

Non tech founder looking to create a straight forward code test. - Truman11

I need to hire programmers for my startup and I'm not sure how to tell if the people I interview are any good at it.  I would like to create a 20 question test with 5 questions in each of these languages. PHP, JAVASCRIPT, AJAX, and MYSQL.  Can you help by giving me a question and correct answer for any one of these languages?  I will use your questions to compile the test, difficult but not impossible would be great. Thanks in advance to those that participate!!!
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clavalle
These are ubiquitous technologies. You are going to get flooded in enough
waste that 20 mere questions, no matter how clever, are not going to help you
too much.

First, find a developer whose sole job is to help you hire other developers,
preferably a friend or someone you trust. They don't even have to necessarily
be experts in, say, MYSQL or anything else you have listed there. Great
embedded C dev? Great! Java master? Fantastic. Great news is that this person
is not going to be doing any developing for you whatsoever so you can take on
someone who has a day job without worrying about IP issues or anything...

Now, you are not going to want to waste their time (and your money...you
should definitely pay your consultant and don't rely on favors) so step two is
to put out requirements for some piece of functionality you need done. Ask for
portfolios and resumes (but take them with a big grain of salt) and pick some
with your consultant that seem to fit the bill. Pay the cash and let them get
cracking. DON"T try to get them to do any work or take a test for free to
prove themselves. That is a sure way to skim the cream off the top and get
left with the dregs. If you can't come up with requirements, you've got bigger
problems. By the way, this is a good place to shake your acquaintance
tree...let it be known that you are looking for people to pick up small
projects that could lead to a more lasting relationship.

Review and test their work. Pick out a few with the help of your consultant
that seem to write good, functional code on time and with good communication.
It is possible to have some major stand-outs here. If so, you might want to
jump on them but try not to get too excited.

Now that you have your finalists, give them a larger task...perhaps a tougher
technical problem if your needs drift in that direction or, more likely,
requirements that are not fully realized. Have them email each other copying
you on everything, as part of a team...pay attention to how they communicate
with each other and hash things out. Who's having the ideas? Who is happy to
coast and let others drive? Who's a bully? etc... THIS IS KEY! This is going
to separate the merely good developers from the real value creators. If you
end up with a bunch of people constantly begging for direction or flip
flopping on every issue on how to proceed, you need to cast a wider net and
start from the beginning armed with that much more experience. It might seem
expensive but not half as expensive as anchoring yourself to the mediocre.
That being said, keep the solid followers in mind when you need to fill gaps
with freelancers. Ditch the bad attitudes and low performers and keep your
value generators -- the key performers -- the stand outs that work well,
create solid deliverables that make you very happy and work well together.

Treat your people well, rinse and repeat as you grow (shaking your team's
talent tree as you do).

Good Luck!

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Truman11
Thanks Clavalle, good advice..

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izak30
It is unlikely that you'll be able to administer a test like this effectively.
A test with difficult enough problems is about the WAY you think, not the
ansewer you end up with. That even disregards programming tests as a decent
measure of competence. This also disregards the fact that ajax is a part of
JavaScript and not a language.

Your best bet is to find a consultant you trust and pay them to find a few
competent candidates, or find a technical partner

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Truman11
Thank you for the input, do you have any suggestions as to how I could find a
consultant?

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yolesaber
Here is a spreadsheet of consultants who are active on this very website.

[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlD_6iEb8Ed9dGs...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlD_6iEb8Ed9dGs3clVJYi0yYVBka181Z0ZKRW9kQ0E&hl=en_US#gid=0)

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rush-tea
thank you for this doc. I am in the same situation as the poster, and will use
this information. :)

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al_greig
Related topic but different subject: I'm a non-tech founder looking for a past
YC tech with PS3 level gaming development/producer experience to assist/co-
found my social gaming seed startup. Applying to YC next week. I'm highly
skilled on the business/strategic piece but need the right programmer. Any
advice? Would it be appropriate to post request under "jobs" section? Please
advise.

~~~
izak30
Only YC companies get to post in the jobs section, but on the first and second
of every month there are both public jobs and gigs threads.

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BrokerChange
Don't bother. It will come accross as condescending and ignorant.

Instead, ask them to show you some projects they've worked on. Let their
passion speak for itsself.

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saiko-chriskun
besides the points already raised, why are you deciding which languages your
"future devs" are going to be developing in?

