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How to Recruit Top Software Engineers: A Guide for Tech Recruiters

Attract top talent! Unlock the secrets to recruiting elite software engineers with our essential guide for tech recruiters. Elevate your hiring strategy now!

Introduction

Are you a stressed-out IT job recruiter looking for the best software programmers in the market? Do you feel that there is a lot of talent to explore but you do not know how to streamline your onboarding process? 

Then, you’ve come to the right place! We will talk about hiring software engineers, and not compromising even a little on quality.

Tech hiring woes

Who doesn’t want to recruit the best software programmers for their business? Professional job recruiters consider hiring software engineers as a tricky job. 

According to a tech recruiter on Reddit,

“It’s not that I can’t take constructive criticism, but when it’s every day and you’re trying everything to source candidates, it’s very backhanded. I’m sourcing through Linkedin, our company internal database, texting, networking, referrals, texting, warm calls, and lots of lots of cold calls but it’s just not enough.”

Tech companies are facing a hiring crisis! Why is there a shortage of IT talent? How do attract skilled software engineers?

The solution is simple- to hire the best software programmers, you need to think like an expert. 

The digitization process along with technological advances has put immense pressure on “businesses to go digital.”

What does a technical recruiter do?

Did you know that the need for software developers will increase by 21% by 2028? In a fast-paced industry such as tech, recruiting the best software programmers is a hot topic amongst businesses. 

Before hiring software engineers, it is crucial to understand the nature of software developer roles.

A tech recruiter should be able to find the best tech talent for their employers. 

Technical recruiters need to use their knowledge, communication, and networking skills to find software developers that fit company requirements. 

It is so much more than searching for software developers. The job covers attending networking events, talent outreach, company representation, etc.

How to hire the best software programmers

Tech vacancies account for almost 1 in 7 total U.S. job vacancies. Imagine? Hiring the best software programmers among so many candidates is equivalent to finding a gem in a treasure hunt. 

The process of hiring software developers has its hurdles and obstacles. However, with the right strategies and tools, one can improve tech recruiting to a noticeable extent. 

Let’s find out how!

Understanding how tech recruiting works.

Never underestimate the power of research! As a tech recruiter, one must know the workings of the software developer hiring phase. 

To engage the best software programmers, you need to think outside of the box. First, carry out an analysis of hiring techniques with the team, check different hiring mediums, and then do a comparative analysis.

86% of employees want to continue working remotely at least sometimes. Statistics such as these might add to your research. 

Secondly, you have to consider the company’s methods and techniques. According to recruitee.com, it takes organizations at least 42 days to fill a position so plan!

  • What channels do companies use i.e. social media or online job boards?
  • How can you utilize existing contacts and connections?
  • What about employee referral
  • How can you improve hiring and picking the best software programmers?

A tech recruiter on Reddit talks about how recruiters shouldn’t hesitate to learn about a certain niche.

“Make sure you spend some time learning about the specific type of technology your candidates work with. You don’t have to become an expert, but spend a good amount of time familiarizing yourself. A lot of recruiters fail to do this and it shows in their performance.”

Upgrade software developer job postings

Most People—92%—Never Finish Online Job Applications. Besides, who wants to fill a 9-10 page long lengthy online application? 

An application should be constructed in such a way that it doesn’t seem monotonous and helps the recruiter simplify their search for hiring software developers.

A software developer’s description should be clear and concise. With such an approach, there will be no anomalies and suitable candidates will apply only!

Don’t forget to add details on the career section of the company’s website.

Talk about salary, double-check the list of technologies and must-have skills

What projects will the software developers work on?

Craft the job description in such a manner that it doesn’t seem ‘scary” you don’t want to scare off prospective candidates.

Always mention the perks and benefits, imagine you are selling the company’s image.

Promote a great employee value proposition

To find the best software programmers, you should be able to attract the best. What does employee value proposition mean? 

Make an offer, that an expert can’t say no to. Think of salaries, bonuses, healthcare, or even remote work. 

A survey by a software engineer recruitment company found that three-quarters of developers prefer permanent remote-working arrangements, for at least part of the week.

You can even include a comment section for employee preferences in online applications to gauge what they are looking for.

With such an approach, the recruiter can recruit a top software engineer that fits the startup’s requirements.

A software engineer was asked this question (Harvard Business Review)

“When you do have a ton of opportunities like that coming your way, how do you decide which ones are worth your time?”

“I think it depends a lot on what you want to do…..So when my manager at Stripe reached out to me, it was for a full-stack, more product-engineering role……  Stripe is also just super well-known and has a reputation for being a good place for engineers and developers. That was a particular combination that was interesting to me”

Don’t depend entirely on qualifications for hiring software engineers

Do not rely entirely on the candidates’ academic qualifications. It is just not enough to assess if the individual should be hired.

With coding boot camps and online coding classes, many aspiring software developers can take their programming skills to the next level.

To hire the best software programmers, you need to break down their resumes, analyze their portfolios, and conduct in-depth interviews. 

Therefore, a strong academic background might be a plus but it is just not enough to make a final decision.

Effective screening

The best recruitment agencies know how to find and filter top talent. Whether it’s done with the help of tech events or networking sessions, the recruiter should have a set of criteria that marks a winner. 

Hiring software engineers might not be a piece of cake, however, it is not as difficult as we make it.

Without planning and defining company requirements, there is no way that an IT job recruiter can meet their goals. 

“Developer screening helps recruiters identify the best software programmer candidates before the actual job interview.”

(wecreateproblems.com)

How do you screen candidates? Can you ensure that there is no time wastage? Gaper is a marketplace of software engineers from around the world. 

Effective screening, selection, and short-listing of the best software programmers are what we do. Our vetting process consists of two stages, online assessments, and language examinations. 

After clearing these tests, we interview the developers personally so that there is no misconception or communication issue.

Ask questions

“Make something people want” includes making a company that people want to work for.” – Sahil Lavingia, founder of Gumroad

The top recruiting companies are the ones that can easily sell their company values to candidates. As a tech recruiter, discovering a candidate’s hidden talents should be your forte. 

After all, the best software programmers would be interested in evolving their careers.  Never skip the interviewing stage!

You can make a list of questions, that can be a part of the interview process. Apart from software development skills, the recruiter shouldn’t hesitate to delve into details such as hobbies, soft skills, must-haves as well as the individual’s goals. 

The main should be to get enough information to make a sound and logical decision.  You can categorize questions according to tech stacks, soft skills, experience, etc.

According to a coding expert on Quora

“I think most interviews are upside down; the goal is not to disqualify candidates with a rigid Q&A format or one dumb problem. We want to find talent by learning where they shine, not by intimidating them to find their weaknesses / blind spots (everyone has them). 

We also want to make sure we’ll all get along. As such, it helps to 

(a) hit on a lot of different things and 

(b) provide a comfortable environment.

We generally don’t seek specific tech, unless we need a person experienced in a single, key technology (e.g. “We need an elastic search expert!”). We do seek:

  • ability to solve problems in code
  • ability to communicate well
  • some interest in continually learning/being challenged
  • interest in producing quality solutions

Final thoughts

“In technology, it’s about people. Getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment & helping to find a way to innovate.” Marissa Mayer (Former President & CEO of Yahoo)

Employees are the people who play a crucial role in building the company’s reputation and bringing in more clients.

Therefore, IT job recruiters and professional staffing agencies should use their role responsibly. 

A tech recruiter’s job description is not just hiring software engineers but bringing in the best software programmers for the startup’s growth.

FAQs

How do you recruit great software engineers?

As a tech recruiter looking to hire the best software programmers, you need to devise a strategy or step-by-step plan before hiring software developers. What differentiates a tech recruiter from a company is their approach toward the software engineer hiring process. There are a few steps that should never be forgotten when hiring software engineers.

Research – be very vigilant when fetching information related to online hiring platforms and social media sources. No information is enough information! Look into the nitty-gritty, reviews, and customer feedback related to websites.

Understanding tech recruiting – How can you become a tech recruiter if you do not understand the workings of hiring software developers? From top software developer profiles to job responsibilities, make sure there is no compromise on any phase.

Job description update– Create a clear and concise software engineer job description. Do not sugar coat, however at the same time think about what benefits, and opportunities would attract the best software programmers. Come up with a job offer a candidate can deny!

Screening and interviews– Never conduct interviews without screening candidates. It not only saves time but saves money as well. With the assistance of screening, you can eliminate candidates that do not match the advertised software developer job post.

What are the five recruitment strategies or methods?

Listed below are five methods that can improve tech recruiting to a noticeable extent.

Hire according to the potential of the candidate

Implementation of an employee referral program

Organizing tech events to find the best software programmers

Optimizing job postings

Effective screening method

How do tech recruiters find candidates?

To recruit the best software engineers, the tech recruiter must check all options before beginning the phase of hiring software engineers

Social media- Many top tech recruiting firms use social networking sites as a channel to not only post job openings but to look for top talent. 

For instance, LinkedIn is a great choice for finding serious software developer profiles. The more details, the better the results.

Online job boards- Tech company recruiters may rely on virtual job boards such as Gaper when it comes to finding top talent. 

Why is this? Gaper is a global marketplace for software engineers. These engineers are hand-picked for specific projects after careful vetting, assessments, and interviewing. Therefore, it saves tech recruiters and organizations the hassle of checking if candidate profiles are genuine.

How do I recruit IT professionals?

To hire top software engineers, some tips should not be ignored.

Understand the technicalities and details of the position

Create an ideal candidate profile

Make a job proposition that entices the best software engineers

Dig deeper during the questioning and portfolio-checking stage

Consider employee referral programs

What are the ideal top 3 traits of a software engineer?

When looking for the best software programmers, never miss out on certain traits. This set of qualities not only gets work done but plays an essential part in company progress.

Time management and planning- When it comes to any job or project, being able to deliver on time builds trust with the client. 

It shows that the developer is delivering as promised and not beating about the bush. Secondly, software development is a time-consuming job, it demands organization and attention to detail.

Willingness to learn- It is true that the learning process never ends! A top software developer demonstrates enthusiasm when it comes to staying up-to-date with technology trends. 

Of course, there is no stopping when it comes to digitization. Therefore, the best software programmers understand this.

Business sense & networking- In this era of remote working, hybrid models, and work-from-home employment, the best software engineers are those who value the advantages of customer relationship building. 

Strong communication is integral when it comes to project completion and execution.

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