Staffing Your IT Project (Part 1)

For the past 6 months I have spent an inordinate amount of my life hiring full-time and contract developers for a medium sized software development project. The highs and lows of this experience have caused me to evaluate the reasons why a person decides to take a job. In this multi-part post (I hate really long blog posts) I will explore and share with you what I have found during the past 6 months. I think much of what you hear will ring true with you, no mater if you are a job seeker, an employer or a bystander.

Types of Job Seekers
When hiring "Human Resources" (people) you will quickly find that most of your candidates fall into one of these categories:

• Looky-Lous - These people will do nothing but waste your time. This person has not made up his mind about leaving his current employer, so to help him make up his mind he will go on a few interviews to see what it is like somewhere else. This type of person is not just limited to full-time positions, you will see a few of these in the consulting group as well.
• The Clueless - These people are a total of waste of your time, too. However, sometimes it is fun to see just how bad things can get during the interview. Its like watching a train wreck, you can't avert your eyes. What is even worse in these cases is that often times the candidate has no idea how clueless he really is. Again, you find these people for full-time positions as well as contract.
• The Technology Cowboy - In IT we see these guys a lot. They are mainly motivated by the cool new technologies in the industry. They aren't satisfied unless they are constantly on the cutting edge. They are quite often solid candidates, however if left unchecked on a project they will often wonder losing track of what is important in the name of using a new technology and padding the resume for the "next" project. These guys are rampant in the consulting ranks.
• The Consummate Professional - You can't have enough of these guys (also known as "Type A"s). All these guys do is work. They know the technology, they know how to work well with teams and they are totally focused on making the project successful. Generally, your project is a short lay over for this person on their way to the top of the career ladder. Count yourself among the lucky if you get one. You find most of these people as full-time employees, however you will occasionally find them at the better consulting companies. Make no mistake they are few and far between.
• Mr. (or Mrs.) Average - This guy make up about 60% of the resumes you will see. There is nothing overly impressive about his resume or the interview. He has the majority of the skills that you need but probably has some gaps. Often these gaps are in the areas of communication, team work, leadership and results orientation. This guys makes up the supporting cast for your team. On most projects they will make up between 50% - 70% of your team.
• The Prospect - This guys started out as Mr. Average but has recently started to turn things up a notch. Management thinks he is on his way to "The consummate Professional". Sometimes it works out, but it is a gamble. Often this guy is a little unsure of himself. He has been working on filling in his "gaps" but he is not sure if he is ready to take on more. Most of us are this guy or were this guy at some point in our career so we want to see him succeed. Sometimes these guys are referred to as a "Diamond in the Rough". Be careful they can take up a lot of your time and divert your attention from other issues. I like to have one of these guys on my projects, but only as an employee.

One of the most important things to making a team successful is balance. A team heavily weighted with Cowboys will have problems focusing. A team with too many Mr. Averages won't innovate. Determining the correct mix for your team will help make your project successful.

In the next part of this series I will explore what motivates a prospective employee or a consultant to work at your company and on your team.