Knowledge for a Senior Level developer

[Veejc]

Can someone give me a few questions or concepts that you would expect someone who is a senior level .net devoloper to know and understand?

We're interviewing for a senior level developer to comein and seriously hit the ground running, I'm not recruiting for that, we have plenty of candidates, but I would like to give them a test and I don't know what I should be asking.

Can anyone help?

 

[ThatRickGuy]

Are they comfortable with Object Orriented development?
-This one is an absolute. If they so much as stuter on this one, forget it. A senior level developer has to have an excellent grasp on this concept or else their design ability will be severely hampered.

Are they familiar with n-Teir design?
-This one is very important for working with data oriented applications. n-Teir designs usually break up into a few layers. Here, we break it into 5 layers. Database, Data Abstration, Business Data logic, Business logic/work flow, and presentation. A senior level developer should be familiar with some basic n-teir structure.

Are they familiar with design patterns (Factory and Singleton are both pretty important)?
-This one is more code based. Knowing these are 'necesities', and infact, many people use them with out knowing their names. but a senior developer should be familiar with the concepts and how to use both.

Are they familiar with ADO.Net?
-If your app uses data, they need ADO.Net experience.

Do they have any experience with threading?
-Again, code experience related. Not necesarily required, but having experience getting process intensive methods off of the primary thread really improves the appearance of the application.

Just a few things to poke at. If you are looking for a senior level developer, one of the key things to look for is solid design experience. Younger and newer coders may know the code obscurities better, but someone who has worked through a few projects from the ground up will likely have a better grasp of design fundamentals. And a properly designed framework and app will save you tons of money in the long run.

-Rick

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[chiph]

You might want to see thread654-1101764

What I said there was:

When I do interviews, I bring a laptop and ask the candidate to write some code. Or explain what's going on in a UML diagram, depending on their experience level and what the job is for.

I never ask stupid stuff like "What's the third parameter to the FooBar event when the user has the left mouse button depressed?"

and

For a senior level position, I'll have written some code ahead of time that more or less works and compiles cleanly, and ask them what I did wrong. If they say I did everything perfectly, I'll end the interview right then. That means they didn't see my design mistakes (there's always a few that I put in intentionally and there's usually a few unintentional ones!) Or the other possibility is that they don't have strong opinions about how things are done, in which case they're a worker bee, and not a true senior programmer who can lead and mentor others.

Chip H.

____________________________________________________________________
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[ThatRickGuy]

I'm not big on 'code or die' interviews. But the 'point out the design flaws' and 'describe this UML' are acceptable ideas.

I've never been much for challanging people or testing them at an interview. Expecially at the senior level. Give them open ended questions and let them describe the answer. Challanging them can put them in a defencive mode, and even if they wind up getting the job, they come on board expecting that they'll have to defend their title as a Senior developer. I have asked for (and given) code samples for interviews before. That's a pretty safe bet if you want to ensure the applicant has some tech skill, but don't have your team members review it at the interview, having developers getting in a pissing match over the best technology in the middle of an interview is a great way to get nowheres.

-Rick

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[Veejc]

I like all of these ides, thank you much for helping. One additional question I have to ask, though, is how to have them prove that they know these concepts without actually making them sit down and code because I agree that I don't think putting them on the spot proves anything really b/c they may just not perform well with that atmosphere and I wouldn't want to use that as a way to judge someone's true ability.

ThatRickGuy, I agree mostly with what you said about not getting into the p'ing match, but if they are a senior developer shouldn't they have the ability to prove themselves at least a little bit in an interview?

one more qeustion... I know everyone learns at different paces, but if I could generalize just for a second, if someone had on again off again, (majority off then on) with .Net for only a little bit over 1 year, do you think they would be able to be classified as Senior at it?

 

[ThatRickGuy]

ThatRickGuy, I agree mostly with what you said about not getting into the p'ing match, but if they are a senior developer shouldn't they have the ability to prove themselves at least a little bit in an interview?

Yes, they should be able to prove themselves, but you should not put them on a spot where they are being challanged. This gets into more psychology and less job specific stuff. IMO, anyone who gets through your resume reviews should have a solid technical knowledge, but for saftey, I would recommend either requesting a code sample, or giving them a practical app of some type after the interview just to make sure they aren't blowing smoke. A solid interviewie will proactively prove themself. That's why you give them open ended questions, it gives them the room to answer your question and highlight their strengths and experiences. During which they will hit on key words/points that hopefully back up their claims.

one more qeustion... I know everyone learns at different paces, but if I could generalize just for a second, if someone had on again off again, (majority off then on) with .Net for only a little bit over 1 year, do you think they would be able to be classified as Senior at it?

The primary thing (to me) that a senior developer will bring is design experience. So if the developer had 1+ solid year of .Net, and then 5+ years of other language development work, and mentions of design work, then I would consider them for the position.

-Rick

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[chiph]

There are a few core concepts to .net development (garbage collection, delegates, etc) that you need to make sure they know, but other than that, the syntax is something that a senior level person can be expected to pick up on very quickly, as they'll have been exposed to other similar languages in the past.

The other think I check on is whether they know how to use the msdn help collection (plus google, etc). If someone is pestering me (or worse, just writing some bad code) because they didn't know how to find functionality that's already in the framework, then they're not going to work out. I want them to be able to find their own answers whenever possible.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[ThatRickGuy]

Oh, and toss in a question about their familiarity with the MS Application blocks. I only recently found out about them, and they could have saved me hours of coding, and days of design meetings.

-Rick

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[chiph]

I would probably just like to know if the candidate knows they exist. I personally haven't found a use for them yet.

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[ThatRickGuy]

The encryption block can be adapted to be a great little tool, and SQL Helper, while in itself is only an 'ehhh' tool, it can be integrated into a custom data layer. I haven't had a lot of time to play with the other blocks, but I've been meaning to check out their auto updater code.

-Rick

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[chrissie1]

And ask them if they know this site and me. If both positive then hire them on the spot.

But I think it all depends on the job descreption he is going to get.

Will he need to be a team leader?
Will he work on his own?
Will he work with clients?
What project/projects will he be working on?
What can you pay him?

BTW most interviews are over after 5 seconds .

Christiaan Baes
Belgium

I just like this --> [Wiggle] [Wiggle]

 

[ThatRickGuy]

BTW most interviews are over after 5 seconds.

I'd say that matters on the interviewer. I had one interview that went on for 2+ hours. By the end of it I had a pretty good idea on the personalities behind the project, why it was failing/doomed, and a basic understanding of their entire business structure. The IT Manager talked the vast majority of the time, she came off more as trying to sell herself and the solution to me (the would be hireie) then trying to find out if I would be a good member for the team. Probrably the 2nd worst interviewer I ever had to deal with.

-Rick

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I believe in killer coding ninja monkeys.

 

[chrissie1]

Probrably the 2nd worst interviewer I ever had to deal with.

The first one hired you. ;-)

Christiaan Baes
Belgium

I just like this --> [Wiggle] [Wiggle]

 

[ThatRickGuy]

Nope, that one actually did hire me. She got canned a while later, and I bailed out as the project was crumbling.

The worst one was a consulting company, I can't remember which one anymore, but it was a nation wide company. Anyways, this account rep calls me up, claims to have a job lead that I might fit as a consultant. So I head in, just expecting a non-technical interview with an account rep. She catches me off guard with some really out there technical questions, I stumbled a bit, but I knew the subject matter, so I got back on track. While I was talking she was taking notes, a pretty normal thing, but I noticed she had just written "Can't Lie" on the side of my resume. I was shocked just to see her write it, let alone that she would claim that I was lieing about something when she did not seem to have the technical knowledge to refute me. The interview pretty much ended then.

Now, I'm a pretty easy going guy, but I enjoy rocking the boat, and when someone calls me a liar, I tend to rock it something fierce. So after the interview I talked to her manager, then the regional manager, then I got an appology and a job offer.

-Rick

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