"Interviewing & Dating for the Techie : Playing the game" by Jeremy Hutchings

I would like to thank Jeremy Hutchings for writing this nice post: Interviewing & Dating for the Techie : Playing the game! At this moment, I am currently going through interviews, from the interviewee's side. I normally evaluate the outcome of my interviews and I sometimes really think that employers don't consider the points Jeremy has written at all anymore! As I wish what he is saying would be the way to go, I am so pleased to know that these concepts still exist and are believed in by someone other than myself and the other interviewees! So again, thank you Jeremy! 

Here are some extracts from his post that are really highlighting the points I am talking about:


> "So what if they don't have the specific skills now, if they are the right people they will learn them." 


> "There is a balance between skills in the work place, and more importantly in teams. Personally I rate the ability to communicate (ideas, questions, learning, etc) and the desire to learn very highly."


> "Interview for future potential, not just current limits. If you don’t, you are limiting both of you from the outset. You will loose the good people, as they will get frustrated. So think about their future as well as the organisations when talking."


> "If a person can’t get excited about a topic that is core and relevant to the company then it’s a warning flag. Even if they can’t explain the exact details there and then, given passion they’ll put in the hours to learn. It’s the mindset it’s the passion, if they don’t have it move on."


> "I look for the understanding of logic itself, and how it is applied and used in real world contexts. A programming language (mostly) is just a tool, solving the riddle is the prize."


> "I do it in PHP, you do it in ASP; meh, we both go to the bar !"


> "I appreciate the power that comes from understanding how everything works down to the CPU and assembler level, as I studied it throughout my life since I was 9, and at university for years. Though I don’t expect every developer to know all of it, all of the time."


> "We (developers) tend to get rather good at what we do in the moment, I might not know Erlang now, though give me a challenge and some time.  It’s the ability to learn and adapt to get a problem solved, that I look for."


Quoted text written by:  Jeremy Hutchings

It would be nice to know your opinion about those points!