> If you're really seeking a lead developer - I'd change that to at least 5 years of developing web apps, with around 3 in ruby.
Oh pfffff, I say.
If you're hiring someone to do something they've already done before, you're missing the point.
We took on a Haskell programmer to lead our C# development side, a network hacker to lead our JavaScript work and a (CS) student to lead our Java application server side.
I strongly suggest you re-define what you're looking for in a 'lead developer'. Ability, talent, enthusiasm and team-management are high on my list.
Well sure, but it seems to me that if someone is already competent in haskell, or has done some serious networking work on their own, then they've already demonstrated that they're worth hiring, and that they'll probably be able to work with whatever you need them to.
This is different than looking for someone with 1 year of experience in ruby. The combination of short amount of time and some conflation of ruby and ruby-on-rails in the general populace could lead to a whole lot of incompetent (or inexperienced enough that it would drag the whole project down) devs being attracted to the job.
That is not to say that I think that 5 years of experience developing web apps and 3 in ruby is much of a better metric - as you said, (demonstrated) ability, talent, and enthusiasm are much more important than x years in y.
Oh pfffff, I say.
If you're hiring someone to do something they've already done before, you're missing the point.
We took on a Haskell programmer to lead our C# development side, a network hacker to lead our JavaScript work and a (CS) student to lead our Java application server side.
I strongly suggest you re-define what you're looking for in a 'lead developer'. Ability, talent, enthusiasm and team-management are high on my list.