This is a guest blog written by our partner – Honeypot, a tech-focused job platform that believes developers and other tech professionals should choose a job they love: whether that’s based on a cutting-edge tech stack, an inspiring team or just good old-fashioned salary.
Even though many companies experienced hiring freezes or decreased hiring needs during the pandemic, the demand for tech talent is back at an all-time high. That means a lot of companies are looking for candidates right now and it’s more important than ever to find and retain tech talent. But how do you do this? We have a few tips that will come in handy.
Offer more than just a big paycheck
The days of candidates simply going after the largest paycheck are gone. Today, the best talents want to work for a company that aligns with their values. They want to know that their hard work is seen and appreciated. In fact, while researching for our Developer Happiness Report, we found that salary takes sixth place when it comes to making developers happy.
Overall, developers ranked work-life balance, learning opportunities and work environment above salary. This means you don’t always have to provide the biggest paychecks to attract great talent. Offering the chance to work with an attractive tech stack, in an agile working environment, and a diverse company culture can help you be one step ahead of the competition.
Furthermore, it’s important to offer (and highlight) remote work options. Over 64% of developers prefer to work from home compared to working from the office. Lastly, evaluate and improve your learning & development efforts. Technology is moving at a rapid speed and in order to stay relevant and competitive within your industry and in attracting talent, learning & development is key.
Be the Jeff Bezos of tech recruiters: get obsessed with your candidate experience
One detail that helped make Amazon a billion dollar company was the simple obsession of its founder. From day one, Jeff Bezos became customer obsessed and made every decision based on that.
It’s oftentimes easier said than done, but the key is to start simple and start today. Every recruiter should become candidate obsessed in order to offer them the best experience. Many recruiters focus too heavily on approaching as many candidates as possible and trying to make a quick hire.
Here are a few tips to create a great candidate experience:
- Be open and transparent about the interview process and steps
- Make sure to respond to every applicant (whether positively or negatively)
- Make sure to have a dedicated tech recruiter who really understands tech
Look beyond the CV: because everything is teachable
CVs are no longer the be-all-end-all for candidates. Instead, there has been a paradigm shift in how both companies and talents see the value of traditional resumes. Companies like Linkedin and Tesla started to find other ways to assess candidates, such as removing degree requirements from job ads and introducing a skills-based approach to hiring. Talents are also on the lookout for creative ways to showcase their full potential.
When selecting talents for the Honeypot platform, we assess talents on their technical skills as well as values and wants.. It only takes 4 to 5 months to learn an engineering language, making attitude and expectations incredibly important factors when assessing tech talent.
Don’t let tech get in the way of hiring tech talent
Yes, you read this right. Tech can be your nemesis when it comes to hiring tech talent. AI-driven candidate screening sounds great, but it also comes with disadvantages. That’s why you must be careful when selecting automated tools for filtering talents.
Some screening tools, like Equalture, map out the personal behaviours and traits that are required to be successful within a (tech) role at a company by using the power of neuro assessment games. Allowing the company to hire people who might not have the (tech) university background, but who have all the other requirements to become successful.
However, fully automated hiring processes cause you to reject applicants simply because they lack a specific education or background, even though those applicants might have the knowledge and skills to succeed. In the end, it’s important to remember that the human touch cannot be replaced by AI just yet. Enjoy a little help from tech solutions, but don’t take human touch out of the equation.
To conclude
In today’s fast-changing world, especially within startups, your next tech hire is crucial for the future of your company. Hiring often needs to happen fast – that’s why investing in the right platforms from the start is crucial to your company’s long-term success. Simply posting a job ad on your website and using LinkedIn to reach out to developers belongs to the past. If you want to be competitive, look for niche and innovative ways of hiring!
