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There's a chance I'll need to hire another programmer this year. So I started thinking about the type of person I'd want to hire. My initial egocentric thought was to hire a "Yes" person who will do anything I say, regardless of how blindly I'm leading and managing the company's technology. Along with that, somebody who can really crank out the code even if he or she can't carry on a conversation about the weather, and in Montana, weather is everything. Who cares about the Mountain Dew cans and the Doritos sacks on the floor? Well, I do. No, those characteristics won't work any longer to make a business like yours and mine and its technology successful.

Sound Advice

My father gave me a wonderful piece of advice about management: "Hire people who know more than you do." I haven't told him yet how easy that is for me to do! The principle is very sound. You increase the overall value of your company by having a multitude of talents, and that involves having people, your own people, know more in certain areas than you do. I keep up with what's happening on the development front for the iSeries, but my staff can now program circles around me, whether it's in RPG-free, Net.Data, JavaScript, XML, HTML, or PHP. I used to be able to take a PC apart and put it together again, but now our system support specialist knows more about IRQs, USB, wireless, WEP, and 802.11 than I thought possible. She takes care of more than 70 PCs and all the peripherals in ways I can't fathom. So, here's my requirement for any new programmer: You must bring a skill or talent our team doesn't possess now that we can use and learn from to make our business better.

But that isn't enough. Another talent I'll look for is the person's ability to lead a management-level discussion on the technology direction of the company. When companies have a sales meeting with the CEO, you'll find more than just the VP of sales at the meeting. Other members of the sales force are also there adding to the discussion. Why should a technology meeting with the CEO be any different?

Technology, especially Web-based applications, is now a driving force behind many companies' expansion plans. I want somebody who can disagree, even in a public meeting, with the direction in which I'm heading and then explain (calmly, of course) why. The entire technology team must be able to explain how they are going to help the company succeed. Yes, that is primarily the task of the technology leader of the organization, but just as members of the sales team contribute ideas at executive meetings, the technology team must prove that more than one person can talk the talk.

Ask for a Lot

I can recall vividly some of my interviews when I was applying for a programmer's position in the '80s and early '90s. I was asked to show sample code from my portfolio. During the interview, I was placed in a quiet room and given a programming task to complete in 20 minutes. I had to explain how I would code for a subfile entry program where the key fields were available for input/output on each line of the subfile, meaning the key fields could change. Also, how would I find the original record in the database and update the record with the new information from the subfile? But I was never asked whether I could instruct in a classroom setting or whether I'd thought about taking a Dale Carnegie course on public speaking.

My advice to managers: Hire people with the skills just mentioned and everybody benefits. Challenge your existing staff in these areas if you don't already. To those wanting to be hired: Acquire or begin to work on these skills if you don't have them. Be prepared to bring something unique to the employer's table. Contribute more than just "code" to the company.

I'm asking for a lot. I have to. I want to be successful, and I'm not going to get there by myself. Oh, and if the person can also crank out the code — great!

Jef Sutherland is an iSeries NEWS technical editor and vice president of information services for Kampgrounds of America, Inc., in Billings, Montana. You can e-mail Jef at dqtech1@attbi.com.