Peter Bengtsson

Programmer Competency Matrix

By: Peter Bengtsson, 1st of July 2008

http://www.indiangeek.net/wp-content...er%20competency%20matrix.htm

1st of July 2008

If you're a Level 0 IT recruiter/HR hiring a programming you wouldn't even understand what to do with this. If you're Level 1 you would you would try to use this but get most of it wrong and end up not benefiting from it much. If you're a Level 2 you'd use this and be able to ask all the right questions. And lastly, if you're Level 3 you wouldn't need this stuff because you're probably already a Level 3 programmer.

Programmer Competency Matrix

It's of course not quite that simple but I'd call myself a Level 2 programmer. As I go down row by row I recognize that there are sections where I'm just a Level 1 programmer and sometimes a Level 3. I think I'm quite weak on the "Computer science" section but a bit stronger on the "Programming" section.

What I just wrote above was meant as a joke but as I think about it, this matrix is actually really suitable for recruitment. So if you're into hiring programmers print out the Programmer Competency Matrix, go through it with your most senior coders and try to use it to your advantage. Truthfully recruitment is, just like programming itself, often not just about programming. When you evaluate a candidate you also judge them on availability, salary demands and personal trait such as their social skills amongst fellow colleagues or company clients.

Nevertheless I really appreciated the document and will probably return to it more in the future.




Comment

Gareth Bult - 20th October 2008  [«« Reply to this]
Can you tell me the origin of this matrix? (i.e. whose design is it?)
Peter Bengtsson - 20th October 2008   [«« Reply to this]
I honestly don't know. Perhaps the owner of that domain,
http://www.indiangeek.net/
knows.
NHS Patient - 13th February 2009  [«« Reply to this]
Level -1: operates a web server for the NHS patent care guarantee which says

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Your cache administrator is system@fry-it.com.
Generated Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:27:07 GMT by cfh-web1.fry-it.com (squid/2.6.STABLE18)
Michel Bagnol - 25th August 2009  [«« Reply to this]
Hi,

I have "ported" the programmer competency matrix to Excel and added some self-evaluation functionalities.

Please find the Excel version of the Programmer Competency Matrix here:
http://www.nodewave.com/programmer-competency-matrix
 



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