RECRUITING SOFTWARE TESTERS
Cem Kaner · 1999
This paper is a work in progress. Eventually, it will become a chapter in the 3rd Edition of Testing Computer Software (under development by Cem Kaner, Bob Johnson, Brian Lawrence, Jack Falk, & Hung Quoc Nguyen. This is a multi-year project. Please don't ask me when it will be done. It certainly won't be done in 1999.) I'd appreciate comments and suggestions. (Send them to [email protected].) I don't claim to be an expert on recruiting, but I have been reasonably successful at recruiting testers (and other software workers) over the last 15 years, have made a lot of mistakes, and learned a few lessons. This paper collects some of those lessons. Managers get work done through other people. The people that a manager chooses are the people who will achieve, or fail to achieve, the mission of the group and the tasks assigned by the manager. Recruiting staff is one of the hardest jobs for any manager. Hiring the wrong staff is, I believe, the worst mistake that a manager can make. A good treatment of recruiting would consider the following issues: # A behavioral approach to gathering information # Legal issues Consensus-driven hiring # A strategy for gathering information # Characteristics of the person you're seeking # Defining the position and characteristics needed for it # Who approves the hiring How to find candidates Sifting through resumes # Evaluating the candidate's public materials The phone screen The application form # Preparing for the interview Asking questions during the interview # Reviewing work samples # Reviewing sample test documentation (of yours) Writing bug reports # Using tests and puzzles # Debates and controversial questions # The problem of free consulting The post-interview meeting # Checking references Investigation (...