Comments on: Should you test your web developers before employing them?

By: Michael B

Michael B — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:41:47 +0000

It’s either a (prospective) boss or a client, it can’t be both. If it’s a client a test is ridiculous; there are third party audits and your always hiring a company not a person.

If it’s a (prospective) boss then a test makes sense. Esp. with ppl right out of uni.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:33:45 +0000

@Richard
I totally agree. I know that there’s many sites I built from the ground up front and back-end but many more that I’ve either bug-fixed or support another developer along the way. Maybe candidates need to know that they should be straight(er) with their prospective employers and volunteer their roles in the projects they associate themselves with.

By: Richard Salit

Richard Salit — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:21:16 +0000

I’ve developed tests for developers but usually they are designed to take about 20 - 30 minutes. We get an idea of how they follow simple requirements and how they go about structuring a program. It provides a quick read as to how a person approaches a problem. We can then discuss what they did and why.

There are too many candidates that talk about projects they participated in when what we need to know is what they actually did on these projects.

By: Louis W

Louis W — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:40:40 +0000

Yahoo! has more of a quiz approach. Check out their questions.
http://www.nickhalstead.com/2007/05/23/php-interview-questions-from-yahoo/

I think testing is good thou. Even if you see an other sample code, you don’t know if they did all of it or it was a team effort. I like the idea of making it a simple game too.

By: Stephen Hill

Stephen Hill — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:35:38 +0000

I’ve only ever work for one company so far who never actually gave me a test or task to complete at interview, however, I did send them a portfolio of websites I had design on a CD with my application form.

I do think that if your hiring a web designer, programmer or related computer field, that a test should be mandatory for the applicant. I bet there are lots of students who have done every computer related course under the sun, but no practical application in real business.

This reminds me of the FizzBuzz problem (http://gatekiller.co.uk/Post/My_Answer_to_the_FizzBuzz_Problem). A simple programming exercise but effective.

Cheers
Stephen

By: phil

phil — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:27:03 +0000

@Dan: What I liked about the test I did was how abstract it was. The agency could have asked me to do a ecommerce site or simple CMS but by creating a simple game it gives the developer a chance to showcase their skills.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:23:29 +0000

After leaving uni, I had an interview with an agency over in Lancashire, which was quite small. The guy had started it with support of his Dad after he’d finished uni years before. He sent me a test, which was designing a simple e-commerce MySQL database with various things he/the client needed.

The interview was the longest of any I’ve had and he loved the solution I’d given him, which gave us a lot to talk about. Needless to say, I was offered the job.

I’m with you that testing gives you some kind of confirmation that the guy you’re considering hiring can actually do what his CV states. Why don’t more agencies do it?