Category: Recruiting

Pitfall: Using the wrong developers »

[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)]
Categories: managerial
Various industry studies cite the productivity gap between the best and the worst developers. While there is some controversy over the ranges often cited (such as the famous 26:1 figure), anyone who has managed a diverse group of developers won’t argue [...]

Pitfall: Confusing training with skill »

[From Pitfalls of Modern Software Engineering by Bruce F. Webster (forthcoming)]
CATEGORIES: conceptual
Training is the acquisition of information and practices geared toward a certain end. For example, send a group of engineers to a conference with seminars on object technology, hold a class on C++ programming, or give them a set of books and other materials [...]

Truth in advertising »

I don’t know how long this want ad for a “Manager of Technical Engineering” will remain (unaltered) on the net, but the following excerpt is amusingly honest (emphasis added):
Must be able to support all needs of the VP of Customer Support. This includes collaborative thinking in such areas as resource allocation, personnel actions, departmental events, [...]