From: David Vallner <david@...>
Date: 2006-11-11T22:38:28+09:00
Subject: Re: looking for some feedback about Certification

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Matt Lawrence wrote:
>> 2. If I were hiring a *programmer*, I would look for an applicable
>> college degree from an accredited institution, not a certificate based=

>> on a pass/fail set of courses. Again, if a degree is required, there's=

>> no point in the weasel words "or equivalent experience". That's legal
>> and that's fair. With hundreds of applicants for a single position,
>> employers can afford to be picky.
>=20
> I'm not so sure about that.  Computer Science degrees often don't teach=

> software development and are sometimes intended to just be a stepping
> stone to advanced degrees.  And they really don't teach the things that=

> are covered in "Ship It!" from the Pragmatic Programmers.
>=20
> Hiring a programmer without at least a simple coding test is probably a=

> really bad idea.
>=20

Being able to describe in words some of the technologies namedropped on
the CV at a high level ("What is ActiveRecord, and how would you compare
it to a competing product you know?") would be my pick instead. A
developer should be able to communicate those ideas, whether in words,
or in code, and asking for the former lets you cover more ground.

> Knowing about and beleiving in things like source code control,
> automated build environments and, most importantly, peer review are
> probably the top things I would look for.
>=20

s/believing/being able to explain why/

For general concepts like that, being able to explain in more depth than
actual specific technologies, which are more subject to change and trend.=


David Vallner


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