> if you're not a good one, you can't discern between the good and the bad. I'd go even one step further - even if you are a good programmer, it's hard to disc

> if you're not a good one, you can't discern between the good and the bad. I'd go even one step further - even if you are a good programmer, it's hard to discern between the good and the bad hires. The reason for that is that you can check for technical proficiency, but it's very hard to assess someone's long term motivation levels. There's plenty of candidates who are strong programmers, but are just not motivated and will go to great lenghts to do the bare minimum to not get fired. I think that's BTW why the large corps insist on things like high GPA - not neccessarily for the knowledge gained, but as a proof that you were able to consistently motivate yourself to a high degree over a period of a couple years, doing the work which you weren't neccessarily in love with - which is exactly what they need.