How to find ColdFusion developers
- Thread starter Banshee16
- Start date
Really, I think the vast majority of good server-side web guys are either Win2K3/ASP.NET types (like me) or Linux/PHP guys; ColdFusion's not a popular platform anymore. You might look for a popular ColdFusion developer site and advertise there, but unless you've got a really good CF team with no intention of leaving, you might want to think about moving away from CF.
PHP is what we've been starting to veer towards....but we've even had trouble finding good ones there. During our interviewing, we consistently have problems with programmers who claim to have "skillz", but then, once we test them with tests we've constructed based on the types of projects we regularly undertake, most fail.
We still get a lot of ColdFusion requests....it just seems hard to find people who are actually *doing* it.
I wonder if a lot of people have been getting out of the industry, or what.
ASP would unfortunately require a complete retooling of our processes, as we have no established code base. We're working on updating our PHP codebase to have variants of everything we've produced in ColdFusion however, so that we can eventually make the leap.
Banshee
We still get a lot of ColdFusion requests....it just seems hard to find people who are actually *doing* it.
I wonder if a lot of people have been getting out of the industry, or what.
ASP would unfortunately require a complete retooling of our processes, as we have no established code base. We're working on updating our PHP codebase to have variants of everything we've produced in ColdFusion however, so that we can eventually make the leap.
Banshee
XCorvis
First Post
Consider lowering the pay slightly and training someone into it. Getting someone with related skills or good potential could really pay off for you. Those other skills could help your company transition to a new platform as well.
Alternatively, raise the pay. Make sure you're competitive. You won't get many applicants if you want experienced folks and the pay sucks.
Alternatively, raise the pay. Make sure you're competitive. You won't get many applicants if you want experienced folks and the pay sucks.
IronWolf
blank
Banshee16 said:
You don't really mention your interviewing techniques, but is it possible you might be ruling out good candidates due to them? I've seen a lot of interviewers ask pointed, specific questions about a certain technology of people and rule good ones out due to that simply being an area the dev doesn't work in everyday. It might only take a good programmer a day or two to pick up the syntax and soon be up and running cranking out code for you.
One of our programmer hires from about two years ago didn't have a lot of experience with what was going to be their first major project. But the folks that interviewed the candidate were more interested in the person's background and knowledge of design and theory than asking specific, pointed question in the language they were looking for. It paid off quite well. The person hired completed the project on time and there were no significant issues when the app was rolled into production (and it was a critical component of the system going into place).
I am sure everyone has different experiences though and we may have just been lucky to get a good pick the first time. But it might be worth considering re-evaluating the interview practices to make sure you aren't inadvertantly ruling out good candidates.
jcfiala said:
Just about everything....it ranges from simple shopping carts, to business management applications for processing mortgage applications, online RFP collection and bidding systems, airline reservation systems, real estate databases, online scheduling, shopping carts, etc. etc.
One of our best programmers who was here for several years started as an ASP guy, but they liked his attitude, and he learned ColdFusion quickly, and became one of our top guys.
Banshee
