Exactly Bangalore and Madras

Post #148,906 by gdaustin 3/26/04 11:06:17 PM Reply	Exactly Bangalore and Madras The company I work for has decided to move the jobs from San Francisco to Dallas/Ft. Worth, for now. The threat was that if we can't find "talent" "cheap enough" here, then they will try Bangalore and Madras. Yet, when we go to look for talent, only about 4 out of the 20 resumes we have received for a Java/Unix/WebLogic contractor position have been "American sounding" names. The other 16 have been names like Nilesh, Rajikrishna, etc. We have to interview about 10 candidates. We have had 4 interviews. None of them have been even close to what we were looking for, in terms of Unix experience. Most can't even tell me which shell script runs first when a ksh process is started. Most can't tell me how to check the available disk space on a Unix system. None of them have been able to tell me how to keep a background process running after a user logs off. One was, on his resume, a 4.0 Master's Degree Computer Science graduate from Purdue. Honors graduate from IIT (one of the premier Indian Universities, supposed to be like MIT here). But he missed 7 out of 8 of our Unix screening questions. He missed key questions about WebLogic and couldn't answer our JMS coding question. We are specifically looking for this person to interface two different Java App Servers together. If these 4 Indian candidates we interviewed yesterday and today are indicative of the lot, then a lot of companies are going to waste a lot of money training Indians and getting nothing done. And these are supposed to be the "good" ones, coming to America under H1B Visa privileges, because they are the "experts" in OUR field! And they earn a large premium here over what they would make at home. I guess I'm getting cynical after 4 interviews, but I'm very unimpressed with what we've seen so far. It feels like we'll interview 50 people or more, before we find a competent candidate in Unix, Java J2EE, and WebLogic. I'm trying to come up with some ideas here, like maybe making these guys pass a BrainBench assessment at the contracting outfit, before they come and talk with us. Maybe then, we start with just a little bit better candidate. Glen Austin
Post #148,909 by boxley 3/26/04 11:26:45 PM Reply	wasnt impressed with brainbench maybe there is money to be made pre-screening techies? Charge $X per candidate to offer a written test and a technical interview as a prescreen. This could be done here. We have a lot of different diciplines. It a thought. Is it the contract house that is falling down offering folks by volume as opposed to quality? Try Sapphire Technologies, they get good folks around here and in NC where I was before. thanx, bill In Bush\ufffds America, fighting terrorism abroad is used as a pretext for vanquishing civil liberties at home. David Podvin questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]
Post #148,912 by gdaustin 3/26/04 11:58:55 PM Reply	An idea I had in 1992 Before the Internet. Was to make a C/C++ test as software program to companies wanting to screen C and C++ candidates. Then, I have the companies send the completed tests to me to score and evaluate their candidate. I would provide a phone-screen as second service. And that was before the Internet even hit the scene. I agree that there is still a place for a "tougher" test than what Brainbench provides. Brainbench is actually branching out into other fields, like healthcare, and finance, so their value as a technical resource is probably limited. It's about the money now, making the owners filthy rich, instead of providing a high value tech assessment. Brainbench assessment: $29.95 Asking the questions in person and watching them fidget nervously: Priceless
Post #148,913 by boxley 3/27/04 12:06:12 AM Reply	well if you had 50 candidates X $50 that you really dont have time to deal with, all resumes to me, I fly and interview all hours over a long weekend and still make money, you will be satisfied with the 5 best or will resubmit better worded req for a very nominal fee(post it in the jobs column) and you will get quality that can do the job as opposed to someone whose resume can fit the bill. thanx, bill In Bush\ufffds America, fighting terrorism abroad is used as a pretext for vanquishing civil liberties at home. David Podvin questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]
Post #148,970 by gdaustin 3/27/04 5:35:07 PM Reply	No budget.. The problem is that I don't control the budget. If I did, I'd be using recruiting firms that actully screen their candidates. I think I may propose some things on Monday to change the situation. That's about all I can do. Suggest things. Glen Austin
Post #148,973 by gdaustin 3/27/04 5:46:27 PM Reply	I'm going to tighten up the language on the req.... We're going to resubmit the requirement with higher standards. I'm hoping the firms will take heed and send better candidates. I've only been able to talk with one of the firms, and I'll probably tell her to give me better candidates. (I'm not sure if I was supposed to do that, but they did contact me first.) Glen Austin
Post #149,003 by boxley 3/27/04 7:47:12 PM Reply	You are the buyer of their service. Call them and tell them that you are not satisfied with the folks they send over. Tell the exactly what you need and they will try their best. Of course recruiters are not techies. thanx, bill In Bush\ufffds America, fighting terrorism abroad is used as a pretext for vanquishing civil liberties at home. David Podvin questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org]

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