NYCPHP Meetup

[David A. Roth]

This is a very interesting discussion. I believe in being able to  
obtain the best person for the job, but  I'm not sure that creating a  
standardize programming test is the best way. Or to devise some trick  
questions. It reminds me of academic hazing constructed to make the  
instructor look smart.

If you were going to hire a personal cook, you would go by  
recommendations and actually sample what they can prepare based on  
the kind of meals you desire. A cook passing a test about the use of  
appliances and what's the best way to melt butter doesn't mean they  
are going to be able to make the Weight Watchers® meat-loaf the way  
you like it. You would have the candidate cook prepare some meals for  
you and ask for their feed back on real questions like, "We eat many  
chicken dishes, what do you recommend?". This would also give you a  
chance to see if this person is not only able to prepare a meal to  
your liking but if they are a good resource for you as well. Before I  
push this any further, I don't have a cook, don't know how to cook,  
but I know what I would want if I was going to hire one cause it  
would be based on what they actually have to do on the job. A  
certified cook doesn't mean much if they can't make White Chocolate  
Mousse on-demand. :-)

Bringing this back to programming, webmastering, or service  
tech'ing. :-) You want to hire a webmaster. Make a list of the kinds  
of things you wish to have a webmaster do on the job most of their  
time. If the job is to be able to re-partition disks or change  
content on a corporate web site using a popular open source CMS  
(Joomla), then I feel those are the things that should be asked of a  
candidate to demonstrate in front of a work station. If most of their  
job will be installing new software and configuring a system then set- 
up some systems with packages for them to do this. This is assuming  
if you can't entirely trust the recommendations for this person or if  
you simply want to see if they can do what you need them to do  
specifically. If the candidate doesn't know how to do something and  
looks on the web to figure it out, and is still able to get the job  
done in a reasonable amount of time than I consider this a plus,  
because someone who is resourceful and works this way on the job is  
better than someone who only knows what they have been shown to do.  
Syntax examples of most things are only a few clicks away.

At the very least, a candidate should walk away from the interview  
feeling that they were actually being evaluated for what they would  
have  to do on the job. If they had difficulty it would be obvious to  
them on what areas they need to improve on and realize why they  
weren't offered a job. As for the hiring manager, you want to feel  
confident that the person you hire can do the real job and if they  
have successfully demonstrated performing small work tasks you will  
know for sure.

David Roth
davidalanroth at gmail.com