In this episode Chris, Matt and Eric discuss the process of interviewing programmers and the hiring process, as well as the importance of degrees and certifications.  Also discussed are the different tech conferences out there for programmers.

• Programmers should be involved in interviewing other programmers.  But what questions should be asked?  We think that trivia type questions are pointless, and don't tell you anything about the programming knowledge of the interviewee.
• Chris talks about when he was a technical interviewer, and the learning process that goes along with that.
• Should interviewee's have to write code?  In the days of intellisense though, psuedocode should be fine.  We just want to make sure they have the knowledge to put together logic.
• Joel Spolsky says: If you are going to hire a magician, you want to see them do a magic trick... If you are going to hire a developer, you want to make sure they can write some code.
• It's not all about code though, because you do have to spend all day with this person.
• We do not think that college degrees are a prerequisite for being a programmer.  The best developers are the ones that do not stop at 5:00.
• If you don't have a college degree, make sure you don't sell yourself short in an interview.
• Tech conferences can be a great place to learn new technologies and tools.  Some good conferences are TechEd, PDC, StackOverflow DevDays, or even Tulsa TechFest if you're in Oklahoma.
• Lastly, we discuss Microsoft’s latest gaming technology, Project Natal.  View the demo on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon here.

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Download Podcast #3 MP3

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