Hazards of Hiring; Hiring the best

Longhorn Developer Center Home: Columns: Hazards of Hiring: "It turns out that the usual advice works just fine, but we have to move from the vague to the specific. To summarize the various points I made in the sections above, here are ten questions to ask yourself when considering a candidate for a developer position:

1. Can this candidate bring something to the team that nobody else has?
2. Is this candidate constantly learning?
3. Is this candidate aware of his/her weaknesses and comfortable discussing them?
4. Is this candidate versatile and willing to do 'whatever it takes' to help make the product successful?
5. Is this candidate one of those '10X coders'?
6. Does this candidate have a bachelor's degree from a good computer science department?
7. If this candidate has a Ph.D., is there other evidence to suggest that s/he is one of those rare people who also has 'Shrinkwrap Qualities'?
8. Does this candidate have experience on a team building shrinkwrap software?
9. Does this candidate write good code?
10. Does this candidate love programming so much that s/he writes code in their spare time?

It's not necessary to answer 'yes' to all ten of these questions. I'm not even going to specify a minimum number of 'yes' answers needed for a positive hiring decision. Hiring is all about probabilities, and each of these questions can serve as an indicator to help you predict whether the candidate will be a success for you.

In the end, every hiring decision will be made with your own judgment, and there are no guarantees. However, giving consideration to these issues can help raise the probability of making a hiring decision that you will not later regret."