Team Under Construction

Its a normal part of business practice to on occasion need to hire new people.

The process can be stressful for both sides, employer and employee, and both sides would do well to realise that it isn't a precise science and ultimately both sides will go with their gut feeling about whether this seems like the right thing to do.

So if we can't have a full proof strategy for hiring the right people how can we maximise the likelihood that we make the right decision?

Understanding over Knowledge

In the early stages the interview process can often resemble a pop-quiz, asking the candidate questions relating to the language, paradigm or area of programming that the candidate will be expected to work in.

Whilst this is useful for weeding out candidates who can't demonstrate the required knowledge we should also be looking to allow the candidate to talk about the subject at hand and their approach to their chosen discipline.

There is much more to being a good developer than simply a technical understanding of syntax or the infrastructure involved.

The reason we value experience is because it breeds a deeper understanding of the subject matter, it helps develop a philosophy towards software development that elevates a candidate beyond just the technicalities of coding.

By allowing the candidate to talk you allow the possibility for a warm feeling to develop that the person in front you is an engineer who not just understands the individual cogs but appreciates the intricacies of fitting them together into a machine.

Team Game

There is another question that needs to be answered during the hiring process that is equally important as whether or not the candidate is capable, can we work with this person?

Development is not an individual pursuit, teams write software and whoever joins that team needs to fit the dynamic that has already been established.

No matter the technical expertise of an individual if they won't gel with the other members of team they will ultimately not have a positive impact on the teams output.

It is also important to assess if this individual brings something to the team that it doesn't already have, this may be a skill set that is currently missing or a personality trait that will add to the overall make-up of the team.

Why not introduce candidates to their potential team mates as part of the process? Have them write some code together? The feedback you get from an activity like this will give a good indication of the effectiveness of adding this person to the team.

Opportunity Knocks

But this process isn't all about the employer, as a potential employee the hiring process is also a chance for you to gain the knowledge you need to decide if you want to make the commitment to be part of this team.

We write software to achieve business aims this will be a lot more enjoyable process if you find the nature of these business aims interesting and something you want to help achieve.

Don't see engineering as just a technical exercise also try and gain insight into what this team is trying to build and the functionality and experience they are trying to deliver.

Also ask yourself if working in this team will stretch you, no-one wants to feel out of their depth but ultimately we will only grow as engineers and individuals if we attempt things we haven't done before or try and do them to a level we haven't achieved before.

Looking for opportunities like these is what will give you the experience and confidence to become the well rounded and mature candidate that can demonstrate an understanding of their discipline beyond the explanation of syntax or buzz words.

Hiring people is often an error strewn process and there needs to be an acceptance that all we can do is attempt to find people that give us confidence and demonstrate a personality that we think will fit our team.

Only time will tell if we make the right decision because we aren't just hiring someone to churn out code all day we are hiring an individual who we can incorporate into a team to make it more than the sum of its parts.