Finding good employees is hard. If you read the blogs and tweets from people trying to interview developers or DBAs, it seems there's no shortage of unqualified candidates looking for jobs every day. The answers given to fairly simple questions, the lack of knowledge in areas list on the job description, and the inability to back up the words written on resumes are jaw-dropping. It's a problem that seems to have no solution in sight, which is distressing.
When a company needs help, what can they do? Hopefully they're a good company, one where people want to work. If that's the case, then be real, be honest, and show employees that you are a place people want to work. My own employer, Red Gate Software, made a great video for a UX specialist. It almost makes me want to apply for that job. Unfortunately I'm much better at breaking visually appealing things than designing them.
The best way to find good employees is really through networking and word of mouth. Employees tend to know who can do a good job, and it's not often I find someone looking to recommend an incompetent individual to help share the load. Empoyees know that recommending a slacker is likely to result in more work for them, not less. This might help you build better teams, but if your culture stinks, you might get no recommendations at all.
Steve Jones
PS - We are hiring a few people at Red Gate. It's a great company, and if you want to live in Cambridge, apply for one of the positions.
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
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Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.
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