Technology Hiring: Your Guide to Recruiting Top Developers and Engineers

Table of contents

• The current state of technology hiring
• Proven techniques for hiring software developers and engineers
• Upgrade your recruiters’ technical awareness
• Recruit for soft skills
• Give hiring managers the tools they need for better hires
• Use work sample tests
• Hire more developers and engineers before competitors
• About interviewstream

The current state of technology hiring

As you probably know by now, demand for engineers and developers is on the rise, and that is more true than ever in the software tech industry today.

Software developers are the most in-demand tech workers, making up nearly one-third of all tech openings and earning an average annual salary of $108,080 and upwards of $150,000 in more competitive markets like New York. And the demand for software developers is expected to grow by a whopping 21 percent by 2028.

Today’s consumers are super savvy around technology. Everyone wants the best when it comes to software and websites, and they want vendors to keep their software updated with all the latest features. Keeping customers happy often means using agile application development processes, and software engineers need the skills to leverage all the newest tools and techniques.

The trouble is that it’s extremely difficult to stay on top of the latest software engineering technologies. In fact, the typical lifespan of a skill in one of these roles is only two to three years. By the time a software engineer builds an application, markets it and sees consumers buying their product, the techniques they used to create the app might already be obsolete.

Because of these rising customer demands, being a software developer or engineer is more challenging than ever, and it’s more difficult for software companies to find qualified developers and engineers who really make the grade.

Leading-edge hiring: Proven techniques for hiring software developers and engineers

You might be wondering exactly how to hire developers and engineers for your software company, especially considering today’s challenges with finding and recruiting for these roles quickly. Check out these tried and true technical recruiting techniques for hiring developers and engineers.

Upgrade your recruiters’ technical awareness: About 42% of recruiters say identifying HR staff who are qualified to uncover top tech talent is the most challenging part of hiring tech talent. Recruiters usually don’t have a lot of the technical skills and knowledge that software engineers do, but they can learn. It’s crucial that recruiters have at least a baseline knowledge of computer programming, coding, software development, testing and debugging. There are so many educational resources about every possible tech stack out there.

Recruit for soft skills: Recruiters often focus their attention on education requirements, but with the rising demand for developers and engineers, it might be smart to evaluate soft skills instead. Consider looking for soft skills like communication, temperament and collaboration, as these skills can give you a good indication of how your developers and engineers will work with others in a team environment.

Give hiring managers the tools they need for better hires: About three-quarters of hiring managers said the time to fill positions has been steadily increasing over the past three years. Luckily, interviewing software can help recruiters fill developer and engineering roles more quickly, ahead of competitors, by streamlining the hiring process. Hiring technology can also help software tech companies expand their reach and hire developers and engineers from other states, as they can interview candidates through video interviews.

Consider looking to the states with the highest numbers or concentrations of software developers and engineers. D.C. (6.5%), Virginia (4.4%), Maryland (4.4%) and Washington (3.8%) boast the highest percentages of software developers, while California (628,414), Texas (324,717) and New York (218,041) see the highest raw numbers of software engineers.

Use work sample tests: Want to learn how a potential hire might perform on the job? It’s simple. Give them a sample piece of work, similar to what they would actually be doing on the job, and assess their performance on it. Tests that evaluate candidates’ technical skills are among recruiters’ most important criteria when hiring software developers at 39%, behind willingness to learn (55%) and work experience (40%).

Work sample testing should mirror the work that a candidate will be asked to perform as closely as possible, be highly standardized so that tests are objective and have a limited time scope, typically no more than two hours. Tread lightly with this, as asking a candidate to do too much work ahead of actually getting the job can be overkill. Work sample tests are a fantastic way to predict which software tech professionals will succeed, more so than reference checks or educational experience.

A cut above: Hire more developers and engineers before competitors

By now, I’m sure you know that it’s more difficult than ever for software companies to find and hire developers and engineers who can stay on top of all the latest trends and technologies. Customers are super savvy and want only the latest and greatest when it comes to software and websites, and unfortunately, there just aren’t enough skilled workers out there to meet the demand.

But that doesn’t mean that your software tech company can’t reach and hire talent before your competition finds them first. Implement these proven techniques, from recruiting for soft skills to using work sample tests, to recruit developers and engineers who really make the grade to your organization.

Interested in learning more about how our interview technology can help you fill developer and engineering roles more quickly, ahead of your competition, by streamlining your whole technical recruiting process? Schedule a demo today.

About interviewstream

interviewstream is an industry leading recruiting software company that helps you reach your top candidates more effectively. Our customers have completed over 3 million interviews using interview builder, interview on demand, interview scheduler, interview connect – and we’d love to help you as well. Talk to an expert today to learn how to get started.