NYCPHP Meetup

[Kristina Anderson]

This goes back to my point about the status of the profession --  if 
we're being compared to cooks and service technicians, you know times 
are going to be rough for us.  I'd rather be compared to a lawyer...and 
make closer to what they make...what we do is no less complex.





> 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
> 
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