Berkeley Data Systems of Utah wanted to get the know the local programming and engineering community a little better. After all you cant recruit local talent if you don't know them.
But how to separate the good ones from the bad ones? Pop and Pizza events are fine but you don't really get an impression of the quality of work - just a feel for who is a better conversationalist.
So what did they do?
They had a programming contest with a $10,000.00 prize. And they gave it the clever title "Programmer Deathmatch"
The contest succeeded on both counts. It was a successful recruiting tool for Berkeley Data Systems, and it added some excitement to the local programming scene.
120 programmers participated in the first round over the Internet. The second round (also run over the ‘Net) had a field of 30. Only 8 were left standing for the final round, which was held at the Berkeley Data Systems headquarters in American Fork, Utah.
Brian Palmer, the youngest of the finalists (and the Ruby user) impressed [the CEO] and the other folks from Berkeley Data Systems enough that he ended up being offered a job.
This is a contest that could potentially be used for a lot of positions. How about a Sales Deathmatch?
Or a local community could have a "contractors deathmatch" where they have local renovation experts compete to see who really can solve problems and make quality repairs.
The possibilities are endless.....
Read more about the Deathmatch here.
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