I agree with Dawn, but I was totally blown away with Jason's response.
His answer is definitely the best I have seen on this topic, and we all
know this topic comes up regularly.
But other than kudos, I would like to add my two cents.
First, most of the web based testing and skills evaluation is useless.
Similar to one of Jason's issues, web base testing determines if a
developer know arcane knowledge that is rarely used. For some reason
almost every web test I have taken has had a question on <CFPOP>.
<CFPOP> is used for reading email, in all honesty how many times is
someone going to use this, and even if they did have the need, a
reference book (or the internet) is usually close by.
Second... There is one problem to having someone write actual code for
you... Many developers are not willing to code for free and the more
elaborate it is, the less likely they would be willing. The best
evaluation I have ever taken was fairly simple. It was a page and a
half of code. (medium font size with room to comment.) I was asked to
find the deliberate errors in the code and to make comments about what I
would do to improve the code.
Someone that is familiar with the language should be able find errors in
a page of code easily. Don't tell them how many mistakes exist and see
what they come up with. My test included a function within a component
without proper var scoping. It had an SQL statement without
<cfqueryparam> (also SELECT * which is something that professionals try
to avoid.) It had other things like an equal sign in a <CFIF>. It also
lacked proper scoping on some variables. Not all of these would cause a
complete failure, but it will allow you to determine the people that
know what they are doing from the people that read a book once. Also,
remember, a good person may overlook one or two things, most of us use
editors with full syntax highlighting and may miss an error because we
our out of the normal environment. (When I took it, I actually found an
error that they did not realize existed.)
With the coding errors, pay attention to how the would improve the code,
someone with bright ideas will not only learn from your existing team,
but may teach them a few new tricks as well. Above all, the best
developers are not a dictionary, they are someone that is always willing
to learn.
Third, have another developer talk to them... Like Jason's response this
will tell if they have the right personality for your team, and another
developer will usually be able to tell the difference between someone
that understands coding, and someone that speaks bs.
On 03/12/2013 02:34 PM, Kevin Bachman wrote:
This may be the most accurate and real-world description of candidate
selection I have ever read. I agree whole-heartedly.
[Printing and filing away for future reference.]
Thanks for this!
*From:*[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Jason
Vanhoy
*Sent:* Tuesday, March 12, 2013 2:12 PM
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: [ACFUG Discuss] Choosing a person with adequate CF skills
My first question would be are you hiring for an entry level,
mid-level, or senior position?
If you're hiring a senior position, none of the questions you outline
is going to be worth a hill of beans for choosing the right candidate
in my opinion.
I come at this problem from the point of view of having been on many
hundreds of interviews, having interviewed people a significant number
of times as well, and making hiring decisions based on those
interviews a number of times both successfully and unsuccessfully.
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