How to Find Good Programmers For Your Software Projects
Finding good programmers can be a tricky task indeed. In our modern era, programmers are prolific in society. Unfortunately, the majority of these programmers are not very good nor are they particularly adept at programming. Partly the fault of collegiate systems that churn out degrees, good programmers are a rarity. As a result, many companies turn to H1B visas to hire good programmers from overseas.
This doesn’t mean that a decision to hiring good programmers requires sponsoring and searching the world. Instead, potential employers need to focus on the quality of resumes and applicants they receive. A decision to look for more than credentials on paper can help increase the odds of netting a good programmer.
Unfortunately, many human resources departments end the search with “programmer college degree required.” This would be good if the coursework in the majority of universities produced good programmers, but simply it doesn’t. What kind of classes does someone with a degree in computer science have to take? C++ ? No. Math? Yes. Java?
Not necessarily, and if so, usually only one or two semesters. Any veteran programmer would be able to stand up and state that four months simply isn’t enough time for someone to become a truly good programmer. So, how do you filter resumes for the good programmers? This is a bit tricky, but can be achieved through one of several techniques.
First and foremost, a practicum test involving simplistic programs in targeted languages similar to the “Prove-It!” series can help weed out academics from functional good programmers. Secondly, reviewing the extracurricular activities can help identify good programmers. Do they have projects on sourceforge.net? Have they made contributions to planetsourcecode.com?
Things like these indicate good individuals who at least have gotten their feet wet in programming. Furthermore, beyond listing an advertisement in your local paper, you may wish to seek outside venues for good programmers. While in large cities, a newspaper ad may be all that is required to land a very qualified, competent, and good programmer; smaller cities generally attract individuals who notice digits on the salary line who do not have the education or skill set required to be a useful, productive, and good programmer on your team.
As a result of this, many employers are becoming increasingly wizened to searching for good programmers through non-traditional means. Despite the availability of tradeshows and traditional print media, these employers are hunting for good programmers online, through sites such as monster.com, or looking for private contractors through sites such as rentacoder.com.
The usage of internet and globalization can allow employers to be increasingly able to hire someone good who does not even necessarily live within the same state or country to help meet program requirements. Additionally, many of the sites such as elancer.com and rentacoder.com allow employers to devise test-projects to filter through multiple bidders in an attempt to isolate good programmers from wastes of time.
Regardless of the methods used to find a good programmer, software developers will always incurr a risk with each prospective hire. A poor programmer will not only fail to deliver quality results in a timely fashion, but alas, the poor programmers will actually cost much more in terms of training, maintenance, and hand-feeding than a comparably expensive good programmer.
If you find a programmer just can’t get things done the way you want in the time frame you want, you may find yourself better off hiring an additional programmer – and being willing to let the lesser of the pair go on the drop of a hat. Only through some experimentation and trial-and-error can any developer find the good programmer with a good attitude that is right for their unique individualized needs.
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