[thelist] web team leadership...

[Andre Gaulin]

hey...

here is what i have learned being in almost the same position you just
described.

1. As prospective hires about their process for doing things.  Process is
very important.  Alot of people out there are good as "lone-gunmen"
developers but in a team they can't really handle it.

2. Try to ask questions that point out it the person is a "swiss-army knife"
type developer.  Someone who knows "everything" can;t know all of it too
well.  You want people with the specific skills for the project, not every
skill in the book - trust me on this one.

3. To test their HTML skills the best test so far is a screen grab of a site
and a pad of paper.  Tell them to code the screen gran on paper.  Give them
15-20 minutes.  They only really have to code a few lines.  The trick here
is to see how they approach their coding.  Brute force (jump right in) or
more strategic (divides up the screen grab and comes up with a plan of
attack).  How do they think about doing the job?

4. Another good idea is to look at their portfolio beforehand and then
devise questions about why they did certain things, or what they would
change and why.  They will feel more comfortable talking about stuff they
have already done, especially if they have an intimate knowledge.  If you
ask tough questions (ie what does this messy javascript at the top of every
page do?) then their answer might reveal alot about them - they can explain
clearly why they did something or they are trying to play you.

5. Be honest and straight with them.  you wanna ask questions that lead to
good answers, but you don't wanna seem like you are pulling a sneak attack.

hope this helps... anyone else with feedback or comments please post them, i
am interested in hearing what others think about my ideas and approach.

Andre
----- Original Message -----
From: "john corry" <john at neoncowboy.com>
To: <thelist at lists.evolt.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2001 9:47 PM
Subject: [thelist] web team leadership...


> Hi everyone.
>
> I am being considered as a candidate for a 'team leadership' position with
a
> small-but-ambitious web development company. I am *almost* qualified ;),
and
> think that it sounds like a pretty fun job. The job description mostly
> centers around using my knowledge of web development to produce sites for
> small business clients and to share what I know with a 2-3 person staff of
> employees and contractors to aid them in contributing to those projects
> (staff management).
>
> My first job would be to weed through resumes to select members of the
> staff.
>
> I'm putting together a list of possible interview questions for applicants
> and would love any input that is available from your experiences. I guess
I
> could also use help with wording classified ads announcing the openings.
> Like...I need entry level production people who aren't experienced enough
to
> be expensive, but are experienced enough to be useful. How do you ask for
> that?
>
>
> any thoughts on this appreciated.
> thanks,
> John Corry
>
>
> ---------------------------------------
> For unsubscribe and other options, including
> the Tip Harvester and archive of TheList go to:
> http://lists.evolt.org Workers of the Web, evolt !