People

I’ve been interviewing candidates quite a bit lately and I must admit that I quite enjoy the process. I get to meet new people and learn about how they work, and things they’ve worked on, and about technologies that I haven’t used or haven’t heard of. At Intelliware we usually conduct two separate interviews: the first is a personality/fit interview intended to answer the questions, “Can we work with this person, and would they be happy here? [Read More]

This piece from the New York Times touches on a subject that I’m passionate about - the challenges of hiring good people. Deep into it, it mentions that: “…the most proven method, Dr. Lewin said, is a referral from someone already working there. Current employees know the culture, he said, and have their reputations and their work environment on the line.” The big data thing is a cool, tech solution, but really it’s referrals that matter. [Read More]

Troy Hunt’s Ghost Who Codes ignited something inside me. Initially I was a little insulted because I don’t have much of an online presence apart from my blog and my Twitter account. There are many reasons for this but in the end it doesn’t matter. You see, as much as I respect Troy, I think he’s missing the point. The best developers rarely apply for advertised jobs. They’re hired through their network and are never on the market. [Read More]

If there was one piece of advice I could give to someone considering a career in software development it would be: Learn to f$%@cking type! Knowing how to touch type is the single most valuable skill that a developer can possess. Typing allows you to concentrate on what you’re coding rather than how to get the characters on the screen. In other words, you’re able to think about the code rather than thinking about where to find the letters on the keyboard. [Read More]

Deploying a sufficiently complicated application into a corporate environment involves navigating a sea of paperwork, getting all the appropriate “approvals” in place, co-ordinating with department managers to get time slots from their staff, and so on. Knowledge silos On Release Day all the right people from the various departments - DBAs, application server administrators, server administrators (both Windows and Unix), desktop support, storage experts - are all sitting in their cubicles at the allotted time waiting to check their checkbox, waiting to mark their task as Done, so they can catch the 5:31pm train home. [Read More]

Recruiting is difficult. Most of the top talent already have jobs and are rarely in the job market. As a recruiter (or a headhunter, or a talent scout) these are precisely the people that you should be trying to attract. There are a few simple guidelines that might help you generate genuine interest in the role you’re trying to fill. Try to build relationships with candidates, not just a contact database. [Read More]