There’s a growing demand for software developers – and for good reason. Any business that wants to thrive in our digitally-powered world today must take intentional steps towards gaining visibility.
Owing to this surge in demand, the software industry is seen to be saturated and there’s a notably limited talent pool in the market. As a matter of fact, companies looking to recruit software engineers to fill open positions often find it more challenging separating the wheat from the chaff.
And yes, it’s no wonder why our experts are frequently approached with questions on how to hire the best software developers. Taking this as a cue that finding specialists has become a huge stumbling block for companies looking to develop custom software solutions, we decided to write this guide on how to recruit and hire great software engineers.
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What makes a good developer?
Whether you are a business leader at a startup, a small business owner or you manage a middle-market business or an international enterprise, recruiting the right software engineers could be the game changer for your organization.
Before we delve into all you need to know about hiring a software developer for your business, it is imperative that you know what qualities to look out for from these professionals.
Here’s a list we made:
- Flexibility and familiarity with diverse programming languages
- Decent communication and collaboration skills
- Creativity
- Professional portfolio
- Understanding of Software design and architecture
- Understanding of Algorithms and data structures
- Information analysis
- How to debug software
- How to test software
- Interpersonal skill set
The big question
Talent Vs Experience – Which is it?
When it comes to hiring software engineers for any organization, the right talent is as important as it has ever been.
Oftentimes, recruiters make the mistake of choosing experience over talent. They give more credence to the number of years a person has worked, as a measure of how exceptional they are at what they do. While experience is great, talent is actually one of the most scarce resources in the software industry. Talent brings about creativity which is the ability to adapt to different environments and technologies.
However, you’re in luck if you are able to find a software engineer that brings both talent and experience or expertise to the table. This is why it is important to hire right. Our expert recommendation based on years of experience in hiring software engineers and growing a team of over 100 remote experts is to give less importance to whatever experience shows in their resume if there is proven technical abilities and soft skills.
Still, you may need to take into cognizance the actual role the software developer needs to fulfill. A developer with experience may be your best bet if you’re looking to get something done in a specific way. Consequently, if you’re looking to grow an existing team or drive some form of innovation, a fresh creative mind could fit in perfectly.
Expert tip: Talented candidates who fail in an assessment may still have significant potential in the future. While they may not exactly have the experience you want, they may be able to give other valuable experiences and knowledge to
How to Best Recruit Software Engineers
The process of recruiting software engineers and developers is no different from recruiting staff to fill in any other position in an organization. Same recruiting practices apply across board.
In our opinion, before you proceed to post an opening, certain structures must be put in place.
- Firstly, before hiring software engineers, you must create a culture where they can thrive. What we mean by this is that you must be willing to work out flexible work hours and dress code for instance. In addition, you must ensure your on-boarding practice is not lacking. E.g do you communicate your goals and challenges to your recently hired software developer before getting them to jump on your project? Do you give them the proper support they need in a new environment? Is your tech stack up to date? No software engineer likes to work with outdated technologies.
- Secondly, you must avoid misleading job descriptions. It’s a common occurrence for employers to say one thing in a job description and mean another. Misleading practices like this could easily lead the wrong talent straight to your organization. It is very important that your job description is clear and communicates exactly what you want from your software engineer.
- Ensure your hiring process is competitive. That is to say, get references from existing companies who are hiring. Simply put, see what your competitors are doing and do it. Whether it’s in terms of competitive salaries or compensating your staff with benefits, perks, stock options, and more. Engineers like to work with companies that care about their staff and provide support and opportunities for growth and upward mobility in their career paths.
Hiring a software developer
Now that you understand the part you have to play before the recruitment process, we’ll jump right into hiring the right talent for you.
It starts with defining what you want
While there is no one size fits all approach, as a hiring manager or employer, it is important that you define what type of developer you want, the skill set they must possess and the return on investment you are expecting from the hire. Being specific with what you want can greatly impact your success at hiring the right software engineer.
For instance, some software engineers specialize in creating designs which are then handed off to computer programmers who implement codes that run the software. If you are not familiar with software development, here, we would expatiate on some of the most basic areas of expertise you should know:
Frontend development: If you are looking to recruit software engineers that mostly specialize in developing the visual interface or the user side of your application (that is how users interact with your software) then you are looking at hiring a frontend developer. JavaScript, HTML, and CSS are some of the most common frontend programming languages.
Backend development: Are you looking at hiring software engineers that work behind the scenes on the actual logic that allows the software to run? Then you are looking to hire a a backend developer. Here the expert must have knowledge of database management and caching systems. Some of the most common programming languages in this case include SQL, C++, Python, PHP, Ruby, ASP.NET etc.
Full-stack development: A combination of frontend and backend equals “full-stack”. A full stack developer is proficient in many programming languages both in frontend and backend and have experience in various types of software development projects.
Web development: Web developers are software engineers that basically specialize in developing websites and web applications. These software engineers are common with programming languages such as Java, Go, Ruby, C, and Swift.
Mobile development: Mobile developers as the name implies specialize in the development of mobile applications or applications on wearable tech. Some of the most common programming languages in this case includes JavaScript, C#, Kotlin, Python, and Swift.
Data science expert: A data science developer is a software engineer who works on software solutions that help businesses collect and analyze data, in order to make better informed decisions. Common languages here include Scala, Python, SQL, R and Julia.
QA and testing: These software engineers are responsible for determining if a developed software product is worth it or not. They do this by continuously putting the software through stress to reveal flaws and points of improvement in a product.
Next is “The process”
Coding Assessment
The first step in your recruitment funnel should be a coding assessment. Once you are able to create a thorough assessment, you can easily separate the wheat from the chaff. This helps to shorten the time to hire software engineers, as you can easily ascertain their knowledge on the requisite programming language for your project.
Assess Additional skills
More than the ability to code, exceptional software engineers bring more values to the table. A software engineer that only knows how to code and doesn’t have an eye for design may not be right for your project. More so, they should have interpersonal skills like being able to work with people and communicate effectively.
The easiest way to assess this is by creating behavioural interviews. This can be game based assessment or logical reasoning assessments.
Better Alternative Channels for hiring software engineers
If the process of recruiting software engineers seems like a stress you wouldn’t want to go through, there are better alternatives you can consider. With this alternative, you are sure to get the best talent every time, to ensure the scalability of your project.
Outsourcing
As an alternative to hiring software engineers by yourself, you can outsource your project. As a small business owner or entrepreneur, you can work with an experienced IT company that can get you immediate access to the best software developers from anywhere you are in the world.
An advantage of this is that you save time from worrying about anything related to sourcing, hiring, and retaining talent or even the associated cost of recruitment.
Regardless of what type of expertise you’re looking for, at Eternitech, we can connect you to the best hands for your project. Our team is made up of talented professionals who are experienced in a variety of languages and you are sure to get the most skilled software engineers working on your project.
