Want to hire the best programmers? Offer growth
Don&#x27;t give coding quizzes if they can provide better evidence of their ability.<p>It&#x27;s unfair in the least, rude at the worst to pigeon-hole &quot;senior&quot; programmers into scenarios &#x2F; pop quizzes.<p>Let them show off recent personal projects. They&#x27;ll probably have no problem spending a weekend hacking on something they&#x27;re passionate about.<p>Be a serious employer:<p>Convince the best programmers (whatever that means) why they should reorganize their life around your business:<p>- Pension plans &#x2F; job security are nice. It&#x27;s a good motivator to know that there will be an annuity when they&#x27;re 60 &#x2F; 65 and would rather spend time with their family.<p>- Union contract (or something comparable) <i>or</i> a labor system with robust employee rights and unemployment insurance. It&#x27;s pretty unfair in the US with at-will employment.<p>- Have strong financials. Be a business that&#x27;ll be around in 10 years. Can your business keep paying employees if it&#x27;s in the red for a year?<p>If you don&#x27;t offer the above: Why feel deserving of the best?<p>I&#x27;m being facetious on the above points:  It&#x27;s tech, it&#x27;s a fast cycle and inherently unstable. But when orgs talk about hiring - it irks me to see the entitlement employers have when they have little investment in the welfare of employees as persons (and families)