Hiring Tips from Software Engineer Recruiters

Finding qualified software engineers isn’t easy. Considering the high demand for the position and the relative scarcity of talent available, this is to be expected. With that said, many hiring managers are making the process even more difficult and time-consuming than it has to be.

As long-time software engineer recruiters, we thought we’d share some insider strategies for what works (and what doesn’t) when recruiting and hiring software engineers.

Things to do:

• Get to know the position 

The best software engineer recruiters don’t need to know how to code in Python or Java…but they should know these coding languages. Familiarizing yourself with the skills and qualifications you are recruiting for makes the entire process easier.

• Remain flexible and think on your feet 

Perfect is the enemy of good. If you have a candidate that has professional experience in 7 of the 10 skills required to do the job, that might be enough. It also might not. Software engineer recruiters need to be able to make these decisions quickly and with confidence.

• Broaden your search 

Not having any luck with LinkedIn or Indeed? Instead of doubling down on something that isn’t working, consider trying some of these alternative methods used by top software engineer recruiters: tech conferences, GitHub open-source code projects, and technical blogs.

Things to avoid:

• Vague or misleading statements 

It’s easy to attract skilled software engineers to your company if you feed them incorrect info on their compensation, the responsibilities of their position, and their WFH privileges. Even if you do manage to deceive someone into taking a job, they’ll be heading for the exit the first chance they get.

• Disparaging previous employees 

In general, job candidates don’t like to hear about the personal and professional failings of the person they are replacing. For one thing, it has little to do with their job search. More importantly, it suggests that you may one day treat them the same way. If you need to talk about the specific technical problems they created, that’s fine – just try to avoid playing the blame game.

• Wasting time (both yours and theirs) 

Time is money. If you aren’t having any luck recruiting from Indeed, it is more efficient and cost-effective to switch things up rather than devoting more hours to the process. Similarly, if you have a candidate you don’t think will be a good fit, it’s better for both parties if you cut ties early rather than continue to string him or her along.

If you’ve followed these tips and you still need help, you might want to consider outsourcing the entire hiring process to professional software engineer recruiters.