Interview questions

grizzly

I've been asked to help my boss interview for a web designer. I have some basic knowledge (CSS & Flash), but we're looking for someone who would have this plus the ability to solve more complex problems – write forms, merge online store – off-the-shelf-software with existing sites, browser compatibility issues. Are there many people who have good design and competent coding abilities? What questions would you recommend to find someone who is flexible in these different areas?

Thanks

Liam Byrne

grizzly wrote: »

I've been asked to help my boss interview for a web designer. I have some basic knowledge (CSS & Flash), but we're looking for someone who would have this plus the ability to solve more complex problems – write forms, merge online store – off-the-shelf-software with existing sites, browser compatibility issues. Are there many people who have good design and competent coding abilities? What questions would you recommend to find someone who is flexible in these different areas?

Thanks

The general view is that a web designer and a web developer are two different disciplines.

I have to say that I've survived for years based on having both.

A good knowledge of coding (JavaScript, PHP), database design (MySQL) and website security/permissions (depending on the application or backend required) would be a good start.

Also, if it's a public site, a good grounding in the basics of SEO would be important.

cormee

grizzly wrote: »

I've been asked to help my boss interview for a web designer. I have some basic knowledge (CSS & Flash), but we're looking for someone who would have this plus the ability to solve more complex problems – write forms, merge online store – off-the-shelf-software with existing sites, browser compatibility issues. Are there many people who have good design and competent coding abilities? What questions would you recommend to find someone who is flexible in these different areas?

Thanks

As Liam Byrne already mentioned you seem confused over roles.

The job description you've given is more web developer. You should clear up this ambiguity before you interview and you'll probably end up hiring a more suitable candidate.

grizzly

Cheers for the reply. I know that developer/designer are very different skill sets, but due to falling staff numbers they're trying to get 2-for-1!

grizzly

cormee wrote: »

As Liam Byrne already mentioned you seem confused over roles.

The job description you've given is more web developer. You should clear up this ambiguity before you interview and you'll probably end up hiring a more suitable candidate.

Yeah, I'm thinking the role would be 70% designer / 30% coding. Are people with these skills not increasing? For heavy coding we would contract out the work.

lil_lisa

You should bear in mind though, that you're probably not just interviewing him/her for their knowledge or experience. I have been on several interviews over the last year (two of which were 3 hours long) and within the interview there was a lot of talk about me and the kind of person I am. A question that was asked a lot was "Where do you get your work ethic from?". They want to know that I have the experience they're looking for but also that I have the get go to do the work for them.

So, compare their education and experience to what you're looking for (maybe even a short test, two or three simple questions to get an idea of what way they think) and find out what kind of person they are and if you would want them being part of your team!

hobbit stomper

I was in charge of hiring a team of 4 people in my company. 3 developers and 1 designer.

We only hired people who can show their work on websites they worked on, or can provide the source code of their web applications.

The one big thing we found very strange was that most 20-26 year old guys who were college drop outs had by far more experience and are way more skilled than 26-32 year old, who spent their whole life studying to get a master degree in design and multimedia, but have zero practical experience.

At the end it came all down to their skill, so guess who we hired

It's hard to find someone who is really good in both. Most designers know html and css, because they need to be able to slice their designs into static html sites. And of course they should be fluent in Photoshop.

Most developers know PHP, JavaScript and MySQL, as well as HTML and CSS. But have very little experience in Photoshop.

The one thing Devs and Designers have in common, is HTML and CSS, so no worries there.

Ask them for proof of work. Ask them how long they would have for certain projects. Ask them if they have worked in a team before. How long they have been doing it.
I personally always prefer to hire someone who is really enthusiastic about their work. So if the guy says, yeah he works on open source projects and is active in online forums in his spare time, then that's a BIG plus!
I wouldn't hire someone who simply says that it's just a job for him and in his spare time he doesn't even turn on his computer.
So if their work is also their hobby, BIG plus

Ask the coders about the projects they worked on. What website it was, how big the project is, how many people worked on it. If they ever had problems.

Make sure the Developers is up to date with PHP (5.3) knows OOP (object oriented programming), knows about security and permissions of scripts. Knows about MySQL Databases etc.

It's always hard to hire someone for a position where your don't know too much about the material they have to deal with.

Cypher.

hobbit stomper wrote: »

I personally always prefer to hire someone who is really enthusiastic about their work. So if the guy says, yeah he works on open source projects and is active in online forums in his spare time, then that's a BIG plus!
I wouldn't hire someone who simply says that it's just a job for him and in his spare time he doesn't even turn on his computer.
So if their work is also their hobby, BIG plus

And this simply is why i dislike being a developer. Its this expectation that we love our job so much we want to be doing it all the time. So get home from work, whip out the laptop, try out some new technology and then of course blog about it.

A new technology comes out, heres a 1000 page book, read that sure you love it.

Most other jobs, something new comes along your trained in it. But not in IT, its here a book read in your own time and become an expert on it. Then in 2 years it will be out of date technology so you can look forward to another book. yay!!

I fail to think of other jobs where people are expected to do their jobs as hobbies. Chefs coming home to start cooking up some trial dishes. Accountants speeding home in the excitement of hitting up the ledgers in the evening.

My job is job, i enjoy it some days, other days i don't.

lil_lisa

Cypher. wrote: »

Its this expectation that we love our job so much we want to be doing it all the time. So get home from work, whip out the laptop, try out some new technology and then of course blog about it.

In fairness though, that's what we do!

Liam Byrne

I know I mentioned the expectation that people can't do both, but I have to say that I love doing both; maybe with a graphic designer's input in terms of improving the look of a workable design, but I despise the assumption that someone can't do both.

I've done web, graphic and interface design for the last 20 years, and I love it (assuming someone has the input, interest, time and budget to discuss their requirements and expectations properly).