Following Java Posse Roundup 2008, Bruce Eckel wrote an excellent article outlining six things that you should test for when hiring someone. It contains the collective wisdom of the conference attendees, as articulated by Bruce, which I could not hope to improve upon.
The original points are numbered, one through six, but are not listed in any particular order. Were I to give them an order based on importance, they would be arranged as follows.
- Are you toxic?
- Can you learn? Can you solve problems?
- Critical thinking. Can you change?
- Technical knowledge.
Ok, I cheated; it’s hard to put them in an absolute order. All are important and relate to each other in some manner. All software developers – and managers thereof – should read the original!