Ask HN: Would any of you consider hiring a dev with 16 weeks training

5 points·mat-mcloughlin··6 comments

I've seen some advertisements around saying that you can become a developer in 16 weeks and land a job earning £30K. Would you hire somebody with 16 weeks training?

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Short answer: Yes.

We interviewed one of the first graduates from http://www.makersacademy.com/ and we were blown away at how much potential he showed after only 12 weeks of training.

We made him an offer however he ended up taking a role with a company that required less of a geographical upheaval.

From what I recall, he had three offers from three different companies, all above £30k and he was worth every penny.

*Edit: I just realised that my effusiveness for Makers sounds like I am promoting the company. I am not affiliated to Makers in any shape or form. Purely a fan of their work.

I very much expect this is the exception to the rule.

Not necessarily. We had access to the entire group and whilst this particular candidate was clearly the strongest, the average level of talent and potential was exceptionally high.

Hire for character. Talk to him about the 16 week experience. Can he recount everything? Is he excited when he talks about it? Is he enthusiastic about learning more? It's a great, focused, conversation point.

Skills can be taught. You can't teach character. True, there will definitely be some up front investment. But I think it'll pay off.

I guess it always depends on the job, but most likely not. I actually had someone apply like that who had taken some Ruby course. It was a pretty much a no because I knew I was going to have to babysit them no matter how smart and talented they were.

I wouldn't rule that sort of person out straight away. I think it depends on their other background. I think you can learn enough to make cool things in that time period, but it may be a tough sell.

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