Every entrepreneur will tell you that recruiting the right candidate is important. While startups are constantly trying to find programmers that mesh well with their culture, team and work-style, one article suggests that companies still struggle finding candidates that know how to program at all. Jeff Atwood published a post this morning entitled, The Non-Programming Programmer with a stunning look at how many interviewees misrepresent their abilities.

Says Atwood, "I am stunned, but not entirely surprised, to hear that 'the vast majority' of so-called programmers who apply for a programming job interview are unable to write the smallest of programs... It's the equivalent of attempting to hire a truck driver and finding out that 90 percent of the job applicants can't find the gas pedal or the gear shift."

Atwood suggests putting candidates through a quick programming test before screening for culture-fit and personality. In a past post he presented us with some phone screening questions and something he calls the FizzBuzz test.

Today he points to Mike Lin's See[Mike]Code as an excellent screening resource. Lin's site allows you to watch candidates program in real-time. Those that complete the 10 line programming test are then considered for an in-person interview. These tests can potentially save a company alot of money as many in-person meetings require springing for airfare and a hotel room. Other good screening resources might be found in a candidate's GitHub profile or in links to their contributions to open source projects.

Photo Credit: turtlemom4bacon under the CC Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License