How Not to Hire Developers
- DON’T hire someone’s friend
Don’t allow yourself to become lazy and use a recommendation as a proxy for an interview. Also don’t hire an employee or coworker’s friend: They end up forming cliques and cabals that may have motivations that are not in your business’ best interests. It’s perfectly fine to ask people outside your business for recommendations, provided you put any suggested candidates through the same application process you would anyone else.
- DON’T hire the first person you interview
Even if they’re an outstanding candidate, you owe it to yourself to commit to interviewing at least several people before making a decision.
- DON’T ask CS trivia for non-academic roles
Asking someone to write an algorithm that rebalances a min-heap on a whiteboard isn’t going to help you find a solid front-end developer. Don’t ask questions that don’t pertain directly to the role you’re hiring for.
- DON’T require the developer to have an arbitrary laundry-list of technologies on their resume
A solid developer with experience in several programming languages can pick up a new one quickly. A solid UI / UX developer with experience with a number of front-end frameworks can pick up a new one quickly. A solid DBA with experience in several kinds of databases can pick up a new one quickly. etc.
- DON’T require the developer to solve obscure Dynamic Programming problems that don’t directly pertain to your business
Many world-class developers with decades of experience remark that they wouldn’t be able to pass a computer science-focused test consisting of complex data structures & algorithms problems or dynamic programming problems. Many first-year CS students with no experience can. Don’t pass up an excellent engineer by giving them a problem they won’t actually need to solve in your business.
- DON’T skip the reference check
Nobody likes cold-calling strangers, but this can keep you from making a mistake.
- DON’T send form rejection letters
If a candidate isn’t what you’re looking for it’s fine to send them a polite letter informing them of that fact. If you’re getting hundreds of applications, it’s perfectly fine to omit sending rejection letters provided you don’t omit rejection letters to candidates you’ve spoken to. If they’ve taken the time to apply and correspond with you, the least you can do is send them a letter thanking them for their time and indicating you’ve decided to proceed with other candidates.