Should you chase after developers with many years of experience? It’s a tough question, actually. Of course you don’t want a complete rookie. You want someone who knows about caching and linked lists and database optimization.
But is there such a thing as too veteran? There is. A client company of mine recently turned down an applicant who had been in the business since the 80’s. During the interview he reminisced about dialup and playing games on green-on-black monitors. He did not get the job.
A friend recently asked why in the world anyone uses ColdFusion or classical ASP anymore. My theory is this: some old guy learned it many moons ago. Because said old guy has 8576954 years of experience, he was hired for a project. Because old guy is lazy, he doesn’t want to learn Ruby on Rails or JavaServer Faces or .NET. So when the non-tech-savvy execs who hired him ask what he recommends for a project, he pitches the old-fashioned technology as the best solution. Of course, everyone is lazy, not just veteran developers. However, junior developers have no choice but to learn the newest technologies available, since they have to code in something.
4 Comments
Oh, shit. I’m screwed.
Haha… come on, you know Ruby on Rails and recommend that for new projects.
anyone over 21 years old should be rounded up and shot. damn bastards.
Yes, I did. Recommending Ruby on Rails *is* lazy because it’s easier to develop with.