Re: Bootstrapping Techies (or how to hire without technical knowledge)

[strat]

When I try to get a new project, the problem always seems to be that I have to convince people that don't know very much what they want from me. They often come with a list of knowledge and ask questions like:

• Do you know Solaris?
• Do you know Ms SQL-Server?
• Do you know LDAP
• ...

And when I try to find out what they need, they very often can't answer my questions. So I try to be as honest as possible and tell them: well, with MsSql-Server, I'm able to push in and out data, I know SQL, even basic setup and administration. But I'm not so good at administrating MsSql-Server because I don't have much experiance with it. And with such "interviewers" it often is difficult to find out what they want me to do.

Other talks happened about the following way: they told me about the problems they have got and what they did to solve them or what they are planning to do, and discussed the single possibilities with me. These talks often need more time, but I prefer them because at first I can talk with the people who know at least what they want to get, and get a view on what they want me to do.

I don't know if my stories are interesting, but they maybe enlighten a bit the other side. And if you know an opponent, you can easiest turn him into a friend :-)

Best regards,
perl -e "s>>*F>e=>y)\*martinF)stronat)=>print,print v8.8.8.32.11.32"