5 ms·

How to Hire a Programmer

35 points by Terhorst 18y ago

yef 18y ago
VB Tech Journal? I don't know, man, this sounds like a personal friend test of the author or something. Have them program something in the interview. Watch them use their chosen text editor as they work through your problem. Have them run their program and watch them iterate through a few code/test/debug cycles. Once it's working, ask them for a minor but logical improvement, and watch their reaction. Dread at having to go back to the code, or gusto in making it better? How fast can they go back and edit their own code? For whatever job you're hiring for, have them do the job as part of the interview process.
- joshuaxls 18y ago
  Did you notice /humor/ in the URL?
  - yef 18y ago
    Nope :) I tend to read very quickly, and since this is a topic I'm truly interested, I guess I hoped that the author was serious. Thanks for the callout.
    - joshuaxls 18y ago
      Welcome! I had a similar reaction, until I saw what was in the URL. I was very pissed since I'm a dog person.
      - learninglisp 18y ago
        Man, and I was thinking I was one of the "good" programmers....
DanielBMarkham 18y ago
For the last couple of months I've been giving a short presentation to some of my software teams. At the end, I have a slide with "42" on it. I usually say, "And for the answer to everything else, here it is." Interestingly enough, the analysts don't get it, the PMs sometimes get it, but the programmers most always get the allusion. I should start putting something about cats in there...or perhaps parrots pining for the fjords.
pavelludiq 18y ago
Im not good in programming, but i love cats, i love monthy python and the hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy and i love music and photography. I guess some of those stuff are just signs that you have some qualities that good hackers have. They don't make you good, practice and hard work makes you good. Something that's been troubling me is that my weirdness is much bigger than my actual programming skills and i felt like i haven't earned my privilege to be that kind of person. So I've been working on my coding skills harder lately and i hope to earn my right to be weird and arrogant an annoying to people that bore me, now im just some confused kid :D "attitude is no substitute for confidence" said someone wise(don't remember where I've read it) So if you think that you can go to an interview and act like some weirdo cat lover, you better be able to back up your self with some mad skills :D
- eat 18y ago
  The correct quote is "attitude is no substitute for competence", and I believe esr said that.
- tokipin 18y ago
  don't be "weird," that's just weird. be yourself. i say this because when i was younger, i had pride in being "weird." at some point though, i realized i was just dicking around with what other people thought of me. it's a waste of time and energy. though it may have been a necessary phase for me i guess i used it as a "warning" to other people. like "hey! i'm weird! that means if i do something awkward, it's no problem because it's expected!" now, i am just myself, and too bad if my persona bothers people ^_^ it's a straightforward no-bullshit type of thing. free
sofal 18y ago
I like cats, percussion, and certain kinds of absurd humor. Even humor as absurd as Ren and Stimpy sometimes. I'm curious if anyone else enjoyed Ren and Stimpy back in the day, since I've found it to be somewhat polarizing (you either loved it or you thought it was the most disgusting crap you'd ever seen).
- pchristensen 18y ago
  Loved it, even owned the music CDs "You Eediot" and "Crock of Christmas"
- Hexstream 18y ago
  "you either loved it or you thought it was the most disgusting crap you'd ever seen" Both...
- chuchurocka 18y ago
  it was possibly one of the best nicktoons of all time! well, before Billy West took over...
alex_c 18y ago
Perhaps a sense of the absurd matters because so much of what developers put up with is absurd - absurd schedules, absurd requirements, absurd hours. Treating the absurdities of the average development process with humor makes developers' jobs much easier. I think it's rather that you need a good sense of logic to even notice - let alone truly appreciate - the absurdity of certain situations.
xlnt 18y ago
This post is a gem if you want to hire a ruby programmer.
gmercer 18y ago
Ok someone needs to come up with one for "how to hire a web designer". :)
zvikara 18y ago
"It's because programming is more like painting than engineering." I think pg would agree.
schtog 18y ago
I: * like Monty Python and absurd humour * prefer dogs * bad at painting but likes and is good at photography * like science fiction movies but havent read mnay SF-books * know what grok means now but didnt before reading the article Willst thou hire me?
mickt 18y ago
So that's it! I always suspected that having a dog ruined my programming fits and that having to walk the dog at midnight ruins my concentration and programming rhythm. I guess it's time to get a cat, or train the 65lb dog to use a litter box. ;)
huhtenberg 18y ago
> VB Tech Journal > January 1998 Mwahahaha .. thanks, but you should've clarified that it's about hiring good VB developers.

35 points by Terhorst 18y ago

yef 18y ago

VB Tech Journal? I don't know, man, this sounds like a personal friend test of the author or something. Have them program something in the interview. Watch them use their chosen text editor as they work through your problem. Have them run their program and watch them iterate through a few code/test/debug cycles. Once it's working, ask them for a minor but logical improvement, and watch their reaction. Dread at having to go back to the code, or gusto in making it better? How fast can they go back and edit their own code? For whatever job you're hiring for, have them do the job as part of the interview process.

joshuaxls 18y ago
Did you notice /humor/ in the URL?
- yef 18y ago
  Nope :) I tend to read very quickly, and since this is a topic I'm truly interested, I guess I hoped that the author was serious. Thanks for the callout.
  - joshuaxls 18y ago
    Welcome! I had a similar reaction, until I saw what was in the URL. I was very pissed since I'm a dog person.
    - learninglisp 18y ago
      Man, and I was thinking I was one of the "good" programmers....

DanielBMarkham 18y ago

For the last couple of months I've been giving a short presentation to some of my software teams. At the end, I have a slide with "42" on it. I usually say, "And for the answer to everything else, here it is." Interestingly enough, the analysts don't get it, the PMs sometimes get it, but the programmers most always get the allusion. I should start putting something about cats in there...or perhaps parrots pining for the fjords.

pavelludiq 18y ago

Im not good in programming, but i love cats, i love monthy python and the hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy and i love music and photography. I guess some of those stuff are just signs that you have some qualities that good hackers have. They don't make you good, practice and hard work makes you good. Something that's been troubling me is that my weirdness is much bigger than my actual programming skills and i felt like i haven't earned my privilege to be that kind of person. So I've been working on my coding skills harder lately and i hope to earn my right to be weird and arrogant an annoying to people that bore me, now im just some confused kid :D "attitude is no substitute for confidence" said someone wise(don't remember where I've read it) So if you think that you can go to an interview and act like some weirdo cat lover, you better be able to back up your self with some mad skills :D

eat 18y ago
The correct quote is "attitude is no substitute for competence", and I believe esr said that.
tokipin 18y ago
don't be "weird," that's just weird. be yourself. i say this because when i was younger, i had pride in being "weird." at some point though, i realized i was just dicking around with what other people thought of me. it's a waste of time and energy. though it may have been a necessary phase for me i guess i used it as a "warning" to other people. like "hey! i'm weird! that means if i do something awkward, it's no problem because it's expected!" now, i am just myself, and too bad if my persona bothers people ^_^ it's a straightforward no-bullshit type of thing. free

sofal 18y ago

I like cats, percussion, and certain kinds of absurd humor. Even humor as absurd as Ren and Stimpy sometimes. I'm curious if anyone else enjoyed Ren and Stimpy back in the day, since I've found it to be somewhat polarizing (you either loved it or you thought it was the most disgusting crap you'd ever seen).

pchristensen 18y ago
Loved it, even owned the music CDs "You Eediot" and "Crock of Christmas"
Hexstream 18y ago
"you either loved it or you thought it was the most disgusting crap you'd ever seen" Both...
chuchurocka 18y ago
it was possibly one of the best nicktoons of all time! well, before Billy West took over...

alex_c 18y ago

Perhaps a sense of the absurd matters because so much of what developers put up with is absurd - absurd schedules, absurd requirements, absurd hours. Treating the absurdities of the average development process with humor makes developers' jobs much easier. I think it's rather that you need a good sense of logic to even notice - let alone truly appreciate - the absurdity of certain situations.

xlnt 18y ago

This post is a gem if you want to hire a ruby programmer.

gmercer 18y ago

Ok someone needs to come up with one for "how to hire a web designer". :)

zvikara 18y ago

"It's because programming is more like painting than engineering." I think pg would agree.

schtog 18y ago

I: * like Monty Python and absurd humour * prefer dogs * bad at painting but likes and is good at photography * like science fiction movies but havent read mnay SF-books * know what grok means now but didnt before reading the article Willst thou hire me?

mickt 18y ago

So that's it! I always suspected that having a dog ruined my programming fits and that having to walk the dog at midnight ruins my concentration and programming rhythm. I guess it's time to get a cat, or train the 65lb dog to use a litter box. ;)

huhtenberg 18y ago

> VB Tech Journal > January 1998 Mwahahaha .. thanks, but you should've clarified that it's about hiring good VB developers.