How to Recognize Good Developers?
While there are numerous hard and soft skills associated with good developers, I’d like to emphasize three of them: tech proficiency, problem-solving abilities, and dedication.
- Tech proficiency is not only about knowing the core technologies necessary for a particular position. For example, if you need to hire a React developer, their expertise in JavaScript and React won’t be enough. Great developers go the extra mile of what they’re expected to know and apply in their work, so pay close attention to other technologies besides the required ones.
- Problem-solving abilities are a must in the modern IT environment. Of course, software engineers must be able to tackle tech challenges quickly and effectively if anything goes wrong with the code. However, they should also possess the ability to handle interpersonal conflicts, resolve misunderstandings inside a team, and find compromises with unhappy clients.
- Dedicated team player is who you are looking for. Both parts ‒ dedicated and team player ‒ are equally crucial here. Dedication means that a person is truly interested in what they’re doing, including working on your project, sharing your company values, and the quality of their own work. Dedicated specialists are unlikely to be job hoppers, which also saves you money and the trouble of looking for a new team member every several months. Also, a person's ability to collaborate in a team is important for development outcomes as well as overall team performance.
Top Mistakes When Hiring Developers
When employers don’t know how to recruit developers, they might make some mistakes that turn tech recruitment into a frustrating process. Let’s take a look at the most common hiring mistakes employers face.
Lack of clear job requirements
A job description is the first touchpoint between you and a potential candidate, so it’s important to make it as clear as possible. The thing to consider is that hiring a software developer is a two-way street; not only do tech specialists sell their experience but you sell your company, too.
A clear job description for a software developer position must include the technologies required for your project, since more than 51% of tech applicants pay attention to this information in the first place. Other qualifications (e.g. expertise with particular projects or domains), seniority level, responsibilities, contract type, and compensation are as important as the tech stack.
Don’t forget about additional information like benefits such as sick leaves, vacation days, work visas, medical insurance, etc. to get a competitive edge over other companies when looking for perfect developers. With such a detailed job description, you’ll be able to get the most relevant resumes.
Poor employer brand
When thinking about how to hire the best developers, it’s important to remember that the best professionals want to work for the best software development companies. Thus, it’s important to have a strong employer brand that will attract top talents. You can create a positive company image by having your company profile on review platforms where 70% of job seekers go to check a company’s reputation before moving to vacancies.
By the way, a positive reputation isn’t necessarily about 100% of positive reviews (ideal profiles might even look suspicious). Even if some of your current or former employees leave a negative comment, don’t rush to delete it. It’s better to address a problem in a constructive manner, thus showing your potential candidates that you’re open to conversation and ready to handle conflicts ecologically.
Relying solely on technical assessments
While technical skills might be considered the most important indicator of a good programming professional, it’s not always the case. Of course, challenging candidates with hard interview questions will give you an understanding of their software development proficiency, but soft skills shouldn’t be underestimated. Imagine a tech genius who can’t communicate with a team or be flexible when necessary. This doesn’t sound like the description of a good software developer, does it?
So, there should be several interview stages that ensure a candidate is a perfect match for your company. As a rule, tech companies hold the following interviews:
- pre-screening interview with an HR manager helps to get a general understanding of a candidate’s personality and motivation for applying for your position;
- tech interview is where you check the software developer’s hard skills and expertise with required technologies by offering them coding tasks. This kind of assessment also allows you to learn about their critical thinking and problem-solving skills;
- cultural fit interview is necessary to make sure that a new hire shares your company's vision and will become a valuable asset to your team.
Ignoring references
With 70% of applicants lying in their resumes (and most likely, during interviews), I’d recommend requesting references from their previous workplace. Not only does this help verify skills and past job performance, but it also reveals insights into their approach to teamwork, discipline, and adaptability within a specific workforce culture. You can either request a recommendation in a free form or contact candidate’s ex-managers with a list of similar questions:
- Were you happy with the way the candidate adjusted to your industry landscape?
- Did the candidate get on with other staff members?
- Was the candidate progressing in their career?
- Would you hire the candidate again if you needed their software development expertise in future?
Limited search destination
After the pandemic, the number of remote positions increased and became a new normal. That’s why it’s important to broaden your hiring horizons outside your city and country. You never know where you’ll find the real gem, do you? You can go for IT outsourcing in Eastern Europe or consider Latin America for IT outsourcing, and find that ideal candidate there.
And Huntly is here to help you find what you’re looking for! We provide you with access to international tech talents by being a global platform with 2500+ international recruiters on board. If you have researched your local market and didn’t find the right specialist, our seasoned IT recruiters can introduce you to the rich candidate pool from Europe, LATAM, Canada, and different US states and cities.
A good thing about hiring software developers from abroad is its cost-effectiveness. For example, average salaries of Java developers in the USA are around $93,300, in Mexico - $36,000, and in Germany - €64,700 (which equals $69,900).
At Huntly, you not only find top talent with lower rates but significantly cut down on recruitment fees. Thanks to our flexible payment model, your hiring expenses could equal 5-7% of a specialist’s first annual salary (compared to 15-35% in traditional staffing agencies). To find out how much it will cost you to hire developers of different roles and in different locations, you can use the Calculator on our website.
Rushing the hiring process
Although recruitment often requires fast solutions, prioritizing speed over quality can result in the wrong hire, wasted recruiting resources, and overall financial losses. That’s why you should be very picky when hiring a developer. At Huntly, we make sure that you receive only high-quality candidate funnel, thus increasing your chances for the right hire in the shortest time possible.
The Huntly team aims to provide on-demand candidates for your software developer position within 72 hours after you post a vacancy. We achieve quality results and often faster than the average time to hire in tech thanks to:
- Our global community of 2500+ seasoned IT recruiters who work on your vacancy to find the best matching candidates among their professional network;
- AI-powered technology that sorts out all uploaded CVs based on required technologies, seniority level, location, and other critical factors;
- Huntly’s internal recruitment team responsible for pre-screening every AI-approved candidate before forwarding their CVs to you.
Thus, the mix of technology, human touch, and AI in hiring helps our clients to proceed with the best software developers saving up their time and sourcing efforts.
How to Hire the Best Developers?
Now that you know about the mistakes preventing you from hiring top developers, my first recommendation would be: do your best to avoid them! Once you have a strong company brand, a clear job description, several interview stages, different hiring destinations, and a wisely planned talent acquisition process, pay attention to three more tips that can increase your chances for a successful hire.
Focus on talent, not experience
While it’s important for a candidate to possess experience with the core technologies required for your project, it’s not always necessary to choose the most skilled candidate. Here’s what’s important to keep in mind:
- Pay attention that a candidate’s (hypothetical) 10-year experience was gained in a couple of companies, not in 10 different ones, otherwise you’ll hire a job hopper;
- Make sure a candidate is as good in communication, soft skills, and culture match as they are in technology;
- Find out how ambitious a candidate is. If their only motivation is making money in a relaxed way, you might want to consider other candidates who are interested in growing within your company.
Organize consistent onboarding
Hiring a developer doesn’t end with an offer. Onboarding and the first several months in a new company are also a part of hiring that should be consistent and well-organized. Make sure to:
- Provide a new team member with all the necessary information about your company and project, introduce them to the team, plus give them working access and some time to get acquainted with the project they will work on;
- Clearly outline their responsibilities and expectations by the end of the probation period;
- Organize one-on-one sessions with their mentor, so a new software engineer has the chance to get feedback and ask questions (to make your cooperation most effective).
Have a probation period
A probation period allows for the smooth transition of a new developer into your company. It also helps other colleagues get used to a new team member. But what’s most important, the probation period allows you to understand if you hired the right person who meets your expectations and brings value to a project and team.
During this period, you should be honest with your new developer as well as with yourself. If some people aren’t happy with their cooperation, it’s better to discuss things right away. Don’t be afraid to share your concerns, as it’s sometimes a more sensible decision to just say goodbye rather than wasting each other’s time. Huntly totally understands the importance of the probation period, so when you hire with us and aren’t satisfied, we can refund the money.
I hope that the information from this blog post about how to recruit developers and mistakes to avoid when hiring developers will help you strengthen your team with a top tech professional. But if you still lack time or resources to look for developers on your own, Huntly is here to help you. Fill out the form below and we’ll contact you back with a personalized solution on how to hire a developer for your team quickly and effectively!
