Knowledge versus Ability

I was looking down the “recent posts” bit on my wordpress dash board when i came across this post

Programming Knowledge versus Programming Ability « Imran On Tech

I generally agree with the post and it has a good footballing analogy too!As we’re looking for new staff at the moment it definitely got me thinking.

On the whole i hated the process whenever i’ve been looking for work (and yes i know there are other ways, such as agencies, but i’m being pretty broad here!)

Advertise job, Receive CV’s, Filter CV’s, Interviews, Offer job

I always wondered how you could give someone a job based on what is written on a couple of pieces of paper and a brief chat.

I know lots of jobs have test know-a-days but that doesn’t tell you if they’ll be able to recover that corrupted Exchange store while they have 100 users in their ear

Anyone can embelish their CV and “blag” at the interview.

What about someone who is really talented but is a bundle of nerves at the interview so doesn’t come across well. How can you determine what if they’ll fit in with the rest of your staff? How can you determine they are willing to put in the effort to make the company succeed? There are hundreds of elements to determine if someone is right for your company before you even get to their ability to do the job?

As a small business we also dont have the time or the money to go round and round trying to make sure we pick the right person. We need to get it right straight away!

How do you determine if someone has the ability to back up the MCSE (or other appropriate certificate!) they wave at you?

I’d be interested to hear how other people do it?

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Andy Parkes

Andy Parkes is Technical Director at Coventry based IT support company IBIT Solutions. Formerly, coordinator of AMITPRO and Microsoft Partner Area Lead for 2012-2013. He also isn't a fan of describing himself in the third person.

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