A Guide to Hiring Programmers: The High Cost of Low Quality | Hacker News Reader

A Guide to Hiring Programmers: The High Cost of Low Quality

blog.revsys.com

11 pointsnickb7 comments

I'm becoming more and more convinced that one of the keys to getting good software is to have it developed by a software company, not by the technical department of a non software company, or even by a multifaceted 'management consulting' company. Unless developing software is a company's sole concern, hierarchies, rituals and reward structures certain to drive away the best developers, almost inevitably take root.

Overall, I agree. Nut I disagree with the second half of the statement: "You don't need to hire an expert in language X, you can and should look for expert programmers that are willing to learn language X. An expert can easily cross over from being a novice in any language in a matter of a few weeks."

The first half of the sentence is right on, but I'm not sure about the second half. Based on personal experience, it takes me a while to use a new programming language well.

Of course, I wouldn't really call myself an expert programmer just yet. This is partly because I majored in Math and didn't get quite as much exposure to different programming languages as I should have (I just did all my homework in C++). But it's also partly because I actually bought the line about how a good programmer can move from one language to another easily, and figured I'd be able to pick up new languages quickly.

An excellent C++, Scheme, Perl, and Javascript hacker will learn Ruby as quickly as it takes to memorize the syntax. A genuinely smart Java hacker (who is learning there's more to this whole language thing than he first realized) will learn how to write while loops in Ruby very quickly, but it'll take a while before he/she instantly realizes when to use blocks and yield.

"Finding good programmers is hard in any language." I'm not so sure. Job descriptions that include functional programming languages seem to attract high-quality candidates.

I liked the argument and stance taken. This is precisely what GeniTeam is doing to faciliate startups. HR Managers and all luxuries are possible for big companies, but not for startups. GeniTeam started its services on similar concept. Feel free to comment on GeniTeam's business model ( www.geniteam.com )

I downmodded you because this sounds like an advertisement for GeniTeam without any meaningful value proposition for the members of this community. You (and your website) don't clearly state why start ups should use your services and justify those claims.

Also, your website is confusing. You have a bunch of web 2.0 buzz words on the left, but clicking on the words do not do anything. The drop down menu navigation on the right for sections 01 to 08 add friction to my user experience. After reading the copy above the fold, my main objection still is not answered: "Why should I trust GeniTeam to recruit and manage my engineers?"

I hope you take these critiques to heart, and contribute some valuable, well thought out posts in the future.

Hi Thanks for the critques. I beleive reasons for hiring virtual team with GeniTeam will have following pluses 1. Allow enterprenuers to develop cost effective solutions, while bootstrapping 2. I guess, trust is generally built based on success stories. For Rich Internet Application, we do have good work with various startups.

What do you think, should be done to get use a better feel of service?

And I downmodded you for this sentence:

The model allows companies to employee resources in different geographical location, managed by GeniTeam.

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