[BangPypers] [chennaipy 1126] [XPost][Slightly OT] Could you share your experiences about Python Freelance programming, from a programmer's perspective

[Sidu Ponnappa]

> So my question: how does one gauge aptitude in programming?

Get them to write code. One common thread for us is that we have
everybody write code irrespective of experience. Half the code at
home, and if that passes muster, we have them come into the office and
pair with us on expanding their solution to complete the other half.
We don't care about degrees, academic scores or designations - if they
can't produce test driven, quality code, we don't pursue that
candidate beyond that point.

The other indicator we look for (especially when dealing with
freshers) is open source contributions - a github or bitbucket account
with actual code and actual contributions to open source is pretty
much mandatory. We're a small, highly profitable company with no
intentions of growing to 50 or 100 people, so being this selective
works well for us.

Finally - be the best paymaster, or at least try to get close. If you
pay crap salaries, you will attract crap people. If you pay well, word
gets around and the right kind of people will start talking to you.

Best,
Sidu.
http://c42.in
http://rubymonk.com

On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 9:37 PM, Rajeev J Sebastian
<rajeev.sebastian at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm running a small company out of Technopark Trivandrum. We're always
> on the lookout for good people (as is everyone else). I myself have a
> history in development, and none in management. Never worked at a
> company in my career.
>
> So my question: how does one gauge aptitude in programming? In
> particular, when we put out a job advertisement, we get a ton of
> resumes from freshers. Most (if not all) do not have any significant
> experience, knowledge or demonstrable skills. Most fail our written
> test, which tests basic knowledge in programming, algorithms, etc.
> Their resumes are full of bullshit, and in many cases, fraudulent.
>
> Given that the fresher lacks knowledge in any given area, what kind of
> testing should we use? Since we do development in Python and Django,
> and so far no candidate has come to us with "Python" on their resume,
> what do you suggest we do?
>
> Regards
> Rajeev J Sebastian
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