Well put. Axton
On Feb 19, 2008 8:12 PM, William H. Will Du Chene <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Bah! > > If I am interviewing someone (and there have been a few choice occurances > of this in the past which were against my will and my manager had to drag > me from my console sessions, kicking, screaming, and clawing cube walls > the entire distance to the conference room) I am not looking for what they > have done in the past, what books they read, what animals might be on the > cover of books, or what degree the person has. > > When you think about it, these criteria are positively useless. Using the > above, the interviewee might well 1.) have seen the books in passing and > be able to identify them, 2.) might copy someone elses design concept > (what if it is patented, or confidential?), or 3.) have a degree (or not > have one at all) in one field, but have been subverted into working with > the platform of choice at some point and been doing so for some time. (I > once knew a talented AR System developer who was nuts about the product > and was darn good with it, but had a Phd in Theoretical Mathmatics. He'd > teach an occasional class at a college when time permitted as well. Go > figure.) > > So - you see, most of the criteria that get used so often are - IMHO - > bunkus. > > An ideal candidate is one that is a passionate person; who is not just > fond of a platform or a technology, but rather is obsessed with it. A > candidate must be willing to learn; to go to bed at night with the > technical manual and wake up in the morning with the zipper-like seam > across their forehead because they fell asleep face-first on the manual. > > I don't want someone that is able to recite back what they learning > sitting in a classroom at some training center and thinks that it's "cool" > because they now have a cute little cert sitting in a frame on their cube > wall. If I were to pick, I'd want the person that gets a smile on their > face about the technology, the one that one legs starts jumping up and > down when they're talking about the platform, and the one that the heart > rate starts to pick up when you show them the latest version of the > software. The whole point is not what you know - it's what you can do with > that which you do know. > > I'd hire the person that has notes scribbled all over the manuals, and > keeps crib notes stashed in his/her pocket written on napkins and > bubble-gum wrappers or a "code book" (a book where random ideas about > system design are sketched out), and I would more than likely > file-thirteen the resume of the canidate that has all of the certs, and a > zillion years of experience with whatever it is that your working on. Why > you may ask? > > Simple. There is no room in a small cube for an ego that has been > developed to such an extent, nor is there an allowance in a budget for the > salary that is demanded. Most really good developers are forged in the > fires of code, learning, and tribulation - not stamped from a mold, > prepackaged and shrink-wrapped for sale. C'mon, you know that this is a > fact... How many of us got up one day when were kids and said, "I wanna > grow up to be an AR System developer?" I'd wager that the answer is - ahem > - none. We all got drafted. > > If you're hiring for a position, more than likely you want someone that is > going to do the job (maybe the candidate might not be able to at first, > and would require some training or getting their hands wet with the > technology first), someone who will be obsessed about it, and not someone > who is going to cost you a few hundred an hour with perks and travel > expenses. > > You want someone that you can drop into the desert of a server room one > day, and the next day when you check on 'em, you can see that they are dug > in, got a suntan, a water reservoir, and have some sort of meat cooking > over a BBQ spit, rather than finding that your million dollar candidate is > parched from calling for room service and looking for the butler. > > Hire ninjas with very little or nothing to lose, not samurai that come > from the court with vast tracts of assets. > > Just my thoughts... Offered humbly... > > > > > Best question I ever got as a developer was a request for me to design a > > Car.... > > > > Of course the interviewer was looking to see if I'd ask questions about > > the > > type of Car, Usage, etc.... > > > > If I had just designed it as I wanted, I'd be back in Ohio! > > > > Warren > > > > -- > ------------------------------------- > Will Du Chene > ------------------------------------- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.myspace.com/wduchene > ------------------------------------- > "...you're an anti-Microsoft zealot..." > - Norm Kaiser > ------------------------------------- > > > _______________________________________________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org > Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" > _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
