Why Hiring developers is a marathon, not a sprint
The tech job market has reached an all-time high. All companies desperately need tech talents to thrive in the digital economy.
In this hot job climate, developers have the opportunity to be more selective and prioritize on the things that matter most to them.
Almost half of all job offers are turned down by developers because they had multiple job offers and preferred one over the other.
The days where you would expect candidates to show you what they could bring to your company have very much shifted to the opposite situation where developers ask you to show them what you can bring them.
The era of passive job seekers
Finding and hiring great people is one of the key factors behind any company’s success.
But let’s be honest, with 2.1% of unemployment among developers, the great people you seek are most probably working somewhere else.
They might not be paying attention to you or might not even know that you exist.
And still, 78% of developers are open for a new position. 20% of them are actively looking for a job while the remaining 80% are passively looking for one. That’s a lot of great potential people to tap into.
The whole trick is to make them aware that they could be thriving at your company, that they could use their skills to the fullest and build up new ones.
Unfortunately, building such awareness around your business is not an overnight thing. This is why successful companies see the race at attracting (and retaining) talents as marathon, not a sprint.
They have understood that it’s not by sporadically investing time, effort and money in their recruitment that they would attract the best people for their teams.
Instead, they play the long game. They continuously work to inspire passionate developers to join their team, even when they’re not actively recruiting.
That way, they build for themselves a solid, lovable brand image and end up nurturing a pool of tech talent that they could contact when the time is right.
Prepare for a marathon, not a sprint
If you are growing your tech team or are willing to do so, here are some good practices from top companies that you could get inspiration from:
- Increase your window of opportunity: The developers you’re trying to reach are most likely already working and might not be available for months. Most companies post jobs when they have an open position. This leads to “bad-timing” situations where developers are available when the position is not.
Instead, try to apply a proactive approach where you keep positions continuously open. That will help you build yourself a pool of great candidates with whom you can keep in touch and whom you can contact when the time is right.
Beware to be very transparent about what you are doing. It’s very important to let potential applicants know what to expect. - Build your network: The more you organize and participate in local and global events, the more chances you’ll have to bond with developer communities.
Events are a great way to let the community know more about you: what you’re working on, the technologies and methodologies that you’re using, the values you nurture inside your company.
Depending on your goals and available resources, you might have to choose from different event format. Know that in most cases conferences tend to attract more developers compared to hands-on workshops.
In terms of immediate visibility and reach, you’ll probably have more impact. However, practical sessions have a lot stronger, longer-lasting effect on attendees.
The hands-on part makes it a lot easier to interact, share your knowledge and build stronger relationships with the attendees.
If attendees liked the content you provided, there is a high chance that they will share it with other developer friends and colleagues. Those attendees could even become your ambassadors by promoting, sharing or implementing what they learned. The “ripple effect” of such events can really be tremendous. - Invest in the future workforce: By working with schools and universities, you will have the opportunity to reach the workforce of tomorrow. Despite (or thanks to) to their lack of experience, they have a lot to bring to your team.
And even if you’re not looking to hire junior profile, those freshly graduated student will soon become potential hires for you.
There are many different ways to expose them to your brand name and trigger interest for your work.
You could participate in class by providing case studies, propose internships, organize events specifically for students, or even sponsor IT student association. - Be transparent. Be open: Being open about who you are, what you do and why you do it, is a key element to inspire great people to work with you and build relationships that last.
Most successful tech companies like Netflix, Github, Facebook understood the value behind it.
They are putting an increasing number of their projects in open source. Not only does it increase their brand awareness, it also enables them to build up a pipeline of skilled and passionate developers who have already showed their motivation and interest to join their team. - Encourage word of mouth: People from your own team are your best ambassadors. Don’t hesitate to let them talk about their work during conferences, workshops or with their friends.
You can also think about implementing a referral program that could motivate them financially to inform their entourage about an open position.
Employee referral and word of mouth are by far your most effective way to attract candidates.
Hiring developers is generally a long process. On average, it takes 57 days and often takes up to 3–5 months for startups (from my last discussions with 20+ startup founders).
On the short term, you will probably be able to rely on your network for your first tech hires. But there are only that many people in your network.
If you truly want to recurrently attract great people that have the potential to make your company thrive, you’ll need to implement a solid tech recruitment strategy. A strategy that makes you stand out on the long term.
The good practices listed above are a good start. If implemented with consistent effort and discipline, they will help you source better fit for your company, reduce your hiring time and attract talented people more easily and at a lower cost.
Thanks for reading! Hope you found this article helpful. Feel free to share your views in the comments below.
If you liked this article, don’t hesitate to join our newsletter. We talk about the best practices and innovation in #Tech and #HR.
P.S. Hack League is a new platform where developers discover exciting jobs from EU’s hottest tech startups & scale ups
