IT Recruitment needs changes
I recently quit my job as a Team Lead of a successful Brisbane-based startup. The team was awesome. The environment great. The CEO, a cool, empathetic lad.
But after seven years working into Web Development (amongst which nearly four were spent in this company), something was missing.
When asked what do I do for a living, I often answer: “Haa, I am a nerd you know! A Software Engineer”. Usually it is enough to put people off. But not all the time. When the conversation does carry on, it usually takes two main directions, one of which is always way more exciting than the other.
Let’s start with the most exciting one: it usually happens when the person I am having a chat with turns out to be a fellow Developer: “Did you checkout that new Library?”, “How insane are isomorphic apps that React enables?!!”.
I was surprised to notice the most uncomfortable conversations were initiated with non-technical but genuinely interested people. I can already hear you saying: “Ohh, Typical nerd, not able to talk about anything else than Technology”. Sure I love Technology, I love talking about it too. As I do for many other subjects. But when non Technology-focus people want to know more about what I do, it forces me to consider once again that Technology is often used for a given purpose, in a given field. In other words, Technology is rarely pure: from Financial Software to Gaming, from Renewable Energy to Cancer Research: Software is used everywhere. For me it was Marketing Automation. And if I did not hate the subject, I could not help but thinking I did not actually choose it. For seven years working as a Software Engineer, as so many of my work-mates, I have never actually chosen why I will use Technology. What are the problems that matter for me to fix? Those conversations were painful, not because of the lack of Technicality around them but because they forced me to talk about a field that I did not really choose, that I did not really like.
Time for a change then! And off I went browsing recruiters websites, clearly focus to find a new role where Technology is applied in a field I love. It did not take too long to realise that with the current framework Recruiters use to advertise positions this choice was impossible to make.
Let’s take some examples of a random company. Here is its full description:
We’re a customer focused startup with a mission to build the best product for our users.
Some recruiting agencies are specialised into a couple of Technology stacks only. As a result, with so very little provided around the company and the problem it tries to fix, most job offers quite ironically look exactly the same!
I also came across that project description:
The projects are cool the software platform is constantly changing and evolving(…) I can’t give too much away on the project they are working on.
Really? But why? for commission reasons? As a job seeker I don’t want to contact that company directly if a good service is provided.
Why would a clever person choose to work on a project which cannot be described? How could it sparks ones’ curiosity?
It reminded me two years ago, my ex-boss gathered the whole company in the meeting room to show us a great talk from Simon Sinek: “How great leaders inspire action” where company were described as often putting too much emphasis around what they do and too little around why they do it:
We need a “why?” for our Technology roles, we need a “why?” in job offers.
After half of an hour scrolling around open positions, I found myself in half-drowsiness being suddenly attracted by Technology names: “React, Ruby on Rails, Node”. “Oh yes I like those!!” I thought. But when I was about to click on the “Apply now” button, I stopped. Not again, not this time.
