Re: [gentoo-project] Recruitment issues and potential improvement

[Mikle Kolyada]

05.02.2015 09:56, Michał Górny пишет:
> Hello, everyone.
>
> It's finally time to discuss some of the recruitment issues. It's not
> a new complaint that the process is time-consuming and discouraging to
> our contributors. We have a pretty low number of new recruits [well,
> we could definitely have a higher number!] and too often they resign
> in the process.
>
> As I see it, the main issue are ebuild quizzes. They are very time-
> consuming and discouraging. It's like filling a quiz with relatively
> simple questions where answers need to fit a key, and you have to tell
> the recruit to fill in the missing bits a few times just to help him
> get further.
>
> I myself attempted ebuild quiz twice, because the first time I simply
> ended up not having the time for it. My late recruit was making slow
> progress, and recently vanished -- hopefully only because he doesn't
> have will for that anymore. As I see it, the disadvantages outweigh
> the benefits here.
>
> I have discussed this with kensington and a few Council members
> (unofficially), and we came up with following ideas:
>
> 1. remove or reduce the ebuild quiz to a reasonable number of
> questions. In other words, make it bearable. Focus on the stuff that
> can't be checked otherwise.
>
> 2. Add an extra contribution period in which the candidate commits to
> the tree through Pull Requests. Developers watch the requests, review
> them and decide when the recruit is ready. We may extend this with
> requirements like '3 different developers must review late activities
> and evaluate them'.
>
> 3. Possibly extend the recruit-recruiter interaction. Rather than
> treating the interrogation as some kind of final confirmation, make it
> a small extra part of the learning process. In other words, reduce
> the other parts, fill in the blanks here.
>
> What do you think?
>
I try to be short.
First of all, i'm against to make quizzes simpler or shorter. I have few
real examples, when people do a LOT of mistakes even after they passed
the quizzes.
I agree with hwoarang, you must not make this decision without talk to
the team. Sorry guys, don't think it's council area. Don't think they
really know how it's hard to recruit some people during sessions.

> Add an extra contribution period in which the candidate commits to
the tree through Pull Requests.

All mentors should track their recruits during first month. If mentor
doesn't do this, this is "bad" mentor, IMO. It looks like some mentors
think *ok, my mentee passed the quizzes, he is a developer, i can to
nothing* 

I think mentors should be more serious.