> But I also think that when you hire in other industries, you can get much more milage from looking at the candidate's formal degrees and certifications.
> In our industry, you kinda have to start from scratch with every person.
Not really - in software people leave a bigger and more easily trackable track record than any other engineering field. From previous work projects/experience to open source projects/experience, from personal projects to the communities a person belongs to. A lot of stuff is directly visible on the Internet. In other engineering fields, you have to trust what the applicant says in his or her resume and maybe at most you can call the previous companies he worked at for reference. In software, a lot of the trail is online or easy to tell, and you can still call.
Even for totally new graduates, it is better in software: Its much easier for a software undergrad to work part-time or in a hobby project or contribute to open source and produce something before he or she graduates, so that you can assess his skills. Its much harder for a mechanical or civil engineer to do that, so for that reason you have to rely solely on the relevant university/college and the grades of the candidate.
> Not really - in software people leave a bigger and more easily trackable track record than any other engineering field. From previous work projects/experience to open source projects/experience, from personal projects to the communities a person belongs to.
That only apply to software people who either (a) are getting paid to work on open source or (b) have enough spare time to work on open source as a hobby after hours. Option (b), in particular, usually implies having no children or other familial responsibilities.
> In our industry, you kinda have to start from scratch with every person.
Not really - in software people leave a bigger and more easily trackable track record than any other engineering field. From previous work projects/experience to open source projects/experience, from personal projects to the communities a person belongs to. A lot of stuff is directly visible on the Internet. In other engineering fields, you have to trust what the applicant says in his or her resume and maybe at most you can call the previous companies he worked at for reference. In software, a lot of the trail is online or easy to tell, and you can still call.
Even for totally new graduates, it is better in software: Its much easier for a software undergrad to work part-time or in a hobby project or contribute to open source and produce something before he or she graduates, so that you can assess his skills. Its much harder for a mechanical or civil engineer to do that, so for that reason you have to rely solely on the relevant university/college and the grades of the candidate.