Comments on: How business guys can identify good coders

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:20:52 +0000

I blogged about it here http://blog.timakinbo.com/2010/10/27/how-to-hire-….

I was recently invited to give a talk to students in my alma mater and I couldn't help not talking about how important it is to get past that initial inertia (or fear in most cases) and actually begin to produce content even if it's crappy.

By: Josh Fraser

Josh Fraser — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 05:15:03 +0000

In reply to Tim. Do you have a link to that post you wrote? I'd love to check it out. I think it's the same fear that makes it hard to hit the publish button on blog posts. I don't want to look like an idiot or be told I'm wrong. But like many things in life, it's only scary until you do it. You soon learn that your fears were unfounded and the benefits way outweigh the risks.

By: Tim

Tim — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 05:07:02 +0000

Great post Josh. it's an expansion on the ideas I wrote on this topic. Is there a reason a programmer will not contribute to open source projects? I think the answer is yes. Being afraid of criticism might make a programmer not contribute openly because this leaves him open to criticism. In my short time of making open source contributions, I've learned a lot from other fellow contributors and seen a huge growth rate in my programming ability.

By: Gregg

Gregg — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 23:55:15 +0000

Josh, thanks for the post, this is very helpful for people like me!

By: Josh Fraser

Josh Fraser — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 22:21:59 +0000

In reply to @petewarden. We have the benefit of being able to identify good coders by their code. I tried to write this a rough guide for the people who don't have that luxury. Great point though. Leaving the computer screen does have a way of developing other skills... or so I've heard. :)

By: @petewarden

@petewarden — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 22:15:39 +0000

This rings true, but that's what worries me! There's a strong human instinct to be comfortable around people who are similar to us, and your description sounds a lot like both you and me. Why is that a problem? I worry that I'm missing out on talent because it doesn't fit with this sort of pattern-matching. For example I've worked with some amazing coders who only picked it up later in life. They often didn't have the obsessive streak that drives people like us to start at age 10, but they brought skills I've never developed because I spent too much time in front of my computer as a teenager.

I do totally agree with the 'outside projects' part though, you need some demonstration that they're actually interested in creating code beyond just collecting a paycheck.

By: Josh Fraser

Josh Fraser — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 21:50:35 +0000

In reply to Julien. Thanks and great point. I think "What are you reading these days?" is a decent question for finding the life-long learners. Any others you'd add to the list? And no, I've not had a fully baked idea in my entire life. :)

By: Julien

Julien — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 21:42:59 +0000

Brilliant! I would also look for people who do stuff because they're passionate and can/want to learn. Not necessarily coding-related.

It's likely that your idea isn't fully baked. You want someone who won't be useless if you turn your iPhone idea into a Facebook app!