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John Cox
Blogs · @wyome
Tagged hiring · everything
How I Hire Programmers (Aaron Swartz's Raw Thought)
The author proposes an alternative hiring process for programmers that replaces traditional interviews with three main steps: evaluating past work through code samples and demos, assessing intelligence through casual conversation (not formal interviews), and checking compatibility through informal team activities, followed by a final sanity check of assigning a small project. He argues this approach reveals whether candidates are genuinely smart, can execute, and work well with others better than standard interview questions do, though he acknowledges it requires a small sanity-check project to verify candidates haven't misrepresented themselves.
taoyue.com: Why I Never Hire Brilliant Men
The author argues that he avoids hiring purportedly "brilliant" men because they are typically fast-talking con artists who start projects enthusiastically but lack the discipline to finish them—the real problem being not intelligence itself but the combination of overconfidence and inability to handle repetitive work. Drawing on personal experience with charismatic failures like his former partner Carroll, he illustrates how such men generate excitement around grand schemes, then lose interest when faced with practical details and modest execution. Instead, he advocates for hiring ordinary, steady workers who possess five simple qualities: good health, thriftiness, clear communication, attention to detail, and courage—arguing that business success comes from extracting consistent effort from reliable people rather than depending on the erratic brilliance of talented misfits.
oDesk :.: The On Demand Global Workforce
oDesk (now Upwork) is a freelance marketplace platform that enables companies to find and hire remote workers for specialized projects and ongoing work, with testimonials from major clients highlighting its value for accessing talent quickly, reducing costs, and managing distributed teams efficiently.
Bona tempora volvant--by Guy Kawasaki: How to Prevent a Bozo Explosion
Guy Kawasaki identifies fourteen specific warning signs that a successful company is experiencing a "bozo explosion"—the decline into mediocrity that often follows rapid growth and IPO success—including overuse of buzzwords like "partner" and "strategic," excessive perks, hiring based on credentials rather than merit, and management arrogance. He then prescribes seven remedies: hire people better than yourself, eliminate arrogance, deliberately understaff and undergrow rather than chase growth at all costs, look beyond résumés when hiring, diversify your workforce, and promptly remove underperformers rather than hoping they'll improve.