Developers – what do they do and how to hire them?
You’ve always had a penchant for solving puzzles and problems—especially when it comes to technology. Not only that but friends and family frequently come to you for help with all their tech troubles. And you’re typically the first one in line when a new gadget is released. You simply love the innovative world of technology and the possibilities that come with it.
You have a lot of the characteristics of a person who would make a great software developer. You’re intrigued by the opportunity, but you’re probably wondering: What does a software developer do, anyway? We compiled the data and insight you need to answer this question and others about what to expect working in software development. Find out not only what developers do, but also how to hire or find a job as a developer!
What does it mean to be a developer?
You know that smartphone app you rely on? That computer game that kept you transfixed for hours as a kid? That program that helps you budget and track expenditures? Software developers created all of them.
A developer is an individual that builds and creates software and applications. He or she writes, debugs and executes the source code of a software application. A developer is also known as a software developer, computer programmer, programmer, software coder or software engineer.
A developer is a key individual behind all software applications. Generally, developers are well versed in at least one programming language and proficient in the art of structuring and developing software code for software or a program. Depending on the job role and type of software developed, a developer may be classified as a software developer, application developer, mobile developer, Web developer, etc.
Although the primary job role is writing code, a developer also may gather requirements for software, design or overall software architecture, software documentation and other related software development processes.
How to hire a developer?
Whether you are a recruiter, team leader or project manager, if you’ve done it before then you know that hiring developers is usually a hassle. As Alice Pinch comments, “The demand for top techies is on the rise and, ultimately with the ever-changing and ever-evolving market, the search for tech talent is proving a growing issue. It’s difficult to stand out from the crowd, and inherently difficult to organically attract and hire software developers. Techies hold all the cards – and companies need to impress in order to stand out from the crowd. Companies need to start hiring like marketeers and utilising more and more tools to reach talent.”
But don’t worry, there are certain tools and techniques that can ease the search for the right developers. In this blog, we will introduce you to some of them. Whether you are a candidate looking for a job as a developer, or an employer who is looking to hire developers, this blog should help you out in this journey!
Hire developers through LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a fantastic search engine for both on-site and remote developers. The big advantage here is that you can look through resumes/CVs, explore the candidate (and their connections), and make an informed decision about who to contact.
It’s also a great strategy to combine with some of the other methods in this post. It will enable you to gain more insight into the candidates that you discover via other means.
On the flip side, a lot of recruiters tend to use this method. For developers, especially those who are solid developers, this channel may seem overwhelmingly full of “spam” and may not be the best way to reach out to them.
Get referrals for developers
Great way to hire any future employees, not just developers, is simply through referrals from your current employees and your network in general. The most significant advantage of this method is that you’ll have direct contact with the developer, and the person who referred you to the developer may have hired the developer before (and can vouch for him/her). Also, the prospective developer may trust you more if someone from their network recommends you, and is more likely to work with you if the developer has other offers.
Hire developers from freelance platforms
People often chose freelance work due to its flexibility, autonomy and remoteness. A lot of really good professionals can be found through platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, Behance or Dribbble. If you are ready to offer them an equal amount of flexibility as freelance work, you might be able to find the best candidates on freelance websites.
Use Slack to hire developers
Slack is the hottest internal messaging and collaboration tool on the market. It’s pretty much a requirement at every startup due to its ease of use and integrations.
It’s actually become so popular that it isn’t just used by companies, many groups of friends or collections of people with similar interests now use Slack to communicate.
This means that developers often belong to a number of different teams or ‘channels’. Some of these are open to the public, while some are private and require an invitation.
Joining these groups is a great way to find fresh talent, gauge whether candidates are likely to have the qualities your company values, and start new candidate relationships.
To help you find relevant communities, SlackList is a good resource to get you started.
Graduate Outreach
Depending on the experience and seniority of the developer you are after, graduate outreach might be just what you need.
Looking for fresh talent? Then there’s no better way to get it than by getting in touch with student groups with an interest in computer science, or the computer science department itself at the university of your choice.
In fact, you can even expand your outreach to specific training courses or boot camps in relevant programming areas. This method is great for finding fresh talent, especially if you’re looking to develop and grow the people along with your business.
For a volume hiring of junior developers, reach out and try to make connections with Universities directly. A lot of schools offer graduate support and make sure they find employment after graduation. Make sure to be one of those employers and you will never run out of fresh, new talent!
Recruiters and Agencies
If you’re looking for local talent, you can’t go wrong with a professional recruiter. However, if this is the approach you choose, you should be ready to pay for it. This is one of the more expensive strategies out there.
If you have the budget, this can be a good investment. Professional recruiters will also help you take care of multiple aspects of the hiring process. This includes interviewing the candidates, and deciding what your perfect candidate looks like.
A great choice when looking for skilled local talent to add to your team! Many agencies also take care of other aspects of the hiring process and will help you out when it comes to screening, interviewing, and other activities. The disadvantage of this strategy is that you’ll incur significantly higher costs in the hiring process.
Marketplaces and Job Boards
Hiring marketplaces are also a great alternative. Many of them will help you with the vetting process, and collect a lot of the information you would otherwise have to collect from different sources.
This will help you reach out to quality candidates faster, and speed up your decision-making process. On most hiring marketplaces you can post a job announcement, review the candidates, and select who to work with.
Developer job boards are a speedy way to find those who are already looking for a job. The big advantage is obvious. These people are already searching for a job, and it means that you can possibly do less screening work than with other methods.
You will find that some boards are also specific to tech jobs, which will help you find a greater abundance of candidates. The main drawback with some job boards is that there may not be any vetting going on. Combining this with the high volume of applications, it may take a long time to sift through everything properly.
Use PitchMe to hire developers
The bottom line is, that hiring is never easy. You always pay with either money or your time spent on screening and hiring processes. But don’t worry, this is where we step in!
We are an AI hiring solution that matches candidates with job adverts based on the required skills. This way you only screen candidates who have the exact skills that are needed for the position you advertise.
Our newly launched AI-powered solution also integrates with Greenhouse, Bullhorn and Levern ATS, so recruiters could get more from the data they already have. No matter how big and old their candidate database is. We are already helping companies like Miro, Typeform and Moteefe to cut down the screening time by 80% and make placements 2X faster!
Whether you are an employer hiring or a candidate looking for a job, you should check out our platform! Try PitchMe for free! And if you like it, leave us a review on Trustpilot or Google!
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