I ran across a few interesting posts that somewhat go with mine on tech interview tests. First, Norman Richards, talks about the worst interview question ever while, Neil McAllister, talks about how you hire a developer. I’m glad other people are experiencing the same frustrations I have with the interviewing process. It’s mostly hit or miss walking into an interview cold if you don’t already have an inside connection. It almost makes serious networking a required skill for finding that next killer job you covet. I’ve found consulting has helped in that regard, but there are other things you can do from attending user groups, answering forum postings, working on open source projects, or anything else that gets you interacting with more people in a positive way. That’s not always easy for someone that sits behind a keyboard 9 hours a day.

On the other side of the fence, Mike Taylor, complains that programming is too easy while, Jeff Atwood, laments that he can’t find anyone that programs well. Which is it? It’s certainly not both of these. Mike is completely wrong when he whines that all programmers do today is glue stuff together while *real* programmers create everything from scratch. Attitudes like that completely smack of a not invented here syndrome. That just doesn’t cut it when your project deadlines are coming up and the feature creep sets in. It’s still and always has been about the customers and meeting their needs. Anything else is pure self indulgence. Meanwhile, Jeff Atwood, is trying to interview people by using a “pen and paper” style. While that method can work, I’d be afraid to disqualify someone good that isn’t adept at writing code on paper. That can be a difficult thing to do, when stressed, if you don’t do it often. At the very least, sit someone you’re interviewing down at a computer and walk through some code. Give them a taste of what they are going to actually be doing. The interview is your first and best chance to set expectations about what the job really is and what the work will be. It’s as much about them knowing if they are a good fit as it is you thinking they are. I’ve found most people are honest and will tell you if they don’t think they are a good match. They just need to be given that chance. If you can make your candidates a little more comfortable, you might be surprised at how much better they do. After all, the end goal is finding someone good to work with, not tripping people up on abstract or overly technical questions and yelling “gotcha” when they don’t produce the desired answer.