How to interview/test a coder?

Question

Project management

Hello.
There was a need to hire a layout designer. I myself am engaged in development, I know how to typeset, but I don’t have time to follow modern layout trends and I want to transfer part of the work to someone who specializes in this, in order to deal only with development.
In this regard, there are a number of questions:
1) What should a good coder know/be able to do?
2) What should I pay attention to?
3) Maybe there are some nuances that you need to know about in order to weed out completely fig candidates?
4) What is better to take a beginner and develop him or take an experienced specialist right away?
5) Does it make sense to look for a layout designer who also understands development at the level of stretching his layout on the site, or is it easier to pull the layout on your own?

Answer 1

4) What is better to take a beginner and develop him or take an experienced specialist right away?

You have such a situation: you are a developer and you don’t want to typeset. Since you have to hire a layout designer yourself, does it mean that there are no other layout designers in the company? This means that you will not be able to develop a beginner above your current level. In addition, a beginner will not unload you, but rather will take your time (set a task, check, teach, redo). Newbie is not an option.
You need to hire an experienced specialist, more experienced than you. Otherwise, you will still be left with the hardest work of layout.
In the vacancy, write that you are looking for a chief layout designer. Those who are mentally unprepared for this will be weeded out.
Show the candidate your project, identify problems, ask for advice, ask for critiques, ask what they would do or do differently and why? Ask him to talk about his projects.
Build the conversation around how the candidate can help you with the project.
If you are interested and you learn something new and useful, this is a valid candidate.
If he told you what you already know, you will find yourself at least an equal, which is acceptable in principle.
If he has nothing to say, he is not for you.
It makes sense. An experienced layout designer should be able to pull the layout on the engine. Not necessarily on the same platform as your project, but any similar experience facilitates mutual understanding between the developer and layout designer.

Answer 2

1. Take a link and show it to everyone.
2. Say: "whoever does the test task first without errors will receive an order for XXX rubles."
3. Give a task that you really need to do.
4. Run a contest!
5. After there is a correct layout, all that remains is to add JS scripts to the task and pay the person for a job well done.
PS: Layout - should be separate from the template, preferably - different people to be: each person made a template for ONE CMS based on the layout.

Answer 3

1) Ask not the questions that can be found in Yandex "what a layout designer should know." I would ask:
- how will the absolute block behave in the absolute
- how to fit two blocks with a border of 10px and a width of 50%
codepen.io/STutukov/pen/mEeYLa
- width:auto and width:100%. This is the same?
[email protected] media. What does it depend on? From the width of the container in which it lies, or from the width of the browser?
codepen.io/STutukov/pen/QEjRoy
- For the bootstrap guru. Mandatory question, why 12 columns? why not 10? 20?
- What frameworks does he know.
- What typesetting methodologies does he know (BEM,SMACSS,...) and how does he typeset and why.
- What is the difference between a responsive website and a rubber one?
frontender.info/adaptive-vs-responsive-terminology
- git, gulp, less, sass, js.
- and so on))
2) See how he answers these questions, the main thing is not to panic.
3,4,5) Depends on your tasks.

Answer 4

We take our typical current task and offer the candidate to solve it for money.
If there are many candidates, and the company is greedy, we inform you that the top 5-10-20 in terms of speed, minus those who performed poorly
, will receive the money. We promise to give a review to the rest and put it in the mailing list for the competition. for the next job