Comments on: Hiring for startups http://blog.siliconverse.com/2008/04/28/hiring-for-startups/ Technology, Business & Life in Digital Village Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:54:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: purpleblade http://blog.siliconverse.com/2008/04/28/hiring-for-startups/comment-page-1/#comment-783 purpleblade Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:09:04 +0000 http://blog.siliconverse.com/?p=285#comment-783 I think the way of the new world lies in the ability to being “flexible” without losing your “form”. By “flexible” I mean always looking for different (better) ways to handle situations and not being fixated on a particular process just because it is a process. By “form” I mean, the core principles that one believes in. Those values and conducts that makes you who you are. I have interviewed many people at various levels during my career and I have always looked for “flexibility” and “form”. These do not directly apply to all cases but one can draw analogies. For a programmer “Form” might mean his/her strong understanding of data structures, algorithms and logic and even things like commenting code and “flexibility” might mean not writing the same sorting code for all possible scenarios. For an artist “Form” might mean his/her strong ability to understand color theory and “flexibility” might mean his/her willingness to learn a new tool to get desired results. For a manager “Form” might mean questioning assumptions, being transparent, being brutally honest, having multiple plans etc. and “flexibility” might mean ability to move from one software life cycle process to another based on current needs. That said, the fact is In general “form” comes at the cost of “flexibility” - Experience gives you form and take away your flexibility. Whereas a fresher might have all the flexibility but no form I wish I could have come to a magic formula which calculates this form and flexibility, but I know it does not exist as the formula itself is flexible :) I think the way of the new world lies in the ability to being “flexible”
without losing your “form”. By “flexible” I mean always looking for
different (better) ways to handle situations and not being fixated on a particular process just because it is a process.

By “form” I mean, the core principles that one believes in. Those values and conducts that makes you who you are.

I have interviewed many people at various levels during my career and I have always looked for “flexibility” and “form”. These do not directly apply to all cases but one can draw analogies.

For a programmer

“Form” might mean his/her strong understanding of data structures, algorithms and logic and even things like commenting code and “flexibility” might mean not writing the same sorting code for all possible scenarios.

For an artist
“Form” might mean his/her strong ability to understand color theory
and “flexibility” might mean his/her willingness to learn a new tool to
get desired results.

For a manager
“Form” might mean questioning assumptions, being transparent, being brutally honest, having multiple plans etc. and “flexibility” might mean ability to move from one software life cycle process to another based on current needs.

That said, the fact is

In general “form” comes at the cost of “flexibility” – Experience gives you form and take away your flexibility. Whereas a fresher might have all the flexibility but no form

I wish I could have come to a magic formula which calculates this form and flexibility, but I know it does not exist as the formula itself is flexible :)

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