I wrote a short blog series on the ineffectiveness of 98% of the companies recruiting for MV positions, I just haven't published it yet. In short, they don't know what questions to ask and most end-users don't know either. That's why we see a high percentage of failed hires in this industry, and Kevin is just confirming that.
Kevin, don't forget PickJobs.net. In addition to some of the suggestions here, I'd give a candidate a set of hands-on tests. Their resources: The command line and a browser. We're all going to have varying degrees of success coughing up a solution on the spot, in a verbal interview, or in writing. But if we can put it to the keyboard, most of us are going to have much better success. The browser is there for a touch of the real world. I might not know the exact syntax to get something done, but if I screw up and fall into debug, I will still get the job done quickly if I can access the product documentation, wiki's, and these valuable forums. Rather than asking a person for a fish, just make sure they know where to fish and that they know how to use the fishing pole. If they don't know where to find solutions then they're going to flounder (pun wasn't intended, but I'll take it). If they know where the industry/community resources are then they'll be able to respond to dynamic requirements even if they don't know a solution off-hand. And I'm going to alienate about 70% of our colleagues here, but I think a modern interview needs to favor those who have current knowledge of a variety of technologies. A BASIC-only developer isn't going to cut it anymore and people who are BASIC-only are holding onto their jobs because they know their current applications, not for their technical skills. If you're going to hire someone who isn't familiar with your app, they Must be on top of technologies, only one of which is MV. So depending on your company/client directions, the modern candidate must know MV + (Java and/or .NET and/or PHP and/or MySQL and/or SQL Server). They must have a solid grasp on XML and/or JSON. They must have a working knowledge of web services with SOAP and/or REST - and sending/receiving transactions with MV. A new hire must understand how MV behaves as a component in an enterprise, not as the one and only server in an office. Yeah, we're going to pay more for this person, but the person who differentiates themselves by knowing more than just Pick has already distinguished themselves in their ability to adapt to change - and that's really the kind of person we need to hire these days. Unfortunately it's going to be a lot easier to train someone to use Pick if they already know other technologies, than it will be to train a MV-only person to use other technologies. The people who haven't picked up on technology from this millennium demonstrate a long-term lack of drive and initiative - that's the kind of person we do Not want to hire these days. (One of the services I "passively" offer is assistance with hiring, interviewing, etc. Please feel free to contact me for assistance in creating job ads which attract the right people, and evaluating the people who respond.) Tony Gravagno Nebula Research and Development TG@ remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com http://Nebula-RnD.com/blog http://LinkedIn.com/in/TonyGravagno http://Twitter.com/TonyGravagno http://PickWiki.com http://groups.google.com/group/MVDBMS http://www.LinkedIn.com/groups/Pick-Users-Group-64935 http://BitBucket.org/FOSS4MV _______________________________________________ U2-Users mailing list U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users
