When there are a large array of known options for bringing qualified engineers onto a team, why would anyone want to consider a self-taught, zero-experience music major? What's the value to the bottom line hiring someone that will need a lot of mentoring? How does a person that can barely spell string interpolation contribute to a codebase?

With the explosion of distributed teams, and the possibility employing anyone living anywhere, there can be unexpected surprises and successes in considering less traditional developers. This session will provide a different perspective to those building a team and hope with a healthy dose of warning to those looking to get their foot in the door.