Do you sometimes wonder why your IT recruitments are not producing the desired results? Why doesn’t the candidate respond to messages? How is it possible that, despite positive impressions after the interview, he does not accept the offer? In this article, we will present the perspective of the other side. We asked Adam Gospodarczyk – a fullstack developer with 10 years of experience – what he thinks effective recruitment should look like. Want to find out what is important in recruitment from programmer’s perspective? Keep reading!
A rejected offer? Stay in touch with the candidate
It happens that the candidate will reject the offer. Try not to close yourself to contact with such a candidate. Focus on maintaining a good relationship with him. It may be that none of the offers at this point in time matches the goals and needs of the programmers you are talking to. If ties are built with them and nurtured, this will open the door to using them in the future. If not now, maybe in a month, three or six months, or even a year, he will hear back on his own asking about available offers. To maintain such a relationship, write from time to time (but not too often), ask what’s up, riddle about publications or industry events – don’t send offers alone. Investigate whether the candidate is satisfied with his current job, and whether it meets his expectations for growth. It is possible that he himself will answer that he is inclined to look for a new job.
Think long term, what expectations can you have for the relationship you are building, and what can you give each other. If you’re wondering whether to switch to “you,” wait for the right moment or ask the candidate directly (read another article about writing messages to job candidates).
“It is also a success if a candidate is hired by the company and has gone through onboarding properly, and has stayed with the company for a long time. On the other hand, he may later return to the recruiter or recommend other candidates to contact him or his agency, says Adam Gospodarczyk, fullstack developer with 10 years of experience.
Where to network with programmers?
There are groups on Linkedin, Facebook, and platforms like Telegram or Discord that bring together developers from specific industries. IT recruiters can join them and get to know the community “from behind the scenes”, comment on posts, and even advertise “from the inside” by writing substantive posts, ebooks, and articles combining IT and HR topics, e.g., “IT and HR” or “How to prepare for a recruitment interview?”. However, without posting recruitment announcements – such posts are most often immediately deleted, and people are banned, and expelled from the group. And the aversion increases.
How do you build and maintain relationships with IT candidates over the long term?
In addition to questions in a private message, refer to the candidates’ activities. Watch newsletters, publications e.g. on Linkedin, comments. even a short “good job” or “interesting publication is enough. Get into small interactions, e.g., give a like, recommend the post. Add this to your daily routine. The effects of this work will not be visible immediately, but after a month or two, you will collect a lot of potential candidates in your environment. Which will result in subsequent projects coming much easier. Candidates may ask for jobs for themselves or their friends. Remember to maintain balance in your interactions, don’t inundate the other party with messages, and keep your space. Everyone must have the benefit of the relationship. Maybe go out for coffee and get to know each other “in person”? There is nothing in the way!
It is a myth that an IT specialist gets dozens of messages and offers a day. This happens, but it is not the rule. The most important thing is to stand out. Don’t send re-copied offers, as they may discourage you, what kind of reaction appears is conditioned by the mood and preferences of the reader. If you don’t have time to go through profiles in depth – write something eye-catching that the IT candidate will want to read – some interesting information on his profile and refer to it. If you think the message is good, why not change something, and add something to the announcement? It’s a good idea, for example, to ask a friend in the industry for his opinion, then consult with the company about possible improvements. This can result in an increase in the effectiveness and efficiency of the ad.
Also, pay attention to the appearance of your profile, candidates also do screening of recruiters. Share knowledge, recommend interesting content, and write posts.
How do you maintain interest in an offer?
Sometimes it happens that after making contact, the IT specialist stops hearing from you, and simply disappears without information. “It’s best to ask him directly what didn’t play, maybe something wasn’t understood?” (quoted by Adam Gospodarczyk) Ask if you are postponing the process, or is he giving up? Did someone say something wrong? Work out methods to recruit a programmer closer to him, take care of your relationship, and develop it. In situations where you can’t get in touch with a candidate, you can ask your co-worker for help, maybe his message will be answered. A personalized approach, listening, and developed standards are also key to making sure IT recruiting is carried out smoothly. Even if the candidate turns out to be uninterested – he may recommend someone he knows, because he knows that the company is good and he knows that this person will fit in.
What does a job seeker care about?
It depends on the profile of the person sought. If it’s recruiting a programmer for a start-up then the candidate will expect to be hired at an early stage of the project, developing with the project, the company. In contrast, a person looking for a corporate job will have different needs, such as a high salary, stability, a good team.
If an IT specialist rejects an offer in the recruitment process, it may mean that the offer does not meet his expectations, and goals – listening to what he says, pulling information from between the lines, and paying attention to details will help detect these goals. For some it will be development, for some, it will be money. The better you are at it, the better recruiter you will become.
For an employee, there is nothing worse than going through the hiring process, changing jobs, coming to onboarding and seeing something that wasn’t supposed to be there. Something he doesn’t like so much that he wants to fire himself on the very first day. The employee will feel bad, and will resent the recruiter. His and the company’s image will be damaged. Such situations are not worth allowing.
Does the IT specialist expect technical information from recruiters?
Adam Gospodarczyk said programmers are aware that recruiters may not be technical people. Just be able to tell about the project, the technologies used, and how many people are involved. Also, what kind of company, who will work with whom, and what kind of money – simple honesty.
Feedback
When the candidate is not selected by the employer should give feedback, feedback is very important for further development. However, we humans don’t like getting negative information. Constructive criticism teaches, and informed programmers want it, the important thing is to justify why we write such words, how this person can use the information provided. However, don’t hit back personally, but start from competence, and give tips on what can be improved. You can ask at the very beginning if the candidate even wants this feedback. To curb negative emotions, use words like “I’m relaying what I heard/have heard.” Do not get into discussions, it is known that the person may have a lot of negative emotions, so approach him gently. We wrote more about feedback HERE.
Programmer’s perspective on recruitment tasks
How long the recruitment process is doesn’t matter, as long as all stages bring some value to both parties. Extending by force does not make sense, as it increases costs, and wastes time and resources, candidates may give up when the procedures get long.
Tasks are not always willingly performed, they take a lot of time, and remember, the candidate is applying to several companies, at the same time probably working – in a situation, if the “second job” is to do, performing recruitment tasks, he will be discouraged, he will not have time. Instead of that or writing code on a piece of paper, it is better to use, for example, in-depth interviews. Coding does not look like an IT specialist turning on a program and codes, they support themselves with various additional help from the Internet, or tools. Tasks may involve, for example, making a change to finished code.
If the company absolutely wants to see the code – just check if the person maintains a profile on, for example, Github, has a portfolio, or is involved in any projects. There he can have his original designs as well as codes from various courses. Nothing will also verify skills as well as talking to another developer.
“The effect of the work comes from the number of interactions undertaken, the more activity, the more people in the next stages of recruitment” (quoted by Adam Gospodarczyk), be consistent, pay attention to the organization of your work, the mode of work and how it translates into efficiency. Optimize your activities, for example, by using a calendar to make appointments. All this will help you achieve process closure successfully. Separate your work from your private life, be a man by doing IT recruiting, but also others.
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