Ask HN: Stuck making a decision whether to hire
I have a contract-to-hire employee who has done satisfactory work for the past 3 months. I need to make a decision soon on whether or not to hire. I'm stuck on the decision.
This person has 6 years of experience. I would consider him a relatively average, mid-level developer. We have one other developer who is very good and experienced - along with me.
The average person has taken feedback well, has shown some improvement and is meeting the requirements. I haven't been impressed, but I also haven't been disappointed. When I ask him to do something, he does it but doesn't do much more. He seems to struggle without structure and predefined tasks.
PROS: He's very eager to learn, humble, has a great work ethic, picks up new technology fairly quickly, takes feedback very well.
CONS: Has grandiose ideas that are often irrelevant to the task at hand. Gets distracted easily. Has difficulty taking an abstract concept and breaking it down to actionable pieces.
Should I be hiring only A+, "rockstar", talent or is there a place for an average developer in a startup? Cost is not really an issue. How can I move past this point of indecision?
Pros and cons aside, something in your gut is telling you that he's just not "up to snuff." These kinds of relationship just suck all around (in work as in romance and friendships, etc).
So it sounds like you've already made a decision. And the only thing to do at this point is to be as humane as possible about it. Being as it was your decision to hire him. And he's not incompetent (or a jerk) from what you're saying -- just not your long-term ideal.
Your startup will not succeed if you build a team of average.
Also you would be well advised to stop looking for a rockstar (i.e. flighty, unfocused, chasing the latest new thing, more ego than needed). Rock Star vs Rock Solid http://bit.ly/6F4jvv
Look for someone with some of these characteristics: http://bit.ly/c5Sar3