You may know that Code Anthem is a startup currently in stealth mode. However, we are doing some market research using the totally awesome Ask Your Target Market survey site. Overall my experience with them has been great.
Without exposing too much, I thought you all might find this tidbit interesting. The title of the survey was “Assume that you are a manager who is hiring programmers for his/her software team:”"
These results make me happy. Overwhelmingly most people thought that a programmer’s technical skill was the MOST important factor when deciding which one to hire.
While it might seem obvious to some that this should be so, I think we all know that’s not how it works most of the time. People want a meritocracy, but we’re left a bureaucracy instead.
So what is the disparity? Is it just wishful thinking on the part of the hiring managers? Or is it that they just lack the right tools to actually make that happen?
I’m surprised that “communication skills” didn’t garner a higher percentage here. A rock star is near worthless if they are unable to communicate, particularly with their team. If they’re a$$holes as to boot, then you have a problem, not an asset. Personally I’d weigh communication/interpersonal skills around 40-45%, and technical right around there. The rest I’d toss to salary of course!
@Jeff I was also surprised that more people did not select communication skills, but pleasantly surprised. You’re right that both are important factors in actually making your hiring decision.
This question boxed people in to select the single MOST important thing to consider. A likeable but illiterate coder guarantees that your development project will fail. On the flipside, an asshole rockstar developer at least gives you a fighting shot.
Also, depending on how the questions were worded, respondents may not have drawn the conclusion that lack of communication skills equals asshole. They could have drawn the conclusion that lack of communication skills equals the inability to tailor their explanations to the technical level of their audience. While this is undesirable when having to explain their project to non-technical people, it’s not a show-stopper in terms of hiring a developer. However, a leader of developers better have a good mix of both technical skills and communication skills, or you’re hosed.
@Jeff
Trouble is that “communication skills” are a buzzword. If you really mean “likeable”, then that’s great, but even the archetypal asshole rockstar programmer has good “communication skills”, of a sort. He’s good at communicating to management why he’s better than everyone else.
If the developer can’t code anything, he will make life miserable for others. If the developer is an asshole, he will make life miserable for others, but he still gets stuff done.
With this in mind, I would not hire a developer that does not have good enough communications skills, but I still think that technical skills are more important, because of productivity differences. The best communicator might make the team 2x more productive, but the best coder might make the team 5x more productive.
I’m surprised by the commenters who think that a technically gifted asshole has as much weight productivity-wise as they imply. I remember attending a talk at a conference last year called “Assholes are Killing Your Project” (http://opensourcebridge.org/sessions/216) which basically made the case that assholes aren’t worth it no matter what sort of technical benefits they may provide, and I’m inclined to believe that. Assholes don’t make the TEAM more productive, they themselves are productive and the entire team drowns in the toxicity in the meantime.
hey hey, look at that graph, it was exactly the same parameter I used when hiring
Totally agree, again! 
Were the people answering the survey actually hiring managers – or just assuming they are? A developer answering this survey will definitely put a lot of weight to technical skills. A hiring manager may have a more personal hiring experience and think a bit differently.
In my opinion, the results would be a lot more interesting if the question was “What’s the SECOND most important factor…”
@Addie – I guess this depends a lot on the state the project is in. If you’re putting together a new team or hiring for a team that’s trodding along nicely – then yeah, an brilliant asshole developer is not a good match. However, when the project is going down the drain and the client goes away – I think you’ll take the asshole for the extra productivity – even if it’s only his own…