Hiring great software engineers for your company can be a real challenge. There is a big difference between needing a new team member and aptly hiring the right team member. This is especially true of high-level specialists who may be among a small few people in the company who understand what they do. This can make the hiring process a unique challenge. The best way to hire a new software engineer is through a network and infrastructure of other software engineers who know the craft.
But all tech departments start somewhere. If you are hiring for a new software position in the company and don’t have a department infrastructure already set up, we can help. Let’s explore the basics of recruiting and hiring great software engineers for your company.
How Do I Recruit Software Engineers?
Recruiting a software engineer starts with attracting candidates. In the tech industry, referrals are the leading source of external hires. Recruiters are the most reliable way to source a collection of candidates and job boards open your roles up to software engineers who are independently seeking a new role. You can use multiple avenues to invite applicants and candidates during the recruitment process. Most businesses use a combination of recruiters, referrals, and job boards. Social media recruiting is also becoming more popular.
Ask For Referrals
The best source of referrals will come from other software engineers and people in the tech industry. They are in the best position to know who is skilled, capable, and productive to work with. You can also invite referrals from Steam members throughout your departments. You may receive a few valuable recommendations for software engineers known through friends and family.
Work With IT Recruiters
IT recruiters do the leg-work while your team maintains business operations. Working with a recruitment service to collect candidates has a number of advantages. Candidates are collected for you and can be pre-interviewed to ensure everyone you see has the basic required understanding and capabilities for the job.
Post On Job Boards
Job boards are open to the public and add a wild-card element to your recruitment. Job boards invite professionals who are looking for a job on their own. Direct applicants will not be as filtered as those chosen by a recruiter but can have valuable surprises like bonus experience or excellent potential.
Share Openings On LinkedIn
Social media recruiting is hot these days. LinkedIn is the primary professional platform online, and jobs are posted and sought there. You can also announce job openings on other professional social media or news feeds to the right audience.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire Software Engineers?
Short Answer: About $50K
Hiring a software engineer has an easily calculable cost, just like any position. The cost will depend on the salary for the role, your method of recruitment, and the perks you offer new employees, to say the least. That said, on average, hiring in this field costs about $50,000 from recruitment to their first productive day.
Cost Of Hiring Software Engineers:
- Recruiting Costs +
- Interview Time +
- Onboarding +
- Signing Bonus +
- Gear & Relocation
Recruiting costs tend to be the highest element in the equation. Calculate your independent job board or job advertising spending or the percentage commission asked by your recruiting agency. Then, add any expense or the cost of time applied to the interview process. Then add the cost of the onboarding training.
From there, add the cost of actualizing your new software engineer. Consider any signing bonuses in the contract or relocation expenses. If you are sending them devices or gear, include this cost as well.
With all of these added up, you can calculate the exact cost of hiring a software engineer for your company.
How To Know If A Candidate Is A Good Software Engineer
The final serious consideration for recruiting and hiring is making the right choice. How do you know if you’ve found a good software engineer and if they’ll be a good fit for your company? The best way to tell is to ask a more experienced engineer. If one is not available, you can use performance assessments and lively conversation.
Interviewed By An Engineer
The best way to know if a software engineer is good is to have them interviewed by a more experienced software engineer. You want an expert conducting the interview who knows the difference between industry acronyms and knows when someone is truly skilled in the technical tasks you require.
Have your lead software engineer, software architect, or CTO conduct the interview, for example. You can also outsource. Ask a specialized IT recruitment service to conduct tech interviews, or even ask your outsourced IT team to consult.
Conversant In Specific Skills & Projects
When interviewing a software engineer, familiarity and confidence with the technology matter a great deal. You can often tell if someone has real experience or is bluffing from quick online research by asking them to go into detail. Ask candidates how they prefer to work, about their workflow, their process, and their favorite support software.
With a few key questions and a knowledgeable listener, you can often determine how conversant and comfortable each candidate is with the role’s core technologies.
Performs In Skill Assessments
The last and most objective way to identify a good software engineer is to conduct skill assessments during the interview process. This should involve a project or set of tasks similar to those required in the role, but under no circumstances should they be conducted as a work product for the company.
Ask your candidate engineers to create a piece of test software or modify test code. Or have your candidate work in a support role for your team to see how their skills will translate into work performance in the future.
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Hiring the right software engineer for your business is a challenge, but one worth doing right. With the help of good recruiting services and IT professionals, you can soon increase your company staff to welcome a new software engineer. Contact us for more hiring insights and services.
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