A practical test for a contractor?

[fishtastic]

Hi,

First time caller, long time listener.....

I had a guy in for a interview for contract today, we had done a telephone interview which he passed fine (a few gaps in his knowledge but acceptable).

Since it's an administrator role paying a pretty good rate in Liverpool (and we don't want this person to do much over the 6-9 months just cover a maternity and keep a seat warm, I would go as far as say it will be the easiest few months a contractor in our field will ever have), I set a practical test. I tried it out on the current administrator who has just 14 months experience, and she did it in 45 mins even though it was stuff I haven't really got round to teaching her yet (The test contained easier stuff than she usually does, also it was much more common, basic tasks than her current work).

He had over 4 years experience and failed rather badly to complete the required tasks (after an hour he was still stuck on the first task, I took pity on him and ended it there). Anyway, one of the things that struck me was when he said no-one had ever given him a practical test.

I wouldn't give anyone ~£300 a day (he wanted more than that) without see if they could actually do the kind of work required.

Am I the odd one for setting a practically test???

Fish

[scooterscot]

Am I the odd one for setting a practically test???

Not at all.

I'm not IT minded, more involved in mathematical modelling it would not be the first time a client has asked me to demonstrate how I might approach a problem and then set about providing a solution; all on paper though otherwise the exercise would be to time consuming. Although saying that there is usually more than one answer available to me so that's never the problem, identifying the solution that take's the least amount of time/money is what wins.

End of the day you need someone that can do the job... someone who can walk the walk as well as talk the talk, got to have both.

[thunderlizard]

Yes you are, but that's not to say there's anything wrong with your approach. If you're hiring a contractor you should be engaging a professional who's got a track record and knows his stuff.

I regularly use professionals like accountants and solicitors who charge well over £300/day, and I've never set them a practical test. Partly because I trust them and partly because I know I can easily stop using them if they aren't up to scratch.

[tim123]

Yes you are, but that's not to say there's anything wrong with your approach. If you're hiring a contractor you should be engaging a professional who's got a track record and knows his stuff.

I regularly use professionals like accountants and solicitors who charge well over £300/day, and I've never set them a practical test. Partly because I trust them and partly because I know I can easily stop using them if they aren't up to scratch.

It's a litte bit easier to undo the mess created by a crap accountant than it is an IT admin who reformats your server having first lost all the backups

tim

[thunderlizard]

Maybe, maybe not. Bad accountants can certainly lose you money. Bad IT people can lose techy stuff including data that might also lose you money.

[fishtastic]

I first must apologise for posting on the wrong forum, I guess this should have been general but I had both open when I was reading and I posted to the wrong one. Ooops.

So far I guess that's two for it's fine and one for it's odd. I've found that many people who've looked fantastic on paper, done lots of contracts and have a broad experience of IT solutions seem to have little practical knowledge of the platforms they claim to have used. A classic is 'I haven't used this for a while, but I'd be fine after a day or two' for a product they had said they were using until 2 weeks ago when their previous contract finished.

I do expect are certain amount of exaggeration on a CV or from a recruiter but people seem to think they can put anything down and as long as they know the keywords from a book about it that the contract is theirs.

Fish

[TykeMerc]

Fishtastic relatively brief practical tests are perfectly in order and as you found were easy to assemble and run.

I've been tested like this in the past and have tested applicants, so long as the applicant is told a little in advance so can decide if they want to attend I feel it's perfectly reasonable.

[pmeswani]

Hi,

First time caller, long time listener.....

I had a guy in for a interview for contract today, we had done a telephone interview which he passed fine (a few gaps in his knowledge but acceptable).

Since it's an administrator role paying a pretty good rate in Liverpool (and we don't want this person to do much over the 6-9 months just cover a maternity and keep a seat warm, I would go as far as say it will be the easiest few months a contractor in our field will ever have), I set a practical test. I tried it out on the current administrator who has just 14 months experience, and she did it in 45 mins even though it was stuff I haven't really got round to teaching her yet (The test contained easier stuff than she usually does, also it was much more common, basic tasks than her current work).

He had over 4 years experience and failed rather badly to complete the required tasks (after an hour he was still stuck on the first task, I took pity on him and ended it there). Anyway, one of the things that struck me was when he said no-one had ever given him a practical test.

I wouldn't give anyone ~£300 a day (he wanted more than that) without see if they could actually do the kind of work required.

Am I the odd one for setting a practically test???

Fish

As an IT Contractor myself, I prefer to be tested to see what I really know. If I claim to have 4 years of real experience of something, I should be able to demonstrate 4 years worth of knowledge. It should also be used to show honesty as well as technical ability. I'm not sure what level of sysadmin the role had, but did the candidate have an MCSE / MCP / RHCE certification at all to back up his knowledge?

My first contract was a 5 minute phone call to confirm my experience and I got the job. I was a bit suspicious as I never had an interview that short. I was expecting to be tested on my knowledge a bit more so that I can prove that I know what I am talking about (as you can appreciate, I was still thinking like a permie from the outset. Still do when it comes to interviews). I insisted on seeing the location first before I accepted the role.

[malvolio]

Come on guys, think like contractors...

Don't disagree with testing candidates for technical roles, but your CV (sorry, your Consultant Profile!) is supposed to be an accurate representation of your abilities, and unlike a permie if you are found to have overstated them you leave site very quickly indeed, possibly with a damages claim to follow. If your client believes what you have said, he will trust what he sees on the CV since that's what he is paying for.

Using a freelance to supply a service is not like hiring a permie. Do you test the manual handling skills of your dustman, for example, or do you assume his employer has done it already? It's no different.

[chicane]

Come on guys, think like contractors...

The thing you forget to mention is the time and cost overhead of taking on contractors and subsequently getting rid of them when they're found to be inadequately skilled.

The technical test at current ClientCo weeds out 9 of every 10 candidates - can you imagine the hassle of taking on and discarding 9 contractors for every one that meets the standard? Especially in a large organisation like this that's swamped in red tape for every hire/fire.