Recruit from a Developer's Perspective

Developers are in high demand – and they know it! It’s common for developers to ignore 19 out of every 20 ads they receive from recruiters. If you want to find the right person for your team, you’ll need to get creative: try thinking from a developer’s perspective.

Read on

Some initial things to look for

You can recognize a skilled developer by the extensive portfolio of apps or projects they've worked on, not only in previous jobs but also in their own time. This is what distinguishes a skilled developer from a "normal" one. An experienced developer will have (among other things) the interest and enthusiasm to develop their projects even after coming home from work. Most of the time, these "hobby" projects are of a different type than the developer does in his career, proving they have a good overview of the large field of technology.

You don't have to code to speak their language, but it helps

The best job posts are written by senior employees who have a deep understanding of what the job requires: the kind of person who won’t mistake Java for JavaScript. The job description should highlight why the work is interesting or what sweet new technologies the future team member will use. Few enjoy working with tedious, old-hat technologies. Unless you're a particularly inflexible corporation, you should follow recent trends and implement the latest technologies. Otherwise, forget about finding a good programmer at a reasonable salary. (At U+, we use a lean startup method to help such corporations get excellent digital products out the door faster).

Show compelling work

Arguably, the best way to persuade developers to join your team is to provide stimulating work. If your product is revolutionary, or has the potential to help lots of people, you’ll find passionate, talented people. Similarly, if your industry appeals to a developer, you should lead with that. Foodies are going to be drawn towards nutrition startups, for instance.

Money is important, of course, but people are motivated by more than their salaries. Too many large companies speak trendy language in a bid to acquire developers only to force them to wear a suit and sit in a cubicle. It’s better to show developers why working for you will be an inspiring and rewarding experience beyond the paycheck they take home. How is your business impacting society? Is it making the world a better place? If so, make sure to tell your prospective employees.

Look in the right places

It’s hard to find good programmers through public employment services or web ads. Capable developers are probably already employed and won't bother looking for work if they are already comfortable in their current position. If their employer pampers them, you are probably out of luck. But if you can find some underrated talent in a large corporation, you may have a future colleague on your hands.

Explore developer social communities

Joining communities provides endless opportunities to connect with developers. Explore courses, lectures, conferences, special Facebook groups, or referrals from colleagues and friends. Better yet, run your own course or lecture series. Similarly, consider offering rewards for recommending new colleagues. After all, people love working with their friends.

Academia

If you have a master's degree, you can be a thesis advisor, an external supervisor, or you can directly negotiate with university management. You can even approach capable students with job offers. Students are often willing to work for a lower salary in exchange for industry contacts and experience. However, you should choose among students carefully and make sure you pick those who enjoy the work itself, rather than how it looks on a resumé. Of course, make sure not to exploit anyone and to offer reasonable benefits in return for reasonable work.

Online

Everyone who’s anyone is on LinkedIn, including developers. Remember that particularly capable people often receive several messages a day from recruiters, many of them personalized. So be respectful and try to avoid calling them. Developers tend to be a little shy.

If you do reach out to someone through LinkedIn, keep it succinct and friendly. And make sure not to insult them accidentally. This includes getting their name right!

Another good idea is to pay for advertisements on specialized online magazines (like StackOverflow, Github, or Backlog). Developers visit these spaces to read articles, engage with discussion boards, and connect with peers. You can also place your ad in Facebook groups which focus on a particular language, framework, or topic. Check if the group allows job ads to be posted there, or you might get some unpleasant responses.

If you have some subject matter knowledge, you can contribute to dev discussions on forums like Reddit. Just include a link to your jobs page in your profile description or post footer. People are more likely to look at your profile and visit your website if you often contribute high-quality content.

Personal attention

You should do some legwork and check out profiles outside of LinkedIn. It takes a lot of time, but the results may be worth it. One of our developers was contacted by a prospective employer through his blog. It turned out they had a shared love of Indian cuisine, so they decided to talk about the job chat at his favorite Indian restaurant. Offers like this will make your company stand out. So get creative.

What to engage

Money isn't everything, but it's important. Some people will be persuaded to come work for you by perks like airy, spacious offices, health benefits, and company trips. Others prefer to measure their job satisfaction purely in terms of dollars and cents. Finding the balance between offering an industry-standard salary and fun perks is difficult. The best advice here is to simply talk to your employees about what they need to work happily and productively.

Be upfront about your company's drawbacks. You should not hide anything important from your new hires; it will always come out sooner or later, especially if the probation period is long enough. Honesty is fundamental, and will determine who is loyal to you and your brand over the long term.

Introduce your new employee to their colleagues. Competent people enjoy learning from competent people. Shop talk is a real thing, and you should encourage your employees to engage in it, whether it’s in a workspace or over a few beers in the local bar.

Keep things informal. Feel free to invite the candidate for a coffee or beer, ideally at a neutral location. Be friendly, genuine, and speak casually. You want the candidate to feel comfortable with the idea that they’ll be spending a lot of time with you.

Perks

Phrases like "sick days," "young, dynamic collective," "opportunity to participate in decisions," and "competitive salary" appear in IT job posts worldwide. These buzzwords are so widespread that candidates have come to expect them. What does your company offer that nobody else can? The people? The location? The chance to work on a unique product? Lead with that.

Mention exciting benefits that not every company offers, such as:

  • Flexibility and freedom, and the option of remote work

  • Work-life balance. Show people that you will not keep them at work against their will. Don't force them to work on weekends. If the deadline is close, don't be afraid to offer them a bigger salary if they work in their free time.

  • Sports and fitness. Do you offer yoga, climbing, or running? Mention these in your post. You could even invite a candidate to a session before committing to hiring them.

  • Games. Programmers have to procrastinate too, so it's good to have some entertainment for them. This will also make people more excited about coming to the office.

  • Food. The Romans knew well (as our current politicians do) that bread and circuses are a great way to gain popularity. It's not that different with programmers. Do you offer free fruit and a nutritious breakfast in the office? Similarly, you can encourage programmers to come to work earlier with periodic breakfast spreads.

  • Personal development. Participation in language courses, conferences, company cooking courses, or anything else is a welcome benefit, definitely worth mentioning.

  • Team-building events. Do you organize trips, wine tastings, climbing, canoeing, or team building sessions where you eat organic goat cheese on a scenic farm? Some people can’t resist perks like this.

  • Free hardware. If you're cool enough to offer Macs or PCs to employees according to their preference, you should probably mention it.

  • Phone plan. Many companies still do not provide phone plans to their employees. This is a shame, since a company can negotiate significantly better conditions than an individual.

  • Coffee equals code. Take this statement literally. If you have a La Marzocco coffee machine and beans from Doubleshot, you should certainly share the great news. Tea is terrific as well. You could get a tea subscription for your office or even find a “tea guru”. These perks, which are hardly very expensive, really can make all the difference for some candidates.