Now is the best time ever to be a software developer. With a high base salary of $90K+, great benefits packages, and perks like catered meals, flexible schedules, and remote work opportunities, companies are pulling out all the stops to woo talented developers. Even still, tech organizations both large and small are having trouble filling out their company roster. According to the report State of Software Development 2018 (SSD 2018), of 300+ surveyed industry participants, a whopping 33.55% of managers say that hiring talent is the biggest challenge facing software development — their number one issue by far.
So how can your company improve its chances in a competitive hiring market? Check out our cheat sheet below for seven tips on landing the best and brightest software developers!
The Cheat Sheet
- Create an enjoyable candidate experience: Gone are the days of nerve-wracking interviews and stressful hiring processes. Candidates place a premium on the hiring experience as a positive or negative experience can change their opinion of a company for the better or worse. And with 25% of SSD 2018 participants saying employee referrals is the most efficient way of hiring talent (more than any other method), it’s important that your team members have a great candidate experience as they are your company’s strongest ambassadors, helping to fill new positions that open up.
- Establish a smooth interview process: An extension of tip 1 above, it’s important to implement an efficient and frictionless interview process between the candidate and all stakeholders. Properly prep each candidate for their interviews with expectations so they can be on their A-game, and ensure interviews are timely as candidates are likely under consideration at multiple companies. It’s a job seeker’s market, so by implementing a smooth interview process, you can give your company an edge over competitors.
- Maintain clear communication: If you were considering multiple companies, would you pick the one that was on the ball about communicating the timeline of the candidate process from start to finish, or the company that left you in the dark? Easy answer. By maintaining clear communication of the process schedule, which assessments will be made and how they will be delivered, which skills will be tested, and conveying what is important to the company and culture, you present your organization as an attractive, well-run machine.
- Reveal the relevance: The candidate experience is packed with interviews and assessments as the company tries to evaluate each developer under consideration, but are you sure the candidate understands the who/what/why of each step? Get the most out of your candidate by disclosing the relevance of each person they meet and why they’re meeting with them. Likewise, the candidates should understand how the assessments relate to the position they are applying for (Qualified can help!).
- Implement a consistent interview structure: Your company may see dozens of candidates for each open position, so how do the developers stack up against one another? There’s no way to really know unless you implement an interview structure that is consistent across all candidates by using the same questions and assessments. This standardization will help you compare the strengths and weakness of each candidate so that the hiring team and stakeholders can make a well-informed decision.
- Allow room for flexibility in hiring practices: Are you looking to hire an entry-level, junior, or senior developer? The demands of the position may require you to tweak your hiring practices in order to court the talent you need. Since positions differ, allow flexibility to adjust your recruiting process so you can find the best match for each open role.
- Understand the culture: 39.6% of SSD 2018 participants report culture fit as being the most important hiring criterion (second only to willingness to learn at 44.5%). From a company standpoint, it’s critical to know your own dev culture in order to evaluate whether a candidate will make a seamless fit. Even if your company is looking for diverse mindsets, you must have a firm grasp of the culture to help gauge different perspectives. It’s equally as important to set up resources for candidates to learn about your company and culture so that they can determine whether the organization is a place where they can make a positive impact.
When it comes to assessing developer skills, Qualified can help. Demand for brilliant software developers are outpacing supply. Your company can position itself for a fast, optimized talent recruitment process by implementing the tips from the cheat sheet above- or by making sure you know what competencies you are hiring for (another thing we support). Our online platform streamlines the candidate process by quickly identifying the best technical candidates through code assessments, pair-programming interviews, and personal sessions of outlining candidate competencies. Send us a message to learn more.