Re: not enough real programmers? (was Re: Byte Magazine: 18 Vintage issues, 1985-1986)

[prs@gol.com (Peter Stephenson)]

On Mon, 09 Aug 1999 11:28:27 +0100, Ian Thompson Bell
<itb@techprt.co.uk> wrote:

>In my experience many people let themselves down with a poor CV.  In our organisation we brief the HR people on
>basic parameters we are looking for - primarily education and skills so they can weed out the no hopers before they
>even reach my desk.  Even then I read huge numbers of CVs and I am making just one decision - shall I interview
>this person?  I look for two things:
>
>1. Is there a reasonable match between what I want and what is on offer.  I do not expect perfect matches because
>good people can learn new skills quickly and you never know when new experience will be usefull.
>
>2. The person.  There are all sorts of indicators of this.  Quality of writing is one, age vs experience is another
>and interests outside work can often be very revealing.  Long CVs are a definite negative here.
>
>I do not expect the criteria I use are very different from those used by other recruiters so it is worth while
>reviewing you CV against a particular job with these factors in mind.
>
Yeah, but.

But HR don't typically understand the 'basic parameters - as people
have noted they won't spot the synonyms.  That's why I've used written
papers: HR arrange the test, book a room, give them a paper, take it
back and send it to me.  They're just about up to that.

I also don't think that 'primary education' is necessarily a good
guide (no chip on shoulder, mine's pretty good).  HR typically have a
degree in needlework or something and think that a degree's essential.

I'm not sure about 'interests outside work', either. Depends what you
mean.