Scott Hanselman's ComputerZen.com

Good luck finding someone for this position. I remember how many people I interviewed a couple years ago with similar criteria. It is amazing to me in this day and age how many developers have a superficial understanding of the tools and technologies they use everyday.

Wow if you find this guy then good for you. I agree with Joe, there are developers, there are engineers and then there are passionate engineers. In order to meet your requirements this person really needs to be passionate and "love" their job in order to invest in keeping up to speed.

I think I might fit the bill. Couple of questions first, what's TDD, DOM, and SAX? :)

I fit all except last one :( Sad.

I almost fit (my mum can't use Word, so i abandon explanations ..) and i 'm too young to be considered as "Senior" (and i'm french but it's an advantage, isn't it ?)

"You are willing to live in Portland, OR. (To be a part of our team, you have to be here. No telecommuting.)"

Everything made sense up until then.

Any comments on how to get an entry level position? I have been a hobbyist for many years, and have written applications for the company I work for, but I am considered more of a tech support/fix-it guy. I am in school right now (part-time because I must support my family), and I am finding it really difficult to get a break to get an entry level position.

I really want to make programming my career and stop just having "jobs".

Brandon, try visiting local user groups in your area. Check out http://www.ineta.org for a fairly comprehensive list of UGs. Start networking and you might be amazed what is out there and just not advertised. If nothing else, you can start to make a name for yourself amongst the programmers in your area.

Aaron

P.S. - Yes I am aware that most programmers are introverts, but keep in mind that most of the other guys at these things will be too - so don't be scared ;)

Scott, if only this would have been up 6 weeks ago. Would love to come to work for Corillian but I just started a nice new job elsewhere. *-sigh-*

Aaron

Scott,
If I’m a full time developer working for you, which would you prefer: me completing my work on time, adhering to best practices and being a great team player … or me being able to recite a bunch of technical jargon (that’s really only applicable in a small percentage of most projects), always being late on projects because I like to implement new ways of doing things because I read about them on blogs and always debating with other team members about what the best practice should be? I don’t think that you’re company is being unreasonable with looking for someone who fits this mold, however you must keep in mind that a lot of these skills are specific to the nature of your business. So just because one can’t recite everything there is to know about a HTTPModule or a HTTPHandler does not make him/her a weak developer.

“It is amazing to me in this day and age how many developers have a superficial understanding of the tools and technologies they use everyday.” IMHO being a good developer means that you have a solid foundation in the principles of programming. So regardless of the environment, IDE, or standards imposed a good developer will be successful. To me it’s lame to invest so much valuable time in learning all the intricate details of a technology that will be replaced within the next 3 - 5 years … I’m sure that my ASP 2.0 certification from 2001 is pretty useless right now.

I predit you'll receive no less than 30 qualified applicants willing to relocate.

Scott,

I am looking for two such people. Sr. Web Developer and Sr. Software Eng. to work with me in finance industry with very intereting large scale PROJECT.

When you find one, could you send him/her my way. Thanks.

Person should have creator/inventor mentallity, not a follower.

At my old company we had 2 names for people who got their work done on time while adhering to best practices and being a great team player, even though they may not know all the technical jargon: 1) Employee 2)Junior Programmer.

Quite honestly I think many people have developed a somewhat skewed idea of what constitutes a Senior Programmer. To me a senior programmer should be someone who understands what he is doing and WHY he is doing it. Knowing the what without the why means you won't understand when your approach is inappropriate for the task at hand. Having 10 or 20 years of programming experience means nothing if it is 10 or 20 years of programming DailyWTF entries.

If you'd posted this three months ago I might still be living in Portland. ;-)

Joe,

I agree with you 100%. I also think Sr. dude has to be involved in business decisions and guide the company in proper implementation of solutions. Has to adjust to business needs. A person with strong backgound and business know how and sense, and understanding execs is a good developer who can add tremendous value to any company. This guy needs to be able to get his hands dirty and wear a tie when needed.

Would you like your house painted by just painter or a painter who can guide you better, educate you and even suggest?

He is the glue binding the development team and the company!

"You know how to read code, not just write code."

how about:

You know how to write readable code.

experience
1. .Net since beta 1, august 2000
2. . source control .. subeversion
3. Xml, we do DSL with XML schema, generate codes using xsd. XmlSpy is the tool
4. automation, NAnt and msbuild
5. TDD, was on NUnit until version 2.2.1 or 2.2.2 not on Team Test
6. no NCover but Clover before Team Test
7. Spoken to you a few times in the past, the last time may be 3 years ago