3 Tips for Recruiting Web Developers
One thing that I’ve noticed in my 7+ years as a Web developer is that development talent is some of the most sought-after in the industry. A solid developer or UI/UX expert on your team can mean the difference between a company thriving its way to an IPO or never even making it off the ground. Whether they’re working for startups or established Fortune 500 companies, in the tech world, developers create the face of your business. I figured it would be helpful to share some insight into what goes on in the mind of Web and software developers and what you can do to increase your chances of recruiting Web developers successfully:
1. Like You, We’re Busy – Don’t Waste Our Time
Similar to a day in the life of a recruiter, a developer’s time is spread thin and is a valuable commodity. Blanket emailing candidates who don’t match your client’s search criteria is just going to waste the time of both parties. It’s important if you use a recruitment CRM to utilize the advanced sorting features to ensure you’re not going out on a limb when you reach out to a potential candidate. Bullhorn S Release makes identifying relevant talent extremely easy with its sorting and filtering capabilities.
2. We Get a Lot of Requests – Stand Out
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received unsolicited emails from recruitment firms that couldn’t be any more obvious they were canned in an attempt to reach as wide of an audience as quickly as possible. I’m not saying write a specific email for each and every candidate but if it is a mass mail, make a substantial effort to make it seem personalized, or at least credible. It’s the personalized notes that stand out from the rest and have the greatest chance of a response. Remember, your email is one of potentially hundreds developers receive in a month. Acknowledge the risk of fading into the white noise and plan accordingly.
3. Be Careful When We Have an Existing Job
I’ve had numerous unsolicited calls from recruiters directly to my work phone and that for me is an instant sign that I would rather not entertain any offer they have to pitch. There are a plethora of other avenues for contacting a Web developer that don’t involve directly calling their work and endangering their current job. A great start, of course, is LinkedIn. If the person isn’t directly reachable because they aren’t in your personal network then there’s always InMail to make the introduction, or other social networks.
At the end of the day, recruiting Web developers is a complex process because they’re inevitably in-demand, and the best way to make the perfect placement is to be mindful of the points outlined above.
This Bullhorn Blog post was written by Adam Carfagna.
