Ask HN: How to Hire a Jr Dev

4 pointsdnndev5 comments

What do you look for when hiring a jr dev and why do you think it works?

Hire literally anyone and pair program with them for a few hours a day. That's your junior developer.

The better question is how do you mentor them and let them grow; especially how do you balance getting them productive quickly with instilling long-term habits and letting them explore their own curiosity?

Either way the real hard one is "how do you convince HR to allow you to increase their salary as they learn, so they don't leave right as they're becoming truly valuable contributors?" If you find an answer to this one let me know.

thanks for the feedback. I should have asked, what questions do you ask when hiring a jr developer.

What got you to programming

What do you like about programming

Do you know anything else about computers or are you interested learning about it

Are you interested in adjacent fields such as microelectronics, math, etc

Work with your local college to intern college juniors over the summer. Make them an offer in the fall of their senior year if you like them.

Good idea. Thank you!

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