Finding a Teammate – Our Journey
Posted by Steve Brownlee on January 2, 2009Jan 2
How It Began
I began working at DaVita back in May of 2007 as the only UI developer for my group. They had several contractors previously, but had apparently been unhappy with their work, so after a brief courtship, I agreed to move on down to the Nashville area and join them. I haven’t regretted it at all.
Soon after I joined – and convinced them that I was worth keeping around – I had to start interviewing other developers so we could build the team out some more. First, there was one open position, which was filled within 2 months after we started accepting resumes. After he and I became solid additions to the team, more business requirements starting stacking up and so two more open positions were added.
The third position took a bit longer. After several dozen interviews that took almost 5 months, we finally found someone who we knew would be a good teammate. Our team was getting stronger. We all have complementary skills and we work very well together.
Then there was the fourth position.
The Fourth
After 3 more months, we brought on a contractor who we felt was worth a shot, but in the end, it just wasn’t the right fit so we started actively looking again. We keep looking, and looking, and looking…
Then in November of 2008 we got a resume that looked fantastic. I was very excited to interview this person and she did not disappoint – which had come to be my expectation. The initial phone interviews were exceptional as she fit the bill in what we were looking for technically. Then the in-person interviews came and she, again, did very well and we finally felt that we had the last piece of the puzzle.
Then the day came when she was supposed to start. Nothing happened. Weird. After some emails were sent out, we discovered that she postponed her start date by about two weeks because of some other life issues. Whew! I was scared there for a minute.
Then the day came when she was really supposed to start. Nothing happened. Weird. After some emails were sent out, we discovered that she decided at the last minute to not accept the position! After all that build up, and then to be disappointed again. It starts to get to you.
New Expectations
I now find myself in a mental state of ambivalence. I’ve looked at no less that 200 resumes since August of 2007, performed hundreds of interviews and been disappointed so many times, that I’m now in a constant state of jaded. I expect nothing from candidates and they really have to stand out professionally and personally for me to take notice.
I had a conversation with one of my colleagues this morning, and I think we’ve decided to start looking at people who have the potential to grow once in the position rather than finding someone who has all the skills already. We just aren’t finding that person. Getting one qualified candidate in over a year just isn’t something that I want to repeat.
We don’t want to compromise, but we also now realize that the odds are against us finding the person we want off the street.
You’d think with all the layoffs in the industry lately that we’d be seeing more good candidates, but I have to throw in two factors that are still working against us:
- Nashville is still a growing market and there aren’t many developers close by like there would be in Boston, DC, or Dallas
- Companies usually keep the good fish and throw the tiny ones back into the water
And so the days grind on looking at one average resume after the next… when will it end?
More Information
In case someone in the area is looking and hasn’t come across our open position, here’s the skinny details. If interested, let me know and I’ll forward your info along to one of our preferred vendors.
Senior Developer Position
Will be responsible for architecting, designing and developing the presentation layer for Intranet based applications. The position is the Billing Systems team and all the apps process millions of transactions. Expected to guide and mentor other UI developers.
Job Description
- ColdFusion design, development and support of various applications in IT Revenue Systems Team
- If no ColdFusion experience, we are also considering solid Flex/Java developers who have a willingness to learn ColdFusion
- Work on migrating HTML applications to Flex
- Work with the team to understand the business requirements and functional specifications
- Solution design and documentation using ColdFusion MX 7, JavaScript, AJAX, Flex, Flash, Visio, MS Office etc.
- Code development and unit testing
- Participate in peer code review
- Work with QA/SCM team for code build/releases, test case design and defect resolution
Design skills
- Highly skilled in Web Application architecture and design
- Experience in developing applications with heavy transactions volume
- Highly skilled in use of Design Patterns and development frameworks
Programming skills
- 5+ years of ColdFusion/Java experience and/or 2+ years of Flex experience
- 1+ years of MX7 experience
- Expert in developing CFCs
- Expert in JavaScript and AJAX
- Skilled at SQL
How about a link to a job description, or at least some requirements as to what you’re looking for? You never know when a likely candidate may inadvertently stumble on your blog post.
That’s true, Bob, but we have a large set of approved firms through which we do business, and I am not the person who initially accept s resumes. Also, anyone looking for ColdFusion or Flex jobs in the Nashville area undoubtedly has seen our job posting.
Don’t say undoubtedly. I was job hunting in November, looked in the Nashville area as I lived about an hour away and do not remember seeing this position (though possibly I did and was not qualified).
I do remember checking the CFUG site and even contacting the CFUG manager, but there was very limited job posting there (maybe none at the time).
Anyway, I have since relocated to North Carolina. And as Bob said, because your blog is another way of getting the word out there, you should put a list requirements or a link because you never know who may see this and may know somebody or whatever.
@Matt – That surprises me very much. I know that this open position was plastered all over the job boards for most of last year. In that case, I’ll provide a brief synopsis of what we’re looking for and if anyone’s interested, they can let me know and I’ll forward the info along.
@Steve, @Matt
There are several things I’d like to comment on relating to this post. First, I’ve come across one specific position description a dozen or more times through various recruiters and job postings over the last year or more. The one I’m thinking of reads similar to the one above though with less tilt for a Flex/UI person and less years of experience required.
I also know at least two developers who have interviewed for positions at DaVita in the last 1.5 years. Before I go on, let me add a disclaimer that I have never interviewed at DaVita much less submitted my resume to DaVita. The immediate info below comes from experience and conversations with folks who have.
The folks I’ve talked to say DaVita is (or at least has been) looking for someone who doesn’t exist. Someone who’s a seriously seasoned (I like the sound of that) ColdFusion AND Flex developer. I know of a few people who might fit into this category, but not too many.
So Steve, it may just be that you guys were really strict on wanting the perfect developer right out of the gate versus somehow who (as you said above) can grow in the position. I think this is a good move for you guys. I’ve seen several situations where the “perfect developer” takes a high-end tech job only to get bored super fast. I’m not saying this could ever happen at DaVita (I have no idea actually) but I think it’s better overall to find someone who has most of the skills you want/need, the attitude you desire, the same core beliefs/goals of the company, and some room to grow and excel in the position. This sets you up for more long-term success.
Lastly, since I’m the manager of the Nashville CFUG I can comment on what Matt said about job postings on http://www.ncfug.com. Our group was approached several times to post jobs for DaVita. In at least one case the request came directly from DaVita and wanting to support the local CF scene we immediately put up the post.
After a few months on the site we took it down as this is our protocol for rotating jobs (unless we hear back from the company that the position is still open). In other cases we received requests to put up job postings that looked almost identical to the original DaVita post. These requests came from recruiters. If the recruiter/staffing firm was known to the group we posted the job. In a few rare cases we had no previous relationship with the company and opted to not to post.
@Aaron – Yes in our initial push to find someone with CF and Flex experience, we eventually came to the conclusion that we simply weren’t going to find someone. We then expanded our search to look at people with Java experience who would be willing to learn/support ColdFusion. We’ve had a little more success there, but haven’t closed the deal yet (as the post shows one such experience).
The job description has morphed a couple of times in the past year as we’ve reevaluated what we need. That combined with the number of vendors we were using likely led to some confusion.
I know you helped as much as you could by providing the information on the CFUG site and I’m sure that led to a couple of good people coming in for interviews. It’s unfortunate that we passed on some of them because we might have been looking for too much.