When I started, there was more gap than substance. Now, I find myself hiring. So my list for junior developers:
Be passionate about learning.
Don't be afraid of the unknown.
That's it. I mean, sure, I'm not a university lecturer, if you don't know how to at least build & run code in the IDE that you're choosing (since we don't tell everyone to use the same)... I won't be hiring you.
Everything else, is nice fluff.
Money where my mouth is, I've just hired a guy that's still finishing university. No checks with his tutors, no conditions on his contract, just a 1 hour-ish Skype call and a regular job offer with junior salary.
Re your list of "not sures":
this & prototype - who cares if a junior doesn't know it, or has a personal preference on when to include this for example.
merge conflict resolution - nope, that's what GitFlow & Senior Developers are for.
the call stack & web API... they seem mostly framework dependent to me, and while interviewing, I might change my mind about the primary frameworks etc... little unfair for me to think a candidate has a hope in hell of understanding them in any detail.
Dave, thank you! This is exactly the kind of conversation I was hoping to spark. I really like your two item list of requirements. I suppose my list is a bit overly specific, and what's most important is more soft skill related than knowledge or memorization.
No worries - if it's helpful for you or anyone else reading this.... this is my list of requirements for Seniors:
Know your onions. If you make claims on your CV, I will be assessing those for truth/little white lies etc.
Have a back bone. Don't be afraid of interrupting people (even in the interview) when it's justified. Be opinionated. If you say it, follow through on it. Balance this with a healthy dose or respect, and therein, lies the art.
Be passionate about teaching. I don't want egotistical rockstars, I want people that will drag up the team average by levelling the playing field.
For everything that isn't a soft skill - there are many search engines at our finger tips. Hell, search engines work for soft skills learning too.
Oh, and with regards to seniority level - we have one job title - "Developer." Best way to level the playing field is by not starting people on different labels.
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When I started, there was more gap than substance. Now, I find myself hiring. So my list for junior developers:
That's it. I mean, sure, I'm not a university lecturer, if you don't know how to at least build & run code in the IDE that you're choosing (since we don't tell everyone to use the same)... I won't be hiring you.
Everything else, is nice fluff.
Money where my mouth is, I've just hired a guy that's still finishing university. No checks with his tutors, no conditions on his contract, just a 1 hour-ish Skype call and a regular job offer with junior salary.
Re your list of "not sures":
this&prototype- who cares if a junior doesn't know it, or has a personal preference on when to includethisfor example.Dave, thank you! This is exactly the kind of conversation I was hoping to spark. I really like your two item list of requirements. I suppose my list is a bit overly specific, and what's most important is more soft skill related than knowledge or memorization.
No worries - if it's helpful for you or anyone else reading this.... this is my list of requirements for Seniors:
For everything that isn't a soft skill - there are many search engines at our finger tips. Hell, search engines work for soft skills learning too.
Oh, and with regards to seniority level - we have one job title - "Developer." Best way to level the playing field is by not starting people on different labels.