Previously on the Batman Process….
What is the Batman 7 Step Process?
- Work by hand
- Write Down What You Did
- Find Patterns
- Check by Hand
- Translate to Code (Boolean)
- Run Test Cases
- Debug Failed Test Cases
Step 1. Work by Hand
This step would happen when we first get the job requirement or intake meeting.
Step 2. Write Down What You Did.
Once you are comfortable that you understand what you’re looking for, have some profiles of people that may be currently working for your company in this role (or profiles that the hiring manager may have passed along that look like a fit), or even people that you’ve used in a similar search; it’s time to write everything down.
In this article of the series, we will look at steps 3 and 4: Find Patterns and Check by Hand.
Step 3. Find Patterns
I love looking for patterns and maybe you do too. Start looking for what pops out that is similar on the profiles that you’ve just looked at. Even though we’re not really using tools at this point, http://writewords.org.uk/phrase_count.asp is a free and helpful aid to find phrases that may help you get started if you’re having trouble. As you find the similar phrases, skills, software, etc. Write it down.
This is your word cloud. The starting point for your search. You’re looking at all the common phrases, skills, companies, schools, etc. and looking to see what patterns stand out. If you’re just using one or two profiles do base this on, the results are going to be pretty limited. If you’re using 100s of profiles, unless you’re using a tool this could be pretty overwhelming. Start with the top 10 profiles.
Again, you’re going to be looking for repetitions. What do these profiles have in common? What do that not have listed that the job description may have listed as a requirement? What do they have listed that the job description doesn’t have listed as a requirement?
Going back to step 2, write everying down. Don’t be afraid to take out a highlighter or red pen and start circling the results of the patterns that you’re finding. Use a tool like writewords.org.uk to print out a word/phrase cloud and use that to review with the hiring manager.
Taking this little bit of extra time up front will help you save time on the back end of the process.
Step 4. Check by Hand
This step may seem silly after you’ve spent the time to review and circle and highlight profiles in Step 3. It’s the critical thinking part of this exercise that will help you find spots to make this helpful. Remember, in Step 3 you were looking for patterns and phrases and common traits out of maybe 10 profiles. Does that mean that all 10 profiles will have everything listed in the same way? No.
Taking the time to go through each of those 10 profiles will train your mind on how to look for patterns. Since you’ve spent a good amount of time digging to find those patterns, they should be easy to spot. Like clues laying in the mud. Batman didn’t just automatically know that is where the clue would be, but he knew to look for the patterns.
Once you’ve spent some time reviewing the profiles that helped you find the common traits and the patterns, you’ll be ready to apply that to a much larger set of information.
In the next article, we’ll look at translating this work into code. In our case, it may be (Boolean).