Pre-approach when Hiring a Top Software Developer
I’ve spoken before on how great software developers are hard to recruit and even harder to retain.
And I’ve given examples of bad pre-approach vs good pre-approch. Feel free to reach about that.
However today I want to talk about our pre–approach in particular. In today’s world top software developers and engineers have new opportunities daily from multiple recruiters and companies reaching out to them. Hence if you’re looking for a programmer you’re up against every company out there from Google & Facebook to the next self driving car startup.
- So how do you stand-out?
- What can make you attract and retain the best software developers and talent out there?
- And more can you even compete and hire great talent?
You can stand out and reach great engineers
Well the good answer is you can hire a top software developer you just need to focus on the key points that resonate with developers. In this post I’ll try to help you find the correct approach to hiring people and how to be successful at hiring.
Factors to Consider before Hiring Top Software Developer
So let now try to break down a few important points based on actual research and numbers to help us hone in our hiring process and make our developer search success. Here are the factors to consider when building your outreach to potential top software developers:
- Speak to a person. Make connections. Not fill job vacancies
First you must PERSONALIZE your outreach to each individual based on multiple factors. You must know who you’re reaching out to and why. If you focus on creating a connection, rather than filling a job need, you’ll be ten steps ahead than most companies out there. Look at their LinkedIn, Blog, GitHub. Are they passionate about your technologies, do they have relevant experience, when was their last role etc. - Languages, Frameworks and Technologies
The most important factor for software developer and software engineers when looking for their next job is what languages, frameworks and technologies they will be working with, everything else is second to that. This means you not only need to know and understand what languages and technologies your company is using (i.e. Python, JavaScript, React, AWS, GCP, Kubernetes etc) you must also understand the candidate’s potential to fill those needs. Has he worked with Angular and Vue? Tell him about how his experience can be jumping board into him mastering React, and how you guys enable people to learn. He already has 3 git repos contributing to React? Focus on his achievements, and how you can use his libs in your project (if possible). You guys used PHP? Find PHP experts, people that are passionate about PHP, don’t approach Node.js enthusiast. These are just some examples, modify them to suit your needs. - Environment and Culture
This is the second most important factor, this is where you can really shine. It’s not about free pizza’s or pretty offices. It’s more about the people, team and environment. Do you encourage growth? How do you handle failures? Do you allow people to learn? What makes your environment healthy and exciting? Why will that person feel that your company is a good place for him? Again think of growth, learning and recognition. Watch it and adjust your outreach to take that into consideration and you’ll be on your way to hire a top software developer.
- Timing with Candidates
32.4% of software developers already changed their job last year alone! This means your email to those developer or engineers should be different than say 14.5% of software developers that have changed their jobs 3-4 years ago. When approaching the first batch you should consider an introduction, more than a hire potential. However the second group could be happy or ready for a change. There is no magic formula here. You just have to create connections with great developers. This has worked wonders for me, sometimes the email got them at a perfect timing, other times there were happily employed or just started a new job. Find out more about your timing and adjust your approach accordingly. - Flexibility and Remote work
Another point you can really win on is focusing your company on results not attendance. This means emphasis to potential software developers how flexible you are with time, offer work from home opportunities, or better yet allow for remote work. If you can move away from thinking you need to see developers in their seats from 8-5 and start focusing on managing outcomes, you’ll not only attract amazing talent, you’ll also get outstanding productivity. I’d even claim, if you only get results when you have people in their seats next to you for 8, 9 or more hours per day, you management is the problem. People love to be recognized for their achievements, focus on that, not working time. - Salary, price and compensation
While how much money you’ll be paying your software developer or software engineer is not the first considering for potential candidates, it does of course come into play and varies from person to person. First off pay too little and almost no one will want to work for you. Top software developers and engineers want a company that values them, so the money does matter. Your best bet it to pay as high as you can, while keeping in mind your budget of course. The business reason behind that is that a great engineer will make your project super successful, a bad one will cause you 10x damage. So think twice before trying to save here.
In Closing
There you have it! Considering these factors would surely come handy to hire a top software developer for your next project. Customize your approach focus on the key points and prioritize quality over anything to boost your business the right way.