human-resources

Tips for hiring good testers?

Hi all, We're looking to add a few good testers (err "qa engineers") to our team. It's been my experience in the past that the "10-1" rule for developers (good devs are 10 times more productive than mediocre devs) is even more prevalent for testers. Most testers I've worked with found a decent amount of issues, but there's a few stand...

What is a webmaster?

I would like to know what defines a "webmaster"? What are or should be the skills, function and general responsibilities of a webmaster. And, if you are a webmaster, what do you do, what do you know and what helps you most (knowledge or tool) to do your job. Thanks! ...

Pro Bono Work For Non-Profits

I am a web developer that would like to get involved with doing some volunteer work for charitable organizations. Are there resources out there to help marry programmers to worthy groups that need them? ...

Are people with certain Myers Briggs personality types drawn to careers in programming/development?

I've been wondering if there are certain personality types that are drawn to programming. If you've taken this test, please post your types here and I'll compile the results. Update: There have been a few answers regarding the erroneous nature of the results from a Myers Briggs personality test. Please take this into consideration if ...

Free application to keep track of a recruiting process

Do you recommend any application to keep track of a recruiting process ? I think a basic web CRUD application with some workflow control could help. Basic features are: CRUD applicants, register status information, assign someone to responsible for the process/next interview, and so forth I was planning to build a simple one for the c...

What is the best way to schedule employees to be on call?

We are a small group of 8 to 12 developers. We have clients that run web applications. Some are starting to ask for 24 hour emergency support. What is the best scheme for having employees share on-call duties? What compensation should be provided? I would be happy to hear what good schemes you have witnessed and experienced. ...

Programmer's career path

Hey, I've been working as a programmer for the last few years - different companies and freelancing, mostly developing internal-business web applications (well, that's the current model of development, it seems). Besides simple coding I was working on specs, designing applications, and all those around-like things. My question is, wha...

Most Effective Way to Evaluate Talent

I'm a contractor that is often looking for subcontractors, but I feel like there is way too much trial and error in the process. How do you screen talent, and what are effective ways for discerning between those that talk the talk and walk the walk? Talent is hard to determine from just code samples and an interview - what innovative wa...

What is your definition of a Entry Level/Junior/Mid/Senior Developer?

A friend of mine working with an offshore team asked me to provide my definitions of the various stages of the developer life cycle. What did Entry Level, Junior, Mid Level, and Senior developer mean to me, and what were my minimum expectations from each level. Whats your definition? When would you change someones job title in you...

Appealing technical career path options

All the companies that I have worked for over the years, have no concept of a technical career path. By that I mean one in which a designer/coder/architect as myself can continue to advance his career, yet stay doing what they love. Instead, they expect you to become a manager, pushing paper (or emails these days), managing budgets, go...

Job exit interviews: how to handle them, how to prepare?

There are several questions about job interviews on StackOverflow. I'd like to know about their counterpart: the "exit interview." I think the exit interview is an important part of the career transition process. So here are some things I'd like to know: Does your company do exit interviews? Are there special topics that specially a...

How do your run internal projects at your consultancy?

Hello, I work for a consultancy whose main revenue stream is from client work. We also run projects internally e.g. to implement a CRM system for our sales team. We build release plans for internal projects just as we do for client projects, though resources are often removed from internal projects when required for client work. In s...

Where to best look for skilled developers who might want to get involved in a startup on an equity basis?

Hi, assuming I have an idea for a pretty simple Web 2.0 startup that is likely to be fairly successful after say 12-18 months (during which it won't however make or cost much money, just hosting) because it fills a real void, where would I best be looking for talented developers who would possibly like to get involved in the startup on a...

What skills should a tech leader have?

Should they have a degree? A few things I can see, they: should know the platform they are working on should know to listen should know how to drive problems should know how to mediate between co-workers many others.... ...

What is the difference between a Web Developer and Web Application Developer

My understanding is that a Web Application Developer is a class of Web Developer who can build and maintain web-based applications as well as just web sites - as a regular Web Developer would do. Am I correct in my thinking or is there anything else someone would like to add? Cheers Iain ...

How long does it take an experienced programmer to become proficient with a new technology / language?

I realize that the question is likely o get a lot of "it depends", but I am curious anyway. When you hire somebody new (but experienced) to the team, and they don't have expertise in technology you are using, but know something similar, how much time do you budget for them to "get online." I am talking about something fairly substantia...

Having another programmer take over an existing project

This question is not coming from a programmer. (obviously) I currently have a programmer making a website for me and I am realizing that he isn't going to completely work out. He has already done quite a bit of work and the site is almost there but I need someone who is better to take it the rest of way. The site has been done in asp....

Ontological databases for professions and skills

where can I find a semantic ontology database of professions and skills? I need a database that would properly depict relations such as marketing->online marketing->search engine marketing ...