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Submission + - Interviewing experienced IT people

Submitted by thricenightly
thricenightly writes: After more than 20 years in IT I've learned that the most valuable people in a team are frequently the old timers. Young pups straight out of college might (think they) know all the latest buzzwords and techniques, but in the real world, where getting working products delivered on time and on budget is of paramount importance, people who have been doing the job for a decade or two tend to be the people I'd rather be working alongside.

I've recently been elevated to a position where I get to interview and choose those who get hired in my department. Although I'm very much focused on choosing the right person for the role regardless of age, experience or whatever, it's probably fair to say the more mature applicants will get a more sympathetic hearing from me than they might from most other interviewers for IT roles.

The question is, what do I ask older applicants to get them to demonstrate the value of their experience? My current gambit is something like "IT is seen as a young man's game. My next applicant after you is 23 years old. What do you know that he doesn't?" This gets responses ranging from the vague to the truly enlightened.

All next week I'm interviewing for a number of senior software designer and developer roles. What should I be asking of the more experienced applicants, and what responses should I be looking out for?

Comment Re:We'll See (Score 1) 527

by thricenightly (#15705069) Attached to: Microsoft Hit With 280m Euro Fine
A lot of people in Europe would like nothing better than for MS to pull out of the continent. We'd have a brief vacuum which dozens of companies would strive to fill. With the monopolist out of a multi-billion Euro market, there would be huge competition and a massive drive in product development in order to try to get a share of the immense rewards on offer.

Hmmm, competition, product development, advances in the IT industry. Exxxxcellent indeed. But it won't happen. MS might be p!$$ed by this, but they're far too smart to let any competition get such a large foothold.

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