Hi, > William Couture wrote: > > My company recently hired a contract programmer to do a project that we > > didn't have time/resources to do. So we did several interviews. > > > > One candidate wasn't doing very well, but tried to hide it by talking a > > lot. > > > > So, I asked him a "nonsense" question. He did not realize that it was > > nonsense, and tried to B***S*** his way through it. > > > > Needless to say, someone else got the job. I remember, years ago, going for an interview and being asked some really taxing questions and I didnt know many of the answers - I felt that the questions had deliberately been chosen to avoid my skill set. I gave short, 'I don't know, I'd need to find out, look it up etc.' answers. I got the contract, basically because my boss to be admitted that I was the only candidate who didn't try to b*sh*t my way out of the situation. When I later asked him about the questions, he admitted he didn't know the answers either, he'd looked for obscure questions on the web and used them. It was a good contract and he was a good boss, sometimes it's a gut feeling that counts far more than a list of qualifications. I've always been willing to go into a contract on either a very short notice period or short term trial period - if it isn't going to work out, it's an easy way out, it also lets the employer know (indirectly) that you're confident in your abilities. Regards, D pic/piclist/2009-04-16.tx piclist +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Dave Restall, Computer Nerd, Cyclist, Radio Amateur G4FCU, Bodger | | Mob +44 (0) 7973 831245 Skype: dave.restall Radio: G4FCU | | email : dave@restall.net Web : Not Ready Yet :-( | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Established technology tends to persist in the face of new technology. | | -- G. Blaauw, one of the designers of System 360 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > > Bill, can you share more of this experience? How did you go about finding > the contractors? Was it a large project? Was it successful, and why you > think it was/wasn't? > > We find ourselves in these sorts of situations all the time, yet our > experience with outsourcing is all negative. > > Vitaliy > > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist