Hiring software developers is notoriously difficult. Talented software engineers are hard to find, expensive to retain, and need technical support. That being said, there are many surefire ways to get the best talent for your company. Chiefly, you must show that your company has a positive and progressive workspace that is worth investing in. You also have to ensure you provide market-competitive compensation and benefits to retain your talent. As long as you ensure your HR department hires the right developers for you, you’ll see massive long-term returns on these investments.
The challenges of hiring software developers
These are the top 4 challenges of hiring software engineers.
1. Education And Credentials
It’s almost impossible to accurately gauge a software engineer’s skills via their education. Some of the world’s best software engineers have great degrees from impressive universities. While others only have a high school diploma.
Instead, you’ll have to test candidates using other metrics, like past work, technical interview, and their GitHub. Practically every company has to develop its own standards for evaluating software engineers.
2. Talent Shortage
Talented software engineers are hard to come by. You won’t experience a shortage in applications for a software engineering job post. But, you’ll have a hard time finding one who’s right for your company and your needs.
You want a software engineer whose skills and experiences match your company’s. You wouldn’t hire a mobile app developer for a Mac application, right?
One way to compensate is to hire remotely across the country, or maybe even the world, but that has its own challenges, too.
3. Fierce Market Competition
Since good software engineers are hard to come by, your competitors fiercely retain their best ones. We’re talking about high salaries, relaxed working environments, paid vacations, and plenty of other benefits. You’ll need to offer that to get the best engineers, too.
Of course, competing for talent with larger and established businesses is difficult, especially if you have a small company.
4. Recruitment Process
Most corporations take multiple weeks to fill a vacancy. That’s a huge turn-off for many professionals, including software engineers. Long recruitment periods give software engineers ample time to look for work elsewhere, and they know they can get it.
After all, they have to look out for themselves. You could lose some great talent if your company has a lengthy recruitment process.
Tips for hiring Software Developers
Follow these five best practices to onboard the best software developers for your company.
1. Advertise And Promote Your Tech Stack
Most professionals appreciate clarity on their work expectations and tools. Software developers feel this more than most other professionals. Advertising your tech stack lets candidates easily understand and conceptualize their lives with your company.
A good tech stack attracts talent for two reasons. First, it removes uncertainty from the equation. Your potential engineers won’t have to worry about whether your company has the best tools. Secondly, Having a great tech stack means you’re serious about business and willing to invest in your developers.
2. Highlight The Career And Growth Opportunities
Software engineering is a dynamic and high-growth career. Software developers know this and prioritize companies that provide the best long-term potential. You can take advantage of this fact by advertising the advancement opportunities you offer.
You’re trying to prove that investing in their career in your company is the right choice. You also wanna ensure they understand that you value their needs and desire for growth.
3. Highlight Your Company Culture
Being a software developer is hard work. So, no software engineer wants their life to be harder with bad company culture. A company with a good relaxed company culture that provides a positive and constructive work environment is highly valued.
The best way to showcase your company culture is through social media. Talk about how you take care of your employees and ensure their mental and physical health. Software developers always prefer companies with good reputations for their company culture.
4. Be Competitive In The Job Market.
Good software developers have a price. There’s no way around that. You have to be market competitive to win over the best talent. A good salary, benefits, and decent working conditions are non-negotiable.
Hiring remotely is one of the best ways to be competitive without bankrupting your company. In fact, many American companies prefer remotely hiring foreign tech specialists precisely because it’s easier to compete there.
5. Conduct The Best Quality Interview
A good quality interview makes a huge difference for software developers. One of the biggest problems with interviewing software developers is that most HR departments aren’t familiar with the technical side of software development.
Avoid this problem by ensuring your interviewers and recruiters are familiar with your company’s tech stack and understand what your company needs. The better your HR department understands your software development needs, the better they’ll evaluate candidates.
Ultimately, hiring software developers can be tricky. The world’s best software developers could be graduates from the best universities or simply recent high school graduates. Not to mention, it can be costly to hire a software developer and even more to retain them long-term. That being said, there are ways to boost your chances of hiring talent. You want to advertise your company’s great working conditions, career opportunities, and technological sophistication. Also, you have to ensure your recruiters properly understand your technical requirements.