As a tech recruiter, you should do all it takes to understand the group of professionals you’re trying to hire. How difficult is tech recruitment exactly? Do developers like their jobs? Are they satisfied with their careers or do they welcome change? What benefits exactly do they value at work? And finally, how can you encourage them to make a move?
In this infographic, we’ve gathered some stats & actionable tips to help you make informed decisions in 2018. Without further ado, what you need to do to hire top developers in 2018.
How to turn this knowledge into action?
First of all, know that although hiring a top dev is hard, it’s still doable.
As you can see, 97.5% of developers are currently employed, but only 33.04% love their job. This means that despite having jobs, developers are generally open to considering new employment opportunities (62% of them to be precise). Getting them to talk to you is by far the most challenging aspect of the job. The best way of doing this is to ask someone how their current situation can be improved without sending a direct job offer which can be answered with a yes or no. According to Rachel Carroll, you should personalize your outreach to increase your chances. Carroll claims she usually gets a 25% response rate for mildly tailored messages and up to 60-70% for highly customized messages. This doesn’t come as a surprise because people are naturally wired to care for themselves. The more you focus on their needs, the more likely you are to get their attention.
RECOMMENDED READING: The science behind HR: what you need to know to recruit top talent in IT
Secondly, know what your target group wants and use this knowledge in your content and communication.
According to the 2017 Global Developer Landscape by Stack Overflow, salary, work-life balance and company culture are the top three factors developers look for in a new job opportunity. Make sure that you address these issues in your job ads, company profiles, outreach messages and content posted on developer-specific sites like Stack Overflow. Remember to talk about the benefits you offer, too. According to Stack Overflow vacation, remote options and health benefits are the top three ones typically valued by developers worldwide.
Also, bear in mind that you might need to negotiate pay more than ever – as Jobvite reports, 68% of businesses “have increased the average salary offer for candidates in the last year”. According to Payscale, the average pay for a Sr. Software Developer is $99,935 per year, but you may need to go much higher than that depending on a number of factors such as your employer brand strength or location quotient.
RECOMMENDED READING: [INFOGRAPHIC] The true cost of recruiting a developer
The next step would be to fix what’s broken.
17.45% of developers believe the interview is the most annoying part of the job search process and they’re right to do so. Software engineers are still asked to invert binary trees on a whiteboard which quite frankly doesn’t reflect their ability to code. There’s a cure though: treat people with respect and assess their skills in a way which mirrors work to be done if hired. To do so, use work samples which according to Frederick D. Smith produce high predictive validities and add less time than other screening methods (+0.6 to +1.5 days). The best way of collecting them is by means of skill screening software which assesses actual coding abilities.
Please be aware you shouldn’t make your interview easier than it is to make it less annoying. According to Glassdoor “more difficult job interviews are statistically linked to higher employee satisfaction”. Further Glassdoor research shows that 4 out of 5 is the optimal job interview difficulty. This means that you should rely on tools which can make the interview fair but difficult.
Finally, keep an open mind.
RECOMMENDED READING: 14 things to look for when you want to hire a programmer
Make sure you utilize your existing network of developers and ask them if they know anyone who fits your criteria. As Stack Overflow reports, most developers (26.8%) discover new jobs by means of referrals from friends, family members, and former colleagues. A further 17.9% of them learn about a new job opportunity from headhunters and external recruiters.
You should also let go of some of your predefined criteria – The less attached you are to them, the bigger your talent pool becomes. As an example, according to Stack Overflow, 90% of developers are at least partially self-taught, so obsessing over formal education shrinks your talent pool to a large extent.
Ready to hire the best developers out there? We’re all rooting for you!
Here’s a list of resources cited in our infographic for further reading:
Glassdoor: Do Difficult Job Interviews Lead to More Satisfied Workers?
Glassdoor: How Long Does it Take to Hire? Interview Duration in 25 Countries
Glassdoor: Job Seekers Are Facing Longer Hiring Times
Slash Data: If there were 100 Developers in the world
