[thelist] How to interview techie programmers if you're a non-techie

[Joshua Olson]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed McCarroll" <Ed at ComSimplicity.com>
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2002 2:34 PM


> > I'll prob. get burnt on this one, but I have a theory that the people
> > who truly understand technology are able to expalin it in simple terms.
> > Ask them to expalin some of the technology to you, if you get
> > bamboozled, or they insist on pontificating "techie terms" all day then
> > say bye-bye.
>
> I disagree.  There are some tech types who have excellent tech
> skills, but poor communication skills.  Kind of like that college
> professor who won the Nobel prize, but was unintelligible to the
> mere mortals who spent three hours a week with him/her in the
> lecture hall.

While I agree with your observation that some tech types do not have refined
communications skills, I believe your example does not adequately mirror the
point against which you are arguing.  The professor was not asked to explain
it using non-technical terminology.  Indeed, the professor gave the lecture
assuming the audience had a baseline knowledge of the subject matter.
Therefore, your example does not meet the requirement for a proof by
contradiction.

-joshua