As technology progresses rapidly, every company wants to scale its business. In such a situation, the demand for top-quality software engineers is at an all-time high, and hiring talented software engineers is becoming increasingly difficult. Sourcing and hiring world-class engineers have turned into a supply-and-demand problem.
So, how do you find and hire top engineering talent? Below we’ve outlined the top challenges in hiring top engineering talent and a few tips to source and hire the best developers.
Top 4 challenges in hiring the best software engineers
Increasing demand for top developers
Every business today focuses on digital and cloud-based technology to automate business operations and provide better customer service. It has led to high demand for talented software engineers. A recent InfoWorld report says the demand for software engineers doubled in 2021. The trend will continue as businesses have to adopt the latest technologies or lose out on the competition.
Limited talent pool
One of the major challenges in hiring software engineers is the lack of employable tech graduates. According to a Developer Nation report, there are about 24.3 million active software engineers globally, reaching 45 million in 2030. Despite significant growth in tech graduates in the last few years, recruiters struggle to find candidates with the right skills for their businesses.
High recruitment costs
The costs of recruiting software engineers have been multiplying, making it challenging to find world-class talent within the budget. Talented developers are difficult to find and demand high salaries and other perks. You have to pay more to hire top talents. Moreover, the recruitment cost is not just about employee salary and other benefits; the entire hiring process is expensive and time-consuming. The process includes sourcing, vetting, interviewing, and onboarding; each step requires you to spend significant resources.
High competition
Whether large enterprises or small industries, technology is a key lever to drive growth. It has resulted in stiff competition to hire world-class engineers. Almost every business needs developers to build or maintain its website and mobile application, and companies offer different benefits to attract top talent.
Six steps to hire a world-class engineer in 2022
Create a brand identity
Brand identity is crucial in attracting top talent and applies to hiring software engineers. As a recruiter, you always want to hire world-class engineers for your business; developers also want to work with top companies. They use online resources to look for top brands. So, creating a brand name is indispensable for companies looking to build a strong software development team.
How to do that?
Encouraging employee feedback and acting on it significantly affects employee satisfaction. It helps you create a brand name. Additionally, use social media platforms to share your employee experience and promote your brand.
Engage with developers on various platforms
You may not always hire developers but engaging with them will help you find top developers when you need them. Remember you are targeting world-class developers, which puts you in competition with other tech recruiters. Hiring managers always approach experienced engineers, making it easier to attract them when there is an open position.
However, most people may not be looking for a job, so do not send an invitation to apply for your company directly. Instead, look at their GitHub profiles, interests, and previous projects and explain why they can be an excellent fit for your organization.
Find the best resource for top engineers.
There are millions of active developers, but it isn’t easy to find skilled ones. You have to explore various online resources. Here are some platforms to look for top developers.
Talent sourcing platforms
Job seekers register themselves to find various opportunities. Websites like Indeed, Glassdoor, etc., are excellent sources for hiring employees. You can look into these platforms to source developers.
LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals and businesses; it provides a common platform for recruiters and job seekers. Companies can post job requirements to attract developers and other professionals.
Online developer communities
Platforms such as Stack Overflow, Github, Hackernoon, etc., are large communities for software developers. You can check these platforms and look for potential developers. GitHub is also a code repository to look at developers’ past work, and it helps you decide if they are relevant to your projects.
Referrals
Referrals are one of the easiest ways to find developers. Ask your existing employees if there is someone in their network with the right skills for the open positions.
Consider hiring remote developers.
One of the major challenges in hiring top-class developers is geographical constraints, as the number of high-quality developers is limited in a particular city. When you hire engineers from one specific location, you have to compete with multiple companies making it difficult to find someone who meets your needs.
Looking for developers beyond geography opens the door to a large talent pool.
Screen applications and assess technical skills.
Once you post a job advertisement, you will receive hundreds of applications. Screening all of them is impossible as it’s a time-consuming process, but you can’t skip the step if you wish to hire top engineering talents. You can use the Application Tracking System (ATS) to screen resumes and shortlist top candidates. ATS software helps screen applications to shortlist candidates according to your requirements.
The next step is to evaluate their technical skills. Design a test or ask them to complete a project that assesses the candidate’s knowledge of tech stacks needed for your projects.
Interview them and decide quickly.
Assessing technical knowledge helps you find candidates with the right skills. However, that’s not enough. You need to hire candidates who best fit your company’s work culture. Interviewing the shortlisted candidates will enable you to assess their soft skills. It also helps you determine if they are a team player, which is an important factor to consider while hiring software engineers. Once you interview the candidates, decide quickly, as top talents are always in demand, and they may not wait for a long time.
Conclusion:
Hiring the right engineers plays a crucial role in the success of any organization since they provide solutions to many business problems. It requires you to invest considerable time and modern tools to source and vet candidates, but hiring top engineers is important.
Some niche talent sourcing platforms can help you find pre-vetted and experienced engineers ready for hire, which can save time considerably. Remember, the key to hiring world-class engineers is to engage with top talents and convince them that your company offers a professionally fulfilling job and a great future.
Author’s Bio
Subhasish Dutta
Subhasish is a science graduate but a passionate writer and wordsmith who writes website content, blogs, articles, and social media content on technologies, the equity market, traveling, and other domains. He has worked with Affnosys and FTI Technologies as a content writer.