The demand for devs is IT’s biggest challenge — Tamara Petrovic, Computer Rock
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What makes a company great? What makes it attractive to professionals to want to be a part of it?
Those are the questions we had for Tamara Petrovic, Human Resources Coordinator at Computer Rock.
Computer Rock is a company delivering product and service design by consulting companies in business modeling, processes, and product/service development. They are assembling concepts through detailed requirements engineering and award-winning user experience and interface design.
Computer Rock are a globalized international company with European values and offices in Belgrade, Hamburg, Zurich, and London.
What are the greatest challenges that the Serbian IT scene faces and what are the steps you take in order to overcome them?
The greatest challenge we face is the big demand for developers, especially experienced ones, that can’t really be found in big numbers on the market. When you publish an ad for a position, you are often competing with 20 companies at the same time, and they’re all for a person with the same skill set. At first, it seems that all of them offer very similar work conditions as you. The oversaturation of certain communication channels, such as employment websites and LinkedIn, is also a problem. Our strategy for overcoming some of these problems will stay a secret for now 😊.
The deficit of professionals in IT is a big problem. Why is it important for companies to deal with Employer Branding?
Employer Branding is exactly one of the ways to stand out between 20 ongoing job postings and to attract the candidate to apply exactly to yours. Developers have greater and greater choices, and they can allow the luxury to choose where and under which conditions they are going to work. Good employer branding allows that person to get a complete picture of what you offer, they can peak in the company before they accept an interview or accepts an offer. Employer branding is the emotion you add to the company name and job description.
How do IT conferences contribute to the image?
I think that every quality IT conference should make sharing knowledge and good practices their main goal. If a lecturer stands out at the conference because of their knowledge, shares an example of a good and successful project, and that person is by the way employed at your company, there is no better way to build the image.
When does the process of recruitment end? And when does the process of keeping the employees and motivating them to stay in the company as long as possible begin?
The process of recruitment ends when the candidate accepts your offer. The next process starts with onboarding when we help the employee adapt as quickly as possible to the organizational culture of the company, to the team, to the project. Motivating the employees should be focused on creating such work conditions, so they can help the employee be efficient in their job and happy to be a part of the company. For someone that means a good computer, and for another, it’s remote working. You should listen closely to the individual needs and meet them when it’s possible and viable.
How should a company approach the career plan of Senior Developers in relation to the Juniors?
Contrary to the Juniors, Seniors have a clearer picture of their stronger suits, and they should take a more active part in their development plan. During the realization of their plan, people with lots of experience rarely have a mentor, someone they can learn from, so they have to support themselves and be proactive. In the IT industry, it’s not rare for people to shift from one technology to another, and we encourage them to shift their development plan if that’s possible.
