On 04/03/2010 02:33 PM, Richard Freeman wrote:

> 
> I think the problem is that our recruitment process uses the ability to
> answer complex technical and organizational questions as a way to assess
> maturity.  I think that maturity is far more important than technical
> skill in a distro - a mature person will recognize their own limitations
> and exercise due diligence when stepping outside of them.  Instead of
> playing 20 questions and going back and forth with recruits, maybe a
> better approach would be to cut down the questions dramatically (or more
> clearly put their answers in the documentation), and then use other
> approaches like references and interviews.  A new recruit might be given
> the names of 5 devs that they will need to interview with for 30-60
> minutes by phone or IRC (preference on phone), and they will need to
> submit references, who will be contacted.  When we hire people at work
> we don't play trivial pursuit with them, we use an interview to get a
> feel for what they're like and how they handle situations, and we screen
> resumes and references to determine experience.  I'm sure any of the
> professional linux distros would work in the same way, but perhaps
> somebody should ask around and see how it is done elsewhere.
> 

The sessions also teach them a lot. I regularly get feedback that people
learned a lot during the sessions. Reading a lot of technical
documentation doesn't motivate many but the reviews do.

Regards,
Petteri