StackOverflow Data Illustrates Why I Prefer Hiring Experienced Developers

http://www.scottporad.com/2011/06/14/stackoverflow-data-illustrates-why-i-prefer-hiring-experienced-developers/

by scottporad • 15 years ago

12 10 15 years ago

scottporad.com

danking00• 15 years ago

Does one ask more questions if and only if they know less than those who ask more questions?

Maybe young folks are more inquisitive individuals.

troels• 15 years ago

Very important point. Knowing to ask is a valuable skill.

adamdecaf• 15 years ago

Also, I think it's unfair to generalize that young developers ask more questions. Perhaps the young developers have worked on something else for five years, thus they may be "old" in that domain, but new elsewhere. If you bring in someone who has coded for thirty years into a new domain they will ask questions, period.

borism• 15 years ago

wow, what an arrogant post! I hope young and old devels alike will think twice before going to work for a manager who treats skilled labor as a sweatshop commodity and totally ignores basic economics (yes, experienced devs might provide more value, but they also cost more - you have to treat everyone on an individual basis - it's risk/reward what matters, not just reward!).

P.S. also, I don't think you'll be hiring your devs to answer questions all day long on an internet message board? So Stackoverflow statistics are useless.

webwright• 15 years ago

Interesting conclusion.

I think there's a balance. Young hackers have amazing energy and still-empty lives (no mortgage, kids, etc). They truly enjoy coding for long stretches, reading about coding in their off time, etc. They also tend to be fearless learners. When was the last time you saw a 45 year old pick up a new instrument? Younger folks are more willing to jump on new technologies. That's powerful.

As you say, older folks are more efficient. But perhaps the wisdom they've gained makes them more powerful in lead dev/management roles where they can apply that wisdom to a larger group of younger rockstars.

regomodo• 15 years ago

Maybe older developers have more time to go on SO?

JamieEi• 15 years ago

Better workplace alt-tab skills. They take years to develop grasshopper. :)

beaumartinez• 15 years ago

I think you should take the statistics with a good pinch of salt―and not only because of the issues brought up in the debate on the article about the Stack Overflow data[1].

> The junior developers ask more questions. This means they know less (which is why they ask).

I dare say they "know less", but this doesn't necessarily mean they are less expert. Junior developers might be more experimental, more curious, and more willing to actually ask questions―and these are all very desirable traits in a developer.

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

[1] http://coding-and-more.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-official-dev...

angdis• 15 years ago

Whatever happened to the idea of having wide range of skills and experiences in the workforce. The best way to actually get competent workers is to CULTIVATE them, not simply scrounge around endlessly trying to grab all the elites in an area.

Masters teach journeymen, journeymen become masters.

sokolski• 15 years ago

tl;dr developers with more experience are more experienced

StackOverflow Data Illustrates Why I Prefer Hiring Experienced Developers

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