Start my own software firm
I have a few good solid years of managing my own projects, mostly via outsourced firms in India. However, I've found them to be somewhat not satisfactory, so I'm thinking of hiring my own programmers inhouse.
To all those that have had successful experiences with hiring their own software developers, what kind of advice can you give someone like me? Do you start off by hiring a good experienced project manager, and then have him help hire the individual programmers?
What kinds of things should I watch out for, and how do I find good talent?
[576 byte] By [
Skeptical] at [2007-11-11 7:37:30]
# 1 Re: Start my own software firm
That is a big question :).
{in my opinion}
You should hire people you can immediately put to work, otherwise you will be paying for no return, which can be expensive.
Aptitude is more important than specific knowledge. Better to hire someone that is adept at learning and figuring out things than someone that has lots of experience in one or two thinngs - unless those are the only one or two things you are going to do.
Do a technical interview as well as a non-technical interview. Unless you are lookign for just bodies to code, then you'll want people that can interact, and think as well as understand what they are coding. However :) don't fault someone for getting technical questions wrong. Rather see how they answer and what they do when they don't know something. If someone doesn't know the answer, but shows the aptitude to figure it out, then they may be better than someone that knows the answers, but can't figure out the one thing they don't know (yes, I have repeated myself with the prior paragraph, but that is how important aptitude is).
Watch out for people 'jumping ship' from their current job. Chances are they may not stick around with yours.
Watch out for people who spend all day on discussion forums :D (I had to say that)
If you are using specific technology, make sure the person is interested in that technology. Don't hire a java person if you are going to have them doing HTML and JavaScript.
Of course this is personal opinion. there are a number of sites out there that give better comments/suggestions.
