Category

IT recruitment

What You Need to Know About the Skills Gap Blog

What You Need to Know About the Skills Gap

By Human Resources, IT recruitment, Recruiting Tips

Tech recruiters find it extremely hard to hire highly-skilled employees. In fact, 64% of HR managers believe that employees won’t be able to keep up the pace with future skills development needs. While 70% of employees admit they haven’t yet acquired all the necessary skills to perform their current job. While the disruption caused by COVID 19 pandemic has disrupted the US labor market, the skills gap will remain once the crisis is over.

The skill gap leads to recruitment problemsIf the skills gap is not addressed, it might lead to a serious recruitment crisis. In the following article, we’re going to talk about what strategic, forward-looking talent managers should know about the skills gap and what they can do to mitigate it. 

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June 16, 2020
Tomasz Nurkiewicz algorithmic test

I won’t attend your algorithmic test interview

By Coding Test, Expert Interview, IT recruitment

How does the average person hire a top-notch tailor? They ask the candidates to show them what they’ve stitched so far, maybe even ask them to sew something fast. Then they’ll observe the results, noting how well they operate the sewing machine, the organization of the workplace, and assess the tailor’s attention to detail. Are they wasting too much fabric or simply not doing a very good job?

How do software developers hire top-notch tailors? Well, it would probably go a little something like this; “This is a whiteboard. Please draw the difference between Ghiordes and Senneh knot. Derive the length of thread as a function of fabric’s surface area”.

Honestly, I believe that a top-notch tailor should know the difference, but what are we really verifying here? Do you want an elegant jacket or an elegant equation on a whiteboard? Read More

June 15, 2020
Tech Recruitment: What does a recruiter do

Tech Recruitment: What does a recruiter do?

By Human Resources, IT recruitment

Have you ever found yourself asking – what does a recruiter do? Maybe you’re considering bringing on a recruiter because your staffing needs are becoming more than you can handle?

Whether it’s that or just your curiosity, answering the question – “what does a recruiter do?” is not a simple one. 

Finding the right people is integral to your company’s success. As business author Kamil Toume puts it, “the real competitive advantage in any business is one word only, which is people”. 

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May 19, 2020
ull life cycle recruiting

The 6 proven steps to master full life cycle recruiting

By Human Resources, IT recruitment

What is full life cycle recruiting?

Full life cycle recruiting gives you the ability to make strategic hiring decisions.  How can you use it to improve your results?

Full life cycle recruiting refers to the entire hiring process for a new employee. The idea of full life cycle recruiting involves every step of the recruitment phase from start to finish. It is sometimes known as ‘end to end recruiting’ or ‘360 recruitment’. 

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May 6, 2020
How to assess programming skills – a review of the best methods Blog

How to assess programming skills – a review of the best methods

By IT recruitment, Recruiting Tips, Technical Interview

Did you know that the costs of recruiting a software developer can be as high as $60k? Unless you’ve got a huge recruiting budget, you can’t afford to hire an employee whose skills haven’t been verified and just hope for the best. In fact, knowing how to assess programming skills, whether front end, back end, or full stack, is fundamental to any successful IT recruitment process. 

How can tech employers test one’s abilities upfront? It’s more complex than just looking at a programmer’s CV. 

In the following article, we’re going to review how to assess programming skills using different assessment methods, with a special focus on the optimal setup, namely the work sample coding tests followed by the HR and technical interview. By following our advice, you’ll minimize the risk of hiring an under- or over-performing candidate, or simply someone who isn’t a good fit for your company.

Let’s take a look. Read More

April 29, 2020
Web developer job description template Blog

Web developer job description template

By IT recruitment

Web development. It’s an all-encompassing term. “What does a web developer do?” is a common question that is often asked by people outside of the tech field. 

To help you understand the requirements and definition of this role, we have compiled a web developer job description to help spell out the details. 

What is a web developer

A web developer is someone who is able to design, create, and maintain websites and web applications from a web interface design. The term is broadly used and can include any developer whose work supports a website. There are essentially three types of web developers. Front-end web developers are responsible for the elements of a website that users see and interact with. Back-end web developers are responsible for the ‘behind the scenes code’ that dictates how the website functions. While full-stack web developers are able to do a bit of both.

Generally speaking, web developers are employed to write code using a variety of programming languages. The most skilled developers are not only fluent in many languages, but importantly they are able to continue learning new technologies and strive to find the best method to solve a problem.  

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April 7, 2020
A Practical Guide for Tackling the High Attrition Rate in Tech

Employee Attrition Rate

By Human Resources, IT recruitment

A high attrition rate causes problems in the tech industry.

The employee turnover rate in the tech sector stands at 13.2% and is higher than in any other business sector. Even companies who have mastered recruitment and onboarding to perfection still struggle with talent retention. Is a high attrition rate a given and something that HR departments should accept? 

High attrition rate in tech causes problems for the industry

Definitely not – in this article, we’re going to share with you the main reasons why tech employees leave their jobs, and what tech employers can do to decrease employee turnover rate.  Read More

March 25, 2020
framework vs library

Creating software with a framework vs library: what tech recruiters need to know

By Human Resources, IT recruitment

Why do I need to know about software frameworks and libraries?

As a technical recruiter, it’s no longer enough for you to know only the names of certain programming languages – you should also understand the basics of how software is made.

When it comes to creating production software, there are two very important factors to consider: The first is developing applications is becoming more complex. The second is programmers are always trying to be more effective and more efficient in their work. As a result, every team of programmers must decide whether (or not) to build an application using either a software framework or a software library (or a number of libraries).  Read More

February 26, 2020
How to screen Groovy developer skills

How to screen Groovy developer skills

By Interview questions, IT recruitment

The Apache Groovy programming language is one of the oldest alternative programming languages running on JVM (Java Virtual Machine). The Java-syntax compatible Groovy script celebrates its 17th birthday in 2020. People might think that development or the buzz surroundings more recent JVM languages like Kotlin have made Groovy redundant. 

Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth! 

The Groovy community is more than alive and well and the Groovy syntax is still developed by a group of contributors. The language is one of the most downloaded libraries in the Java ecosystem and it is supported by a wide range of frameworks. One of the reasons for its popularity is that Groovy makes unit and automated testing easier. What’s clear is that when used correctly – Apache Groovy has the potential to give your tech a huge productivity boost. Read More

February 20, 2020
How to screen React Native developer skills

How to screen React Native developer skills

By Interview questions, IT recruitment, Technical Interview

While React gets all of the big press, React Native has steadily become an essential part of the JavaScript universe. It allows mobile developers to write mobile applications that can be ported to both iOS and Android. The advantage of this is that instead of having to develop separate iOS skills (Objective-C and Swift) and Android skills (Java and Kotlin), mobile app developers can draw on JavaScript, the most commonly used language at the moment. But like all tech stacks, it’s not enough to simply know JavaScript. You need to have an in-depth understanding of React Native. So how can employers tell if a React Native developer has the skills they need? 

A guide to screening React Native developer skills

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November 20, 2019
Complete WordPress developer salary data

Complete WordPress developer salary data

By Developer Salary, Human Resources, IT recruitment

When you visit any website: a blog, a complex e-commerce platform, or a corporate website, it’s highly possible that it was built using WordPress. WordPress has been around since 2003. This vastly popular CMS (Content Management System) is used by 34.2% of all websites, including 14.7% of the top 100 websites on the Internet. No wonder that WordPress developers are in constant demand. The problem is, it’s not always easy to define their skill requirements.

First of all, they have to know both back-end and front-end. In addition to that, they should also be familiar with User Experience principles, design, and even SEO skills. To add to the confusion, there are people who claim they are WordPress developers despite lacking technical skills. They can install WP on a server, customize templates, add relevant plugins, edit content, maintain updates – all with little or no coding skills. In this article about WordPress developer salary, we focus on developers with strong programming skills. That said,  the average salaries provided by popular services (PayScale, Glassdoor, Indeed) reflect the salary levels of both groups. Read More

November 13, 2019
StepStone Services' best ever hackathon ideas for recruitment

How StepStone Services came up with of the best ever hackathon ideas for recruitment

By Human Resources, IT recruitment, Recruiting Tips

There are few things that developers like more than hackathons and coming up with hackathon ideas. It’s an opportunity for them to flex their proverbial muscles and do something really creative. Holding a hackathon can be a great way of promoting blue sky thinking on your tech team and generally engendering a pro developer environment at your company. Since these results align with the mission of HR departments to encourage loyalty and productivity among the company’s workforce, hackathons are a no brainer. 

In this article, we’ll be covering the following topics:

  • What is a hackathon
  • HR-focused hackathons
  • How StepStone Services improved its tech hiring with a hackathon project
  • StepStone Services’ 12 step approach to holding a coding test hackathon
  • Lessons StepStone Services learned about holding a coding test hackathon
  • Why developers loved thinking up and developing coding tests
  • Advice and takeaways you can use to hold your own coding test hackathon

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November 5, 2019
Front-end developer job description template

Front-end developer job description

By Human Resources, IT recruitment, Recruiting Tips

What is front-end development and what does a front-end developer do? We have all the answers in this front-end developer job description template.

Front-end web developer: roles and responsibilities

Front-end development means creating components and features that are directly accessed by a user through the front-end of a website. Front-end developers create everything on a website that users see, touch, click, and use. They focus on the visual layout, user interface/interaction, and user experience. In their work, they create the buttons, images, links, and pages that all need to function efficiently, accurately, and quickly in order for the user to carry out a particular task.

Below you can find a front-end developer job description template. This template includes examples of the responsibilities and skills which are typical for such a position. Of course, this template is just a basic starting-point – we strongly recommend that you customize the template so that it fits the exact job which you wish to fill. Please note that, in line with good practice, this front-end developer job description template shows you one way of describing the person you’re searching for, starting from more general requirements, leading up to more specific requirements, and finishing with any optional extra skills or experience.

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October 29, 2019
The Workable ATS tech recruitment workflow for hiring developers

The Workable ATS tech recruitment workflow for hiring developers

By IT recruitment, Recruiting Tips

Workable is one of the most powerful ATS systems out there and is a particularly useful tool for tech recruitment. When recruiting developers, it’s incredibly important to keep track of your candidates. With as many as 20 people applying for each software development position, a simple spreadsheet won’t scale. But luckily, there is a useful Workable ATS tech recruitment workflow that you can use for hiring developers which will allow you to focus more time on the areas that recruiters are uniquely qualified for. Using Workable and the integrations that it offers, you can automate repetitive tasks. This will allow you to spend more one-on-one time with candidates to see if they are a good cultural fit for the company.

This article will cover the steps of a tech recruitment workflow for hiring developers and how this workflow can be streamlined in Workable. These steps include:

  • Post your ad to job sites
  • Integrate with Devskiller
  • Invite candidates to tests
  • Check your stages
  • Get test summaries
  • Invite candidates for interviews

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October 15, 2019
Complete back end developer salary data

Back end Developer Average Salary

By Developer Salary, Hiring Statistics, IT recruitment

Choosing the right tech stack and finding skilled developers is crucial for any project, especially when it comes to its back end. It might be invisible to users, but in fact, back end development is the backbone of any app which powers the client-side. Essentially, back end developers are responsible for developing all server-side logic, maintaining databases, and managing the interchange of data between the server and the users. Usually, the back end developer  salary is higher than that of a front-end developer, but the risk and effort associated with their job seem to be higher as well. That’s precisely why hiring a back end developer can be challenging. In order to become competitive and land top talent, recruiters should become familiar with back end developer salary data and the factors that influence it.  Read More

October 1, 2019
Complete mobile app developer salary data

Complete mobile app developer salary data

By Developer Salary, Hiring Statistics, IT recruitment

Given that both smartphone penetration and app usage are growing steadily, the demand for developers who can build mobile apps is increasing. No wonder: mobile apps are expected to have the most impact on business success, and generate a full $189 billion in revenue by 2020. In this article, we’re taking a look at mobile app developer salary numbers. 

As the demand is increasing rapidly, it might soon become difficult for companies to attract top talent. If you’re on the lookout for a mobile app developer, you should at least become familiar with an average mobile app developer salary to make sure you land the best candidates for the job.  Read More

September 4, 2019