that, they again told me what our group was doing and what exactly I would do if I approached them. And that’s all. Two weeks later, an email came - come to sign the contract, then by the way I was voiced by all social conditions, etc. They gave me a week to think.

    If a giant like Intel can afford such a format, then, excuse me, what is the rest worse? So it’s not the size of the company, and not the big name.

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