[clue-talk] Assessing technical skills?

[David Maddox]

I've had the opposite problem - on my last contact, I received an email
describing the position: QA Lead, certain skills, etc. and it wound up being
a fairly low level job that the guy's college-aged daughter (non-CS) did in
the summer. The guy just didn't want to make the effort to spin off to a
lead, he wanted someone to amplify his own efforts as a solo flyer. The
management had told him, apparently, that he needed a QA lead. In arranging
to move on, I said that it was not what I expected, they said my
expectations were incorrect, I referred to the email, there was an awkward
moment. Not fun, but I did leave gracefully and complete the tasks required.

I like the idea of showing typical work, both for evaluating and
self-selecting. If you wanted a unix admin, I might apply, but if you showed
some heavy scripting, I might demur, as that's not my strength. I'm more of
the config/performance/drivers type.

I'm not sure that would have solved my situation, though, any comments on
how to find hidden problems would be appreciated! Actually, one thing I have
noticed, the more informal the hire, the more risky it is, even if it does
seem like a natural fit. It's worth the effort, even for a contractor.

Good topic!

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: clue-talk-bounces at cluedenver.org
[mailto:clue-talk-bounces at cluedenver.org] On Behalf Of Jeff Cann
Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 9:21 PM
To: CLUE talk
Subject: [clue-talk] Assessing technical skills?

Greetings.

At work, I lead a team of web engineers.  Our definition of people like 
this is a system administrator who works mostly on software [as opposed 
to being a SA who is a hardware expert].  In particular, you need the 
ability to work in the web application realm.  Web servers, app servers, 
HTTP, SSL, FTP, J2EE, CGI are common protocols / standards that you need 
to know to be effective.

The buck usually stops with our team because are at the top [or bottom, 
depending on your point of view] of an application  [database, app 
server, web server, network, and hardware all combine to become the 
app].  It's not a good job for some people as too many things can break 
and you have to be able to identify [fast] whom to call if you can't fix 
it.  We like people who have development backgrounds because they have 
[usually] great troubleshooting / diagnostic / analysis skills.  We also 
like traditional Sys Admins because they know how to avoid risks 
[usually].  We also like people who prevent problems, rather than 
waiting for them to happen.

I've hired 2 contractors in the past bit and both are not doing very 
well.  Both had good resumes, but we relied on verbal interviews where 
we drilled them on past problems, solutions, etc.  I regret not asking 
for some type of written test / quiz because [based on performance] I 
think I assumed too much in the interviews.  It's clear that when I put 
5 years of UNIX as a requirement, people think 'I had UNIX in college' 
covers it.  In the end, they are useless at the command line, and this 
is where 95% of our work happens.

So, as I look for replacements, I'm wondering how do other people assess 
technical skills in an interview?  Obviously, seeing the person work on 
a Linux command line is the first clue.  But, I don't want to demean 
anyone by making them show me that they actually can use vi.  OTH - It 
seems obvious now that I have to have more evidence of their skills than 
what I get from traditional interviews / resume checks.

I appreciate any suggestions.

Jeff
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