Ilya Shmidt, Head Of Operations at Careerist, a learning platform where Edtech meets SaaS in job placement.
Recruiting software developers has always been challenging. Highly qualified professionals like this are difficult to attract and even more difficult to retain. Even layoffs in tech companies did not change this dynamic. With the tech occupation unemployment rate recently dropping to 1.8%, companies continue to compete for the best talent. In this landscape, it is essential to ensure that your recruitment process is as effective as possible.
Here are seven key aspects to focus on when hiring software developers in 2023:
1. Be clear about what you expect and what you offer.
Define the requirements. Be specific about the technical competencies, programming languages, frameworks, certifications and soft skills candidates should possess. Determine which qualifications are essential for the role, and which are desirable but not mandatory. Additionally, provide explicit information about what you are offering: the types of projects a new hire will work on, the company’s core values, the support available for new employees and so forth.
Never underestimate the importance of this step. Establishing clear requirements and offerings can help you attract the right candidates, streamline the screening process, enhance the productivity of interviews and set realistic performance expectations.
2. Build a well-planned hiring process.
According to a PWC survey, almost half of candidates say they’ve declined a job offer (and more than half discouraged others from applying to a company) because of a poor experience during the hiring process. You don’t want this to happen when recruiting software developers, particularly since the candidate pool is often relatively small already. That is why it’s crucial to have a structured and effective hiring process in place.
Be transparent and consistent. Candidates for positions in software development want to know the key steps of the process, the evaluation criteria, the feedback mechanisms and the expected timeline. A well-planned hiring process not only increases the likelihood that the selected candidate will accept your offer but also ensures that applicants who have a good experience will speak positively about your company to others, thus helping you attract more qualified candidates in the future.
3. Value skills over formal education.
While a degree in computer science undoubtedly provides a strong foundation for software developers, practical skills often carry greater value. As technologies, tools and frameworks continuously evolve, the knowledge candidates acquired in college can quickly become outdated. That’s why you might want to prioritize adaptability and a passion for learning new things over formal educational certifications.
You can find great candidates among self-taught coders or boot camp graduates; just don’t get discouraged by the need to assess their qualifications carefully. Remember: These candidates are typically motivated to build a career as developers and are used to picking up new skills quickly. Moreover, alternative training programs often focus on the current frameworks and most in-demand technical skills, so you will probably hire a developer who is well versed in the latest technologies if you choose from this pool.
4. Use the right tools.
Once you know what qualifications you’re searching for and what your hiring process should look like, the next step is to pick the right tools to streamline it wherever possible. Luckily, there are a wide range of solutions for you to choose from.
For example, ATS platforms can help you filter out applicants who don’t have the necessary technical skills and manage relationships with viable candidates. AI-powered solutions can analyze developers’ accounts on GitHub, StackOverflow and other relevant platforms to generate a summary of their technical expertise and experiences. Coding assessment tools allow you to quickly verify a prospective candidate’s programming skills by having them complete short coding challenges. Finally, technical interview platforms with integrated video chats can provide a shared coding environment where developers can write, run and debug code while discussing it with interviewers.
5. Require real-world tests.
Asking overly theoretical questions such as “What is object-oriented programming?” during a technical interview will not help you understand a candidate’s problem-solving skills or coding proficiency. Instead, choose questions that are directly related to the role’s requirements and the technologies used within your organization. Incorporate coding exercises that reflect real-world scenarios. Ask questions like “How would you solve problem X?” and “Why did you select this specific approach?” Don’t focus only on the candidate’s ability to recall specific syntax or language features, either; you also want to evaluate their work style and how they deal with complex tasks.
6. Assess soft skills.
Assessing technical expertise is certainly crucial when hiring software developers, but it’s also essential to pay attention to a candidate’s soft skills. In most cases, a software engineer role will involve collaboration with designers, product managers, QA testers, project managers, other developers, etc. That’s why it’s important to make sure that a prospective new hire can communicate effectively, is able to share ideas, can give and receive feedback calmly and can handle potential conflicts appropriately. Considering the soft skills of your candidates can help ensure a positive team dynamic, better performance and lower turnover rates.
7. Streamline the decision-making process.
Good software engineers will likely receive multiple job offers when looking for a new role. Any delay in evaluating candidates can lead to losing top talent to competitors, which brings us back to the beginning: If you did a good job defining job requirements, built a structured hiring process that meets your specific needs and chose effective assessment methods, you already have a solid foundation for streamlining the decision-making process.
Implementing clear deadlines for each hiring stage can also be beneficial. For instance, you might commit to making a decision within three days of the initial screenings and making an offer within a week of the final interviews. A strict timeline helps avoid delays.
In conclusion, even minor improvements to your approach to hiring software developers can help you identify the right candidates, reduce time-to-hire, decrease turnover rates and build a positive employer brand. Consider these tips to create a strong team of talented developers who can deliver high-quality products.
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