In his comment, Gregbo asks what I mean by "bad" judgment.

Here's an incomplete list:

• Frequent job changes, at least one job a year for several years
• Months of no discernible work or lag times between jobs.
• Titles that appear to move up and down the ladder.

There are more, but those are the common ones. Sometimes, people take jobs because they need a paycheck or health insurance (or both). Those people tend to feel as if their jobs are sucking the souls out of them. If you see a resume like that, don't discard it. That candidate wants a good job--and may almost be desperate for a good job.

I once had a job for two weeks. The same week I was hired, I got a call to report to headquarters in another state, where they laid me off. I made a bad decision to take that job. Luckily, the hiring manager at my next job thought it was funny, and didn't consider that small interlude a problem job.

So that's what I mean by a "bad" decision. Candidates can't tell if a company is on the skids, or will cancel the project they got hired for. If you're a hiring manager or a recruiter, you have the opportunity to offer the candidate a great start in your organization. Don't let your prejudices about length of service persuade you to avoid this candidate.

Labels: candidate, discrimination, resume

posted by Johanna Rothman at at 1:02 PM | link |

I was reading Andy Tinkham's "Disproportionate amount of introverts in software testing" (post is now missing) and saw a comment that one person tends to discriminate for introverts in testing. I agree with the intent of the comment, that the hiring manager wants people who are organized and pay attention to the work. However, I don't believe any one personality type has the market cornered on organization and attention.

You can choose to discriminate for/against any number of personality types. Take a look at one of my previous posts for other possibilities.

Although I think the hiring manager is using introversion as a shorthand for his organization requirements in a candidate, I like the idea of looking for people who are organized and pay attention to the details, if that's appropriate for your group. I use behavior-description questions to ask about those characteristics:

• "Tell me how you approach testing a product." Listen for planning and organization activities. If this question is too vague, try:
• "How do you organize a product's testing?" Make sure you hear examples, how how the person would like to organize. If that question doesn't work, try:
• "Have you ever been in a position where the testing wasn't organized?...What did you do?"

I more often look for testers who are relatively flexible, who have multiple techniques for organizing their work, based on the product needs, and the reporting needs. If you need testers like that, great. If not, decide the kinds of activities you'd like to see the testers perform at work, not their personality types. You'll hire the people you really need when you think about the person's interactions and their output requirements, not their personality type.

Labels: discrimination, interview, personality type

posted by Johanna Rothman at at 6:55 AM | link |