Interviewing AS/400 Candidates like the NAZI's did.

[Guest.Visitor]

Interviewing AS/400 Candidates like the NAZI's did.

Chuck Ackerman wrote: Just as I wouldn't have other department managers write RPG programs, I wouldn't ask RPG programmers to interview candidates. Interviewing is certainly equal to or even more complicated than programming. Having interviewed a few people in my time, I'd have to agree with that statement. Interviewing takes a different set of skills than what most of us (programmer-types) use in our daily jobs. I found interviewing job candidates to be very hard work, and I'll be the first to admit that I don't think I am very good at it. Interviewing, to be done correctly, takes training and practice, just like anything else. I've been on interviews where the interviewer was so good that it barely felt like an interview, more like a casual conversation. And yet all the information and questions were covered. On the other hand, I've been on interviews where we've both been so uncomfortable with the process that we couldn't finish it fast enough. My hat is off to anyone who possesses the knowledge and the skill to conduct a professional, impartial interview. One that leaves you with the feeling that you are glad you attended, by the time you leave. But...programmer's as interviewers? Not a chance.

[Guest.Visitor]

Interviewing AS/400 Candidates like the NAZI's did.

"And, my method works. I've proven it time and time again." And it appears that you've proven it using the same two programmers that follow you from job to job to job to job . . . :-) Steve

[J.Pluta]

Interviewing AS/400 Candidates like the NAZI's did.

Just thought I'd throw in my own two cents. I can only speak to my experience, and that's been somewhat unique. I've been in charge of hardware and software expenditures, salary, bonus, hiring and firing at the department level. However, my department was a little unusual in that we were being paid to deliver things that nobody was quite sure could be done. I had a cross-pollinated mix of C/C++ programmers and AS/400 RPG folks, all working on client/server stuff to be run on OS/2. This was in the early 90's, when "client/server" was pretty much just a buzzword in our community, and RPG programmers rarely had PCs, much less worked with PC programmers. That mix required a rather unique bunch of individuals - many of whom were a bit off-kilter. The pressure was high, the hours long and the environment unique. EVERYBODY had to be a self-starter, since everyone was responsible for a different area of code - that had never been written before. Anyway, I pre-screened all candidates, tested their basic knowledge, and determined basic salary range issues. But then I insisted on a meeting with at least two of the members of the staff. This way, the staff got a look at the candidate and the candidate got a good look at what they were in for. Then we got together and talked about it, deciding yea or nay as to whether someone would survive our group. Some obvious woudl not, while others would. Sometimes it took a lot of arguing at the downstairs bar after hours. But in the end, we pretty much agreed on each candidate. And out of all the hires, we only really botched two - one guy was a consummate actor that bamboozled us all, and the other was a rural kid who we weren't too surecould handle the pressute, but we took a chance on him and, well, we blowed him up REAL good. He went home one weekend to his wife and just plain never returned. Didn't even ask for his final paycheck. We also were only turned down by one candidate who wanted more than I was prepared to offer. This team delivered more code with fewer bugs - on TWO platforms in TWELVE languages - than any other team I've worked with, before or since. They were working in uncharted territory, developing thick graphical clients for the BPCS package, and they never missed a date, and their overall BMR (defect) count was lower per product than any of the green screen packages, even though there was twice as much code, and it was delviered in all languages simultaneously. I think that was because this group trusted each other, and had a vested interest in each other's success. That's just my experience. Joe

[Guest.Visitor]

Interviewing AS/400 Candidates like the NAZI's did.

...and it also sounds as though you were in programmer heaven, cutting innovative code, teaching and learning from each other and cross-pollinating ideas from different backgrounds. In that kind of environment it doesn't really matter that the work is difficult, maybe impossible, and the hours long; the buzz you get from seeing your bits of the project come to life beats anything. I'd have loved to have been involved in something like that, and I suspect that anyone who didn't start to become a little bit ecstatic in the interview would have been self-deselecting. Dave...

[Guest.Visitor]

Interviewing AS/400 Candidates like the NAZI's did.

Steve,

Considering I've had 4 jobs since 1979 you might be exaggerating a little there... ;-)

chuck

Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.

"Steve McKay" <Steve_McKay@forums.midrangecomputing.com> wrote in message news:1e94f3b7.47@WebX.WawyahGHajS...

"And, my method works. I've proven it time and time again." And it appears that you've proven it using the same two programmers that follow you from job to job to job to job . . . :-) Steve

[Guest.Visitor]

Interviewing AS/400 Candidates like the NAZI's did.

I recently did a preliminary phone interview with an AS/400 Shop. I spoke with FOUR people separately, each had maybe one question a piece, two of them were techies. The two techs wanted to know only these things: 1. How many files can you declare in a CL Program? 2. How do you Check the Existence of Records in an RPG program without conducting a READ? 3. What other way can you display all interactive jobs on the AS/400 without doing a WRKACTJOB QINTER? Granted, the first question seemed reasonable to me and I answered it just fine. But the two others, well, I'll just say that these were never taught in my formal RPG training, and seemed a little too abstract. I would have to argue that even a seasoned RPG programmer wouldn't necessarily know the last one. And not necessarily the first one either. Some very decent RPG programmers remain in the same shop for many years, code well, but don't necessarily know all of the latest techniques. But these questions were put in a way that if I didn't get 3 questions totally correct, I'm out of the running, in spite of my good qualifications. So why use such horrendous questions to eliminate good Programmers? I don't think decisions on job candidates should be based on two or three questions. After all, it is possible to eliminate a lot of good staff by doing so. Please tell me what you think. Also, if anyone knows of any published "IBM Way" of conducting an interview specifically for RPG Programming Candidates, I'd be much interested in learning the types of questions that should be asked.

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Interviewing AS/400 Candidates like the NAZI's did.

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