As developers progress in their careers, they will often become responsible for evaluating candidates for a new role. The first step in an evaluation is when the CV or resume arrives on your desk.
Read on for tips to evaluate these candidates.
Check their skills summary against the job requirements.
It seems obvious, but candidates will apply for jobs that they do not have the skills for - and it is a waste of both your and their time if that fact only comes out at interview.
Read carefully through their employment history, looking for "red flags".
What constitutes a red flag will differ depending on the role and the organization, but here are a few that frequently occur.
Periods with no employment history (gaps in their history).
Employed for less than three months in a position.
A claimed skill is not displayed in their employment history.
Job titles are not congruent with their experience level.
Changes of career or field of work.
Critical of previous (or current) employers.
If there are too many red flags, you might decide not to proceed to interview - but if they are invited to interview, you should always ask about each red flag.
Read between the lines.
This is a tricky skill to learn, since it is all about how they have phrased or described previous roles. Here are a few examples.
A job described as "lead developer", with no mention of team leadership or mentoring other developers usually means that they were the "sole developer" in that position and is much less impressive.
Frequent references to the achievements of a team without reference to their own individual contribution to that achievement draws into question how much involvement they had in that team.
Compare them with the competition
The job market is a changeable beast, so a comparison with other candidates can give you an idea of their relative skill level.
For non-technical managers
Evaluating technical candidates when you are not technical yourself can be a minefield, but there are no direct technical skills required to use the techniques I've described. If you have technical staff already, remove any sensitive information and ask their opinions.
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