I think this is better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiter_Rule
How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
11–20 of 57 posts
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#12Very similar approach as this article by Tucker Max. http://tuckermax.me/dont-look-for-talent-find-people-who-do-...
I really like asking questions about what a person has done (especially as personal / home projects), also to a lesser degree what tech blogs they frequent (if they only mention aggregators, thats half a demerit). What are the weaknesses of these questions?
The problem with rating a candidate on the basis of his personal/home projects is that it excludes potentially-excellent candidates who are __unable__ to work on anything at home due to, e.g., having several young children and half-dead parents to care for.
(Also, don't try to retort with "so ask them about the personal/home projects they did before having kids", as that wouldn't be sufficient to cover the people who have had children at a young age; e.g., before turning 20 years-old.)
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#13Very similar approach as this article by Tucker Max. http://tuckermax.me/dont-look-for-talent-find-people-who-do-...
Don't usually turn to this guy for advice but I 100% agree with this. I am going through the same old interview template right now that everyone has copied from google/facebook and I think while it applies some places, for early startups, its ridiculous to use that as a marker.
You should hire for a developers ability to execute, not their ability to solve problem about bowling balls and skyscrapers, and not their ability to reverse() a string without using reverse(). I get that they are testing your overall data structure knowledge and your algorithmic thinking, but those are also things that one can find on google, things that one can educate one's self on when they need to. Early stage companies want to look for those people who will do that, people who encounter a problem and then just go out and solve it.
(.....now I will stop ranting and go back to memorizing stupid puzzle/data structure interview questions, for my next phone screen in a few hours)
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#14Very similar approach as this article by Tucker Max. http://tuckermax.me/dont-look-for-talent-find-people-who-do-...
I really like asking questions about what a person has done (especially as personal / home projects), also to a lesser degree what tech blogs they frequent (if they only mention aggregators, thats half a demerit). What are the weaknesses of these questions?
>if they only mention aggregators, thats half a demerit
This is silly. Aggregators let the quality articles rise to the top. It's a much more efficient use of your time (assuming you don't become addicted). These are exactly the type of totally arbitrary, no signal producing filters that people need to get away from.
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#15If you really want to know if a (otherwise qualified) developer will fit into your team you should do contract-to-hire. Anything less is a guess. Every team is different, every need is different and every candidate's experience is different. Assuming you can ask a magical question or two and know is the realm of psychics.
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#16The Airplane test: imagine sitting next to this person for 8 hours on an airplane. If your first reaction is "No thank you!" then your team will feel the same about working with them.
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#17Throw a dice: if it's a 6 then he'll be a good team player. No, serious, it's really hard to know that beforehand, an interview with the right questions can help but luck is still involved.
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#18If you really want to know if a (otherwise qualified) developer will fit into your team you should do contract-to-hire. Anything less is a guess. Every team is different, every need is different and every candidate's experience is different. Assuming you can ask a magical question or two and know is the realm of psychics.
You can't do this with someone on a work visa in the US, so this could reduce your pool quite a bit (depending on where you are located).
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#19I think this is better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiter_Rule
I hear this a lot, especially with regard to dating advice, but I don't think I've ever eaten with someone who was rude to the waiter. Have I just been lucky?
Re: How to Decide if a New Hire Will Be a Team Player in the Interview
#20If you really want to know if a (otherwise qualified) developer will fit into your team you should do contract-to-hire. Anything less is a guess. Every team is different, every need is different and every candidate's experience is different. Assuming you can ask a magical question or two and know is the realm of psychics.
> If you really want to know if a (otherwise qualified) developer will fit into your team you should do contract-to-hire
The difficulty here is that no one who is even mediocre would ever do a "contract to hire".
If they are good they have options and there just isn't any upside to doing a contract for hire when you can take another full time job.
Contract for hire is a big red flag!