How to hire Perl Hackers in 2008.
In modern times, with the wonderful business of head-hunters and body placement shops you can't rely on getting quality candidates through traditional job posting channels unless you have a lot of time on your hands. Most of that time is spent throwing away resumes. This is the first step to being successful: throw away bad resumes. This is even true if you suspect it to be bad. You may toss out some good candidates, but for the first round focus on candidates that know how to write a resume (and ideally use spell check and don't write Java Scripts).
The second step to being successful is to define testing criteria. If you want experienced developers, not only do you have to be prepared to pay for them (in addition to creating an environment they would want to be in) but you have to know what it means. An experienced developer or an experienced Perl developer are two different things. React accordingly.
I'm also a proponent of sample code, but I don't believe it's all that helpful. The people who submit terrible sample code tend to be the same people who submit terrible resumes. If someone truly wants a job, they're going to care about the sample code they submit. This, however, is very closely tied into the pay rate. If you offer low pay, expect low quality -- chances are they are junior and haven't figured out the "right way" yet.
If your first round of candidates all have the same style and there aren't any clear winners, something is repeling the quality developers. React accordingly; either adjust your qualifications or restructure what you are offering.
There is always a shortage of high quality developers, as they always know someone who is looking to hire them. Good developers are more likely to find employment through their social network than through a job posting site. This puts companies without being able to tap their social network for new developers at a distinct disadvantage.
This means you're bound to get spammed with a ton of poorly written resumes by people who don't want the job for more than a few weeks. If you expect gold from these folks, you're going to get lead.
It's not their fault, it is yours. Just as ridiculous as their sample code may be, it's ridiculous to assume skilled developers are just waiting to be picked up by some lucky company.
On a side note, expecting a Perl developer to know Moose on a $25-$30 an hour contract job with a cap of 20 hours is almost as bad as expecting a free lunch... but good luck on hiring, I know how frustrating it can be.
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