Any good headhunter recommendations.
Rick DeNatale
I'm not that good at marketing myself, so I've been thinking of working with a headhunter.
I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on someone who would be good to work with.
--
Rick DeNatale
Blog: http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RickDeNatale
Robert Bazinet
Rob Bazinet
http://stillriversoftware.com
http://accidentaltechnologist.com
InfoQ Ruby Community Editor - http://www.infoq.com
tmor...@gmail.com
I'll forward your email on to our sales team. The #1 question they get
is
"Do you know of any available Rails developers?"
--
-- Tom Mornini
-- Founder and CTO
-- Engine Yard, Inc.
John Moody
- John
----
John Moody
MentalVelocity Inc.
jo...@mentalvelocity.com
Twitter: @mentalVelocity
http://mentalvelocity.com
blog: http://lifeasacoder.com
Philip Hallstrom
your sales team Tom :)
+1 for mirrorplacement. Never gotten work out of them (not their
fault, we didn't really pursue it), but they seem like real normal
people as opposed to some other folks I've had look me up.
Outside of head hunters....
- start working on open source stuff immediately. Finish that plugin
you've got lying around or turn some of that code into a plugin. Get
stuff up on github so when the time comes and someone asks you for
code samples you've got them.
- look around for the rails development shops that interest you as
well as shops local to you that maybe only do design, but want to
branch out and offer your services.
good luck!
-philip
Obie Fernandez
Obie Fernandez
CEO & Founder | Hashrocket
904.435.1671 office
404.934.9201 mobile
Hashrocket, Inc.
320 N 1st Street
Suite 712
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
http://hashrocket.com
http://obiefernandez.com
Colin Bartlett
> I've been trying to find either a full time or series of part time
> gigs, preferably doing ruby with or without rails.
Hard to imagine any Rails developers needing work. We're always
looking for contractors with the right skill set for the right price.
Seems like there is *way* more demand for Rails work than there is
supply.
Or maybe my experience is not that of the rest of the world?
Colin
Colin A. Bartlett
Kinetic Web Solutions
http://blog.kineticweb.com
Courtenay
>
> In fact, just take every subscriber on this list and forward it to
> your sales team Tom :)
>
> +1 for mirrorplacement. Never gotten work out of them (not their
> fault, we didn't really pursue it), but they seem like real normal
> people as opposed to some other folks I've had look me up.
>
> Outside of head hunters....
>
> - start working on open source stuff immediately. Finish that plugin
> you've got lying around or turn some of that code into a plugin. Get
> stuff up on github so when the time comes and someone asks you for
> code samples you've got them.
We've been vetting lots of applicants from headhunters in NYC and SF
in the past few months for some of our clients who are transitioning
to their own fulltime team.
Here are some useful hints after looking at tens of applicants. If
you want to work at the top tier, you need to fulfil most of these, or
have a pretty damn good answer as to why you don't. I've included
approximately how many people actually do this.
1. Link to your github profile. Don't have one? Make one, fork some
OSS projects, do some work on them. Write a plugin. Etc. (5% of
people do this)
2. Include a brief cover letter where you talk about your experience. (80%)
3. Include a full rails app that runs out of the box which shows your
level of proficiency in rails. If you have some crazy polymorphic
joins or advanced features, be prepared to explain why you did it that
way. (10%)
4. Include some non-rails ruby code. (10%)
5. Include a single test for your ruby code (2%)
6. Include a full test suite for your ruby or rails code (1%)
That's right, about one out of all the applicants actually included a
full test suite.
7. Talk about your testing philosophy and how you apply it to your
development workflow (1%)
So as you can see, the bar is pretty low, if you're a solid developer
who has written a few plugins or released/patched some open source
projects, who writes tests and can talk about a best practice
development process. If you don't do all of these things, we
definitely wouldn't hire you or recommend you to our clients.
If you write unit, integration, acceptance, ui tests, have released
your own frameworks, test harnesses, or other interesting ruby code,
then you're at the top of the heap.
Unfortunately, there are a LOT of developers out there who don't meet
these criteria, so if you're looking for work, start there.
Courtenay
Wes Gamble
> On Feb 12, 2009, at 2:10 PM, Rick DeNatale wrote:
>
>
>> I've been trying to find either a full time or series of part time
>> gigs, preferably doing ruby with or without rails.
>>
>
> Hard to imagine any Rails developers needing work. We're always
> looking for contractors with the right skill set for the right price.
> Seems like there is *way* more demand for Rails work than there is
> supply.
>
looking.
To be fair, I haven't shaken all the trees in my forest yet, so....
Wes Gamble
Courtenay
If you're in NYC, we have a client looking for developers. They're
working on some cool stuff, changing the world for the better.
Contact me :)
Courtenay
TJ Stankus
> these criteria, so if you're looking for work, start there.
Wow, I'm surprised to hear how low the bar is. I thought just about
all Rails developers had Github accounts, open source contributions,
well-tested code, etc.
-TJ
Courtenay
Oh god, it's a wasteland out there beyond the city walls. Zombies and
cargo cults.
Christopher Redinger
I'm with TJ. I know we tend to surround ourselves with people probably
ahead of the game (you know, people who attend user groups, have a
desire to improve themselves, share similar values), but those
percentages from Court3nay are astonishing.
+1 for Tom sending everyone on this list to the sales team. I'm in the
market for more freelance gigs as well, and figure if Rick can't get
more work in the same market I'm in...
--
Christopher Redinger
http://www.agiledisciple.com
Philip Hallstrom
>>> meet
>>> these criteria, so if you're looking for work, start there.
>>
>> Wow, I'm surprised to hear how low the bar is. I thought just about
>> all Rails developers had Github accounts, open source contributions,
>> well-tested code, etc.
>
> I'm with TJ. I know we tend to surround ourselves with people probably
> ahead of the game (you know, people who attend user groups, have a
> desire to improve themselves, share similar values), but those
> percentages from Court3nay are astonishing.
That's exactly what it is. I've always felt that I wasn't really an
expert in anything (rails, php, sysadmin, etc.). Part of that was
working with the same group of folks for about 8 years, we all just
did our thing and all was well. When we finally split up there were
jobs I wouldn't apply for because they wanted "linux" and I knew
"freebsd". My wife sat me down and told me to stop being silly! She
said the reason I felt like that was because the people "i knew" and
"looked to" where the people who *wrote* the software in the first
place -- not the entire pool of developers. She's right of course
(and as usual :) but it took me awhile to adjust to that.
> +1 for Tom sending everyone on this list to the sales team. I'm in the
> market for more freelance gigs as well, and figure if Rick can't get
> more work in the same market I'm in...
Just had a new business idea! http://rails-cage-fights.com. First
bout... Rick vs Christopher! It would be like Mad Max, but more
geeky... ha ha. Cha-ching! :-)
TJ Stankus
> bout... Rick vs Christopher! It would be like Mad Max, but more
> geeky... ha ha. Cha-ching! :-)
Oh man, you'd need some seeding (and not the funding kind). Chris and
Rick are both high seeds. You can't match them up early on!. :)
BTW, I know both Chris and Rick and recommend each highly, FWIW.
-TJ
Rick DeNatale
RIght, for me
My github profile http://github.com/rubyredrick
my linkedin profile http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale
lots of recommendations, I'm particularly proud of having folks like Kent Beck
my working-with-rails profile http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale
I'm a rails contributor and a past Rails hackfest winner.
Besides Rails, I've contributed to Radiant, and RSpec, probably other minor contributions I've forgotten about.
I've spoken at:
RubyHoedown, AgileRTP, Raleigh RubyCamp, RubyConf, XP West Michigan as an invited speaker, and will speak at RubyRX next weekend.
And I blog about Ruby see below my signature.
Will Sargent
> your sales team Tom :)
>
> +1 for mirrorplacement. Never gotten work out of them (not their
> fault, we didn't really pursue it), but they seem like real normal
> people as opposed to some other folks I've had look me up.
+1 mirrorplacement as well. Brian's clearly head and shoulders above
other recruiters.
Gravity People is also extremely good.
Will.
johan pretorius
> I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on someone who would be
> good to work with.
You may consider joining the Ruby on Rails group at LinkedIn, if you
haven't done so already. The group has just under 3,000 members at
the moment, including a number of head hunters. I cannot vouch for the
quality of the head hunters, though.
Find it here - http://tinyurl.com/ror-linkedin
Then start a new discussion to market yourself. If that is written
well, with a good subject, you may some good responses.
Good luck!
--
rgrds,
Johan
Chris Parsons
> Wow, I'm surprised to hear how low the bar is. I thought just about
> all Rails developers had Github accounts, open source contributions,
> well-tested code, etc.
developers spouting every keyword, language and certification[1] in
the book. There a few very good ones if you can find them. We tend to
take decent non-Rails programmers, and teach decent practice - I've
found that easier.
One other thing we've found is that there are a lot of decent Rails
contractors out there, but few decent people actively looking for a
permanent role. So if there's anyone listening who'd pass Courteney's
tests looking for a permanent role in the south east of the UK
(outside London), give me a shout.
Thanks
Chris
[1] Perhaps that topic is best left to another thread :)
--
Chris Parsons
Managing Director
Eden Development (UK) Ltd
www.edendevelopment.co.uk
John Moody
1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit, rspec, shoulda, etc.)
2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
Thanks!
-John
Colin Bartlett
> rspec, shoulda, etc.)
rspec exclusively
> 2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to
> have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
rspec, but any testing experience is a plus!
nicolas alpi
I've tried Rspec, but's really to much verbose for me.
I think shoulda is an easy way to implement BDD without Rspec.
But I'm really curious on the % of Rspec user.
Nic
Nicolas Alpi
Ruby on rails serial developer
B : http://blog.serialcooking.com || http://www.notgeeklycorrect.com
T : http://www.twitter.com/spyou || http://www.twitter.com/serialcooking
M : 0782-640-3019
Chris Parsons
On Feb 18, 12:57 am, John Moody <j...@mentalvelocity.com> wrote:
> Let me preface this by saying that I've no intention to start a framework war here (Obie's already taken the "controversial post" award for this month!), but I'm curious for my own reasons. For those of you who are looking for employees/freelancers, could you weigh in on these two questions:
>
> 1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit, rspec, shoulda, etc.)
> 2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
a candidates ability to write decent tests (which as we know is much
harder than it first appears).
Christopher Bailey
Let me preface this by saying that I've no intention to start a framework war here (Obie's already taken the "controversial post" award for this month!), but I'm curious for my own reasons. For those of you who are looking for employees/freelancers, could you weigh in on these two questions:
1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit, rspec, shoulda, etc.)
2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
Thanks!
-John
--
Christopher Bailey
Cobalt Edge LLC
http://cobaltedge.com
Phlip
> Let me preface this by saying that I've no intention to start a framework war here (Obie's already taken the "controversial post" award for this month!), but I'm curious for my own reasons. For those of you who are looking for employees/freelancers, could you weigh in on these two questions:
>
> 1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit, rspec, shoulda, etc.)
assert{ 2.0 }
via Test::Unit (and a little test-spec) at work.
RSpec when I'm researching Merb, but that's just because the framework (and
community) tends to bend you over and shove it where the sun don't shine...
> 2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
A candidate who tests?
BWA-HA-HA-HA-HAW that's a good one!!
--
Phlip
Matthew Ford
" but that's just because the framework (and community) tends to bend
it's a bad thing :-p
Dr Nic Williams
Dr Nic Williams
Mocra - Premier iPhone and Ruby on Rails Consultants
w - http://mocra.com
e - dr...@mocra.com
p - +61 412 002 126 or +61 7 3102 3237
skype - nicwilliams
Anthony Eden
>
> Let me preface this by saying that I've no intention to start a framework war here (Obie's already taken the "controversial post" award for this month!), but I'm curious for my own reasons. For those of you who are looking for employees/freelancers, could you weigh in on these two questions:
>
> 1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit, rspec, shoulda, etc.)
> 2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
> Thanks!
> -John
>
> >
>
--
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Robert Dempsey
1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit, rspec, shoulda, etc.)
Shoulda + factory_girl, though getting back into rspec thanks to cucumber.
2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
Either rspec or shoulda, as we've standardized, though both can be taught if they are already using Test::Unit
Sincerely,
Robert Dempsey, CEO
Atlantic Dominion Solutions
http://adsdevshop.com
http://twitter.com/rdempsey
Phone: 321-274-4684
Josh Susser
I use a mix of RSpec and Test::Unit. And any test experience is good,
as long as they understand the workflow of TDD. Test frameworks are
like languages, the syntax matters far less than the mindset of how
you address problems. If I were doing a regular kind of interview,
I'd ask them about mocking and fixtures more than what test framework
they used.
--
Josh Susser
http://blog.hasmanythrough.com
Golden Gate Ruby Conf :: April 17-18 :: http://gogaruco.com
Will Sargent
1) rspec + fixture_replacement + unit_record
2) Any
Will.
Raul Murciano
>> 1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit, rspec, shoulda, etc.)
shoulda/test::unit + mocha + machinist. I'm learning cucumber but
didn't add it to my day-to-day workflow yet.
>> 2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
Any.
--
Raul Murciano - Freelance Web Developer
http://raul.murciano.net
Amos King
wrapped with some ruby goodness to allow it to run as part of the test
suite and fail the build.
Amos King
http://dirtyInformation.com
http://github.com/Adkron
--
Looking for something to do? Visit http://ImThere.com
Chad Pytel
> rspec, shoulda, etc.)
Shoulda
> 2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to
> have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
Same as most of the others, it doesn't actually matter as long as they
have TDD experience.
-Chad
---
Chad Pytel, Founder and CEO
thoughtbot, inc.
organic brains. digital solutions.
-------------------------------------------
tel: 617.482.1300 x113
fax: 866.217.5992
http://www.thoughtbot.com
Joaquin Rivera Padron
Own projects: RSpec for models/lib + Cucumber + Celerity for JS + some data shop (machinist if Rails, sweatshop if Merb, but this does not matter much). I tend to give several frameworks a try.
At work: TestUnit + flexmock and that's already really hard to insert in the office workflow
2. any, like they said is the mind set what matters (of course there are projects where I "force" friends to test with what is set: say Cucumber + Celerity for all js and ajax)
cheers
joaquin
laurent laffont
Let me preface this by saying that I've no intention to start a framework war here (Obie's already taken the "controversial post" award for this month!), but I'm curious for my own reasons. For those of you who are looking for employees/freelancers, could you weigh in on these two questions:
1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit, rspec, shoulda, etc.)
Shoulda, Mocha, Watir
2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to you)?
Cucumber
Laurent Laffont
Mischa Fierer
| Total: 667 votes Haven't voted yet? Go here to vote! | |
|
| test/unit [ 22% (144 votes) ] |
| rspec [ 54% (359 votes) ] |
|
| shoulda [ 16% (104 votes) ] |
|
| context [ 2% (13 votes) ] |
|
| other [ 7% (47 votes) ] |
As for me, I use cucumber/machinist/rspec, with a focus on cucumber.
Carlisia Campos
Pat Nakajima
Eric Davis
> 1) Which testing framework(s) do you currently use? (test:unit,
> rspec, shoulda, etc.)
RSpec with cucumber for my stuff. Vanilla Test::Unit for legacy
projects (I'm not going to rewrite 900+ test cases).
> 2) Which testing framework(s) do you look for
> ideal candidates to have experience with (if it matters at all to
> you)?
*. I'm happy to see people just trying to test. I get enough patches
without tests and with glaring bugs already. Even a:
def test_if_password_is_secure
# TODO: not sure how to test this
end
would be great, then you know their at least thinking about testing
their code.
--
Eric Davis
Little Stream Software
http://www.LittleStreamSoftware.com