Geeks Prefer Competence To Niceness 300
Death Metal writes "While everyone would like to work for a nice person who is always right, IT pros will prefer a jerk who is always right over a nice person who is always wrong. Wrong creates unnecessary work, impossible situations and major failures. Wrong is evil, and it must be defeated. Capacity for technical reasoning trumps all other professional factors, period."
Nice and Jerk are irrelevant (Score:4, Informative)
The first level of filtering is to remove incompetence. If a person can't do the job, they're out. Personality, odor, presentation, etc. mean nothing at this point. If that initial filter means the only remaining candidates are smelly jerks then make sure your office has positive air pressure and a door that locks.
If that initial filter leaves you with some NICE people who are also competent, then you filter out the jerks. If you still have choices left, filter out the smell. If you still have choices left, filter out the people who dress like they're homeless.
It doesn't mean that I LIKE jerks. It means that personality is secondary to competence. And there are plenty of nice people who are also competent. But nice people who can't do the job aren't even considered.