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  <title><![CDATA[roey brecher]]></title>
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  <updated>2013-02-26T01:54:47-08:00</updated>
  <id>http://roeyb.github.com/</id>
  <author>
    <name><![CDATA[Roey Brecher]]></name>
    <email><![CDATA[roey.brecher@gmail.com]]></email>
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  <entry>
    <title type="html"><![CDATA[How to Hire a Great Developer]]></title>
    <link href="http://roeyb.github.com/blog/2013/02/26/how-to-hire-a-great-developer/"/>
    <updated>2013-02-26T01:38:00-08:00</updated>
    <id>http://roeyb.github.com/blog/2013/02/26/how-to-hire-a-great-developer</id>
    <content type="html"><![CDATA[<p>A while back, I listened to a lecture led by <a href="http://twitter.com/PeterBell" target="_blank">Peter Bell</a> on&nbsp;<a href="http://generalassemb.ly/" target="_blank">General Assembly</a>&#8217;s&nbsp;live stream. Here are some important tips/takeaways:<br /><br /></span><strong>So, what are the qualities of a great developers?<br /><br /></strong><em>Thoroughness<br /></em>Some developers can hack a theme on a wordpress blog, but can they handle testing, source control and documenting?&nbsp;Can their product handle extensions and future add-ons ,or will it break apart?<br /><br /><em>Passion for technology<br /></em>Peter says, &#8220;If they don&#8217;t attend at least 1 meetup a month, don&#8217;t hire them&#8221;. They should have a network of professional developers they know. Being involved with other developers means they love what they do, and seek the company of others who share the same interest. A developer is as good as the limits of his knowledge. But what happens when there&rsquo;s a problem he can&rsquo;t solve? Who will he turn to if he needs to ask a question?<br /><em><br />Passion for your business<br /></em>They might know a lot about the technology, but do they care about your service? Do they understand the needs of your startup, and will work with you because the genuinely interested in that specific field?<br /><em><br />Communication skills<br /></em>Talking to the computer is much easier than talking to the executives or working well with others. A developer who can&rsquo;t communicate well with others is like the greatest and newest gadget that can&rsquo;t connect to your USB port.<br /><br /><strong>What kind of questions should you ask to find a great developer?<br /></strong>If they answer the question they get 1 point, if you as a non technological person can understand their answer they get 10 points.&nbsp;<br /><em><br />What unit testing framework do you use and why?<br /></em>It doesn&#8217;t really matter what the answer is, the point is that they understand the importance of quality assurance. Developers should write tests for THEMSELVES to make sure their code works.<br /><em><br />What is your definition of DONE?<br /></em>Are the thorough, do they take responsibility for the completeness of the tasks assigned to them?<br /><br /><em>What version control system do you use and why?<br /></em>Your version control system is your safety net. It lets multiple developers work together on the same files. It lets them make mistakes and revert them easily.&nbsp;Peter Bell goes as far as saying, if a candidate does not have a <a href="https://github.com/" target="_blank">GitHub</a>&nbsp;profile, that&#8217;s a major red flag.<br /><br /><em>What frameworks do you use and why?<br /></em>Frameworks are pieces of code someone else wrote that you can utilize for your own need. It&#8217;s not always good to use them. A good rule of thumb is that if a developer never used any framework, that should raise a red flag.<br /><br /><em>Have you read &#8221;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous/dp/0307887898" target="_blank">The Lean Startup</a>&#8221;?<br /></em>If your developer is passionate about startups, he should have read that book.<br /><br /><strong>How would you find a great developer?<br /><br /></strong><em>Meetups \ Conferences<br /></em>Choose them carefully though. Go to tech meetups that will not be crowded by business people trying to recruit a tech co-founder. Don&#8217;t pitch yourself, talk about your venture and ask &#8220;do you know of anyone who might be working on that?&#8221;, they might suggest themselves or refer you to other available developers.<br /><br /><em>Mailing lists<br /></em>Try getting your job offer in a technical mailing list. Google for the mailing lists that are relevant to the technologies that you plan on using.<br /><br /><em>Referrals<br /></em>Ask developers you meet that aren&#8217;t available to work for referrals, or you can even ask them about how would THEY go about finding a good developers, you might learn some new techniques or just get them into your state of mind in a way that will make them want to help you.</p></p>

<p><span><br /><br /><strong>Hope you found this post useful. Let me know if you have any more suggestions on how to find that next great developer to work with you, right here in the comments section.</strong><br /><br /></span></p>

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