Recently we've been looking for a new Developer, nothing fancy just c#, SQL server, OOP and design patterns would be nice. but sadly we've not found a single one this time round that makes the grade. We don't send things into space nor do peoples lives depend on any realtime processing.  Where do all the candidates fall down; they first can't describe basic microsoft technology. Can't describe things on their own CV. Have absolutely no concept of OO; this is the real sticking point.  I have found there are types of developer out there or that we seem to interview.

Web Design Company:   Might know the front end quite well, good chance they've never used visual studio and use web matrix as their tool of choice. They only see front ends and have no real concept of application frameworks or any real depth in application design. OO forget it they know OO from their college days which was anything between 1 month and 10 years ago. Databases sure they know databases as long as its access and have no knowledge or stored procedures nor any db schema design .

Large Company :  They might use good applications that are well written and designed, but they did not write them. They add bits and bobs and make the odd patch here and they and can fix a bug or two.  SQL experts; but really only hack someone elses code code. There are other types who do small quick apps for internal use.

The Jumper: No quicker are they in a company than they are looking for their next position. The warning signs are they have only been in their current company for 3 months and have some lame excuse of why its not working. Still wants another 4K extra though as they as broad experiance in lots of companies.

Shelf-life:  Sometimes they jump sometimes, sometimes they are pushed (steady but periodic gaps) but they have a finite life in most companies. Not sure what  they seem to do or don't do but they have to month to 12 months before they are back on the market.

The Good ones:  These mythical being are out there but very hard o find.

Disclaimer:  The above is very very generalised and a lot of folk might seem to fall into one of the above while looking at CV we do give them the benifit of the doubt and interview them.

How we Interview

We look at  a CV and the experiance and start talking; we delve down routes to experiance and skill level and start asking questions until we can't ask anymore or they dry up. With luck they will be better than us. Then we go down another router and another. Why we do this is simple; we want to see if they an expert or a good grounding in their area of experiane, it is impossible to find a good candidate that matches your needs exactly so we look for good engineers in their experience.

Technical Test

This is sadly where most fall down. We give them an application spec and they have 2 hours to derive an application. The spec and app is flexible enough so they can show off their skills and we see how they focus their efforts. They can even use the internet or bring a book or use the books lying about or even ask other developers in the department for help. A good percentage only manage a few lines of code and most don't put those OO skills to the test. Some don't seems to read the spec either.

Went to buy a PC mag on Friday, first of all I haven't purchased one in years and I mean years. Everything seems to be online so it always seems rather pointless. Being almostly completely development focused in my career they seemed a bit useless as well. So there I was being all nerdy (or is that more nerdy) looking at the computer mags, I was not really sure what to look for either and browsed a copy of the old favs; computer shopper, PC Pro.

I don't think I've grown much but the mags are lot smaller than I remember or is that a lot thinner; a bit like your fav sweet as a kid. The free disks caught my eye and I spent more time determining the usefuliness of free disks rather than the contents of the mags. I fell right into the marketeer's trap lured by the promise of what some craplet could do for me rather than the contents. I decided that my life wouldn't be enhanced with a shinny new PC mag and bought some bacon instead.

Got another request to join facebook again, I can just see in a few months where everyone moves from Facebook to somewhere else. I have been on Linken for a while and have lots of contacts with a fairly big network. I have never felt the need to use a single contact with Linken. The only contact I have had with Linken has been a reruiter tracking me down to my desk phone at work; the intrusion was not welcome. I'm going to resist the Facebook I don't see the point of bandwagon jumping from site site when the first gives me no practical benifits.

No spoilers here

Finished the Deathly Hallows and it will make a great movie with a fairly exciting opening scene. The plot ducked and weaved and should really be renamed from "The Boy that lived" to "Lucky little sod". He escaped by the skin of his teeth so many times it was almost defacto standard. Lots of kind and gentle wizards died and a couple of strong characters as well. There was a big US type sit com moral at the end that was painted so clear by the fact it was part of a speech at the end. I did guess most of the plot and characters m.o. to a certain degree and Harry was his usual bad tempered imprevious little self; but that core character seems to fit the part.

The wizarding world J.K. is doomed; its so self destructive, it is unlikely to survive. The wizards are constantly having wars are one dark lord seems to pop up once every generation and their goverment system seem to lack a certain responsibilty for its actions. "I was only following orders" seems to be a common theme as it denies the existance of you know how is backvinstead of rallying a defence; then it denies what is happening and who is really in charge. There was also a history repeating itself with Albus and Grindelwald and Tom and Harry. Evil dictators can't get control if they don't have followers and there he seems to have lots of them; even though he killed them with increasing frequency. Having all your kids fractured into sects (or houses) from aged 11 maybe needing readdressing.