Tag Archives: technical skills

Cultural Fit Trumps Competence? Maybe

Posted on December 27, 2012 by johanna

Did you see Cultural Fit Trumps Competence? I don’t know that cultural fit trumps competence. I know that it’s critically important. For geeks, you need a minimum of technical skills and then cultural fit is critically important. I do agree … Continue reading →

Posted in cultural fit | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

We Have Created Our Own Shortage Of People

Posted on December 7, 2012 by johanna

John Sumser is writing a series of articles about the hiring paradox on HR Examiner. Read the first one, The Hiring Paradox (Skills Gap 1). The gist is this: It takes more time to hire when you have more alternatives. … Continue reading →

Posted in hiring strategy | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What is the Fascination with Bachelor’s Degrees for Senior Managers?

Posted on May 21, 2012 by johanna

I realize that many successful technical people have degrees. But the former Yahoo CEO was canned for lying on his resume about a bachelor’s degree Computer Science. Now, let’s think about this for a minute. A senior manager with 20 … Continue reading →

Posted in hiring strategy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

What Have You Done Since Your Last Job?

Posted on October 19, 2011 by johanna

You’ve been unemployed for a over a year. You’re looking for a job. You have not been sitting home, eating bon-bons. You’ve been contributing to open-source projects, or studying for a certification, and networking like there’s no tomorrow. You have … Continue reading →

Posted in Agile Job Search | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

People are Not Tools

Posted on October 23, 2009 by johanna

I’ve been reviewing job descriptions from clients that are a laundry list of tools. Or, that ask for “significant experience” with a particular technology. No, no, no. People are not tools. They are human beings who have specific qualities, preferences, … Continue reading →

Posted in hiring strategy | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

What Do Agile Testers Look Like?

Posted on October 2, 2009 by johanna

I recently spoke with a recruiter. “I don’t understand the QA market anymore. No one is hiring except for agile people. And they want people who are developers. What’s happening to QA?” Manual testing was never quality assurance; it was … Continue reading →

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Technical Ability is No Guarantee of Success

Posted on June 25, 2009 by johanna

I just read Most Likely to Succeed: How do we hire when we can’t tell who’s right for the job? by Malcolm Gladwell. He talks about how a football recruiter agonized over his decisions: …“This guy threw lasers, he could … Continue reading →

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Hiring Mistake #1: Hiring Tools, Not People

Posted on November 1, 2004 by johanna

As part of an interview, a reporter asked me what the single biggest mistake managers make when hiring. Unfortunately, I see three common mistakes: Hiring based on a tools checklist (some number of years of Java or WinRunner or some … Continue reading →

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How Well Can Your Technical Staff Write?

Posted on June 1, 2004 by johanna

Laurent has a great posting on Hiring Programmers. Note that he doesn’t say people have to be great writers. On the contrary, the bar is fairly low: awareness of spelling and typos, introduction, structured discussion, conclusion — that’s it. My … Continue reading →

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When to Drop Candidates Based on Qualities, Preferences, Skills

Posted on April 13, 2004 by johanna

  Sorin’s comment got me thinking. How do you make the decision that a candidate’s technical skills aren’t worth the candidate’s lack of relationship, communication, listening, or some other soft skill? Esther was talking about collaborative teams, so someone who … Continue reading →

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