1 |
On Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 5:33 AM, Richard Freeman <rich0@g.o> wrote: |
2 |
> I think the problem is that our recruitment process uses the ability to |
3 |
> answer complex technical and organizational questions as a way to assess |
4 |
> maturity. I think that maturity is far more important than technical skill |
5 |
> in a distro - a mature person will recognize their own limitations and |
6 |
> exercise due diligence when stepping outside of them. Instead of playing 20 |
7 |
> questions and going back and forth with recruits, maybe a better approach |
8 |
> would be to cut down the questions dramatically (or more clearly put their |
9 |
> answers in the documentation), and then use other approaches like references |
10 |
> and interviews. A new recruit might be given the names of 5 devs that they |
11 |
> will need to interview with for 30-60 minutes by phone or IRC (preference on |
12 |
> phone), and they will need to submit references, who will be contacted. |
13 |
> When we hire people at work we don't play trivial pursuit with them, we use |
14 |
> an interview to get a feel for what they're like and how they handle |
15 |
> situations, and we screen resumes and references to determine experience. |
16 |
> I'm sure any of the professional linux distros would work in the same way, |
17 |
> but perhaps somebody should ask around and see how it is done elsewhere. |
18 |
|
19 |
All ideas regarding improving recruitment are welcome, thanks. However |
20 |
if, during your review, you were not given the impression that your |
21 |
maturity and other social skills were being assessed then you were |
22 |
being blissfully naive. :o) I use tricks like pretending I don't |
23 |
understand that crystal-clear thing you're explaining to gauge your |
24 |
patience and politeness, I drift off to real-life topics to find out |
25 |
who the recruit really is, and lots of others like background searches |
26 |
(also outside of gentoo) and talks with the mentor. |
27 |
|
28 |
On the other hand, in your particular case, I clearly remember the |
29 |
assessment was easy and thus I didn't insist too much. Which is what |
30 |
probably made it more difficult for you to notice. |
31 |
|
32 |
Denis. |