Resume of Software Developers for SDK?

[Howbigistheuniverse]

Hi yall
im looking for Software Developers for hire to develop professional grade applications. i read an article about how RiM was looking to hire programmers to develop applications for the iphone and will be using their requirements as reference in my search.

Their requirments are as follows:
Mac Software development and familiarity with programming in objective C and Cocoa as well as experience in designing user interfaces. Experience with javascript and xml are essential.

My question is what else should i be looking for in a developer when sitting down with them to determine if they're the right one for the job. This is a general question referring to technical as well as character qualities to look for.

[ajrulez]

Beat on the basics That's the best way to hire a software engineer\developer.

[NetMage]

I think Mac software experience with Objective-C and Cocoa would be very helpful (I didn't have any, but I've done this a long time). Barring that, any modern, objected-oriented GUI development would be good (C#/.Net, MFC/C++, VB.Net, MVC/Smalltalk).

Fundamental C knowledge can be useful since Objective-C performance can be tied to using C effectively. And performance is an issue on a small device.

I don't think javascript/xml is that helpful, though XML isn't bad (plists, etc.) OTOH, I think HTML experience can be quite helpful given some of the controls on the iPhone. Also, SQL or more explicitly, sqlite, experience can be useful for some types of applications.

Finally, Palm or Pocket PC or other Smartphone experience helps with a certain "tiny device" mindset.

[stansfro]

Hi

I've had to do a lot of developer recruitment in the past (not for iPhone though), and my view has always been:
- attitude, flexibility, and understanding of good software design principles are extremely important
- good developers can switch between implementation languages fairly easily, so solid experience in related technology is often good enough
- communication skills and team spirit bring a great deal of value
- look for people that are driven by high quality results, and not just hackers that like to play with the latest technology
- a small, skilled, communicative and fun team with great team spirit can deliver more than a larger group of individual technicians (that do not work closely together)

On the technology skill side, I'm from a Smalltalk / Java / Unix background, and have had no problem at all in moving over to iPhone development. In fact, it's been an easy transition as the toolset and dev environment on the Mac is great, easy to use and fast to develop with. Objective C is pretty much the same as any other decent OO language (and developers please don't start jumping on me for that statement - of course there are differences such as garbage collection etc...., I'm talking generally!)

On the GUI side, you may well want to consider employing a GUI design expert (not developer) to work with your target user group to design an efficient and intuitive interface. I'm not saying developers can't do it, but it is a very important aspect of your application, and there are experts in that field that could really help.

Anyway, just my 2 Rappen worth (I'm in Switzerland, and we don't have Cents!). Hope it helps