Tips for recruiting staff: How to recruit staff efficiently
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Wondering how to recruit Developers? Welcome to the complete step-by-step guide on how to recruit Software Developers or hire Web Developers and more!
This guide will take you through the whole process of hiring the best Developers, from gauging your company's need to hire Developers, right through to the onboarding process. Our expert IT recruiters have compiled advice on the best techniques for hiring the right candidate.
If you need further advice or would like some help in recruiting Developers, please get in touch with us today to find out more about our Developer recruitment services, or read on for our hiring Developers check-list.
1. Identify the need to Recruit Developers
Does your company need to hire Developers?
When you are thinking about recruiting Developers, the first key thing to consider is whether you need to hire a Developer to work in-house, perhaps if you have multiple or ongoing development projects, or whether you only need a Developer/s for a short period of time, such as a one-off project.
During the recruitment process, you will need to be clear what work you will require the Developer to be employed for.
2. Establish if you are hiring a team of Developers or if it's just a one-off hire
It's important to establish at this stage, the development workload to be completed, the existing capacity within the business and the budgets available to you for hiring IT staff.
Knowing the specifics of the role that you're hiring for is the best way to create a plan of action for your hiring process. Do you need to hire dedicated development teams or do you need to recruit one Developer only?
As part of our expert IT and Software recruitment services, we'll work to understand your unique business and how you operate, to suggest the number of roles, seniority and type of Developer(s) that are right to hire for your business.
One of our top tips for hiring a team of Developers would be to consider holding an Assessment Day, enabling you to examine and directly compare individuals more easily. This is a quick and cost effective way to bring on multiple staff. Find out how we can help organise Assessment Centers for you. If you're wondering how to build a software development team and you're not sure where to start, please get in touch on 020 7100 8800.
Setting interviewees group tasks during the hiring process will prove their ability to work with others and show how well they communicate. This interview process may seem rigorous and time consuming, but it will be more time efficient and cost effective for your company long term if you hire the right Developer for the job from the beginning.
When looking to hire a development team, as well as technical skills it's also important to find Developers with these key skills:
3. Consider the types of developers to hire
The second thing to consider before you start looking to hire Developers is which type of Developer you require. Developers will usually have experience in a certain field and it is important to ensure that you hire a Developer with the right skill-set for the role.
Web Developers will be focusing on writing code which will be implemented in the back-end of web pages. If you're thinking about hiring Web Developers then you may be thinking of creating new website features and tools.
"The right website experience will create a bond between your brand and your audience." - say experts from Once Interactive referring to the influence of professional Web Development on online presence.
Wondering how to hire Web Developers or where to hire Web Developers? Get in touch with us and we can send you a shortlist of candidates within 48 hours, with no upfront costs: 020 7100 8800.
'Software Developer' is a generic term that usually refers to people who code software packages. If you are looking to hire a Software Developer, then you might be looking to develop applications that allow people do to specific tasks.
Other experience you could look for while hiring Software Developers is someone who develops systems that work underneath devices or control networks; this may include payroll systems or marketing contact systems. Find out why we are the best Software Developer recruiters in the UK.
Nowadays, hiring App Developers is becoming increasingly popular. Mobile app developers create popular apps for smart phone users.
With the majority of the population using a smart phone, you will need to hire App Developers who are able to prove their ability in creating user friendly, simple and smooth apps.
Perhaps you need to recruit Front-End Developers, focusing on the screens. This could be customer details screen in a shop or credit control department.
You might consider hiring Back-End Developers to carry out work which is often invisible to users; although they can be periodic processing like collecting and sending payments to banks, gathering data and summarising it in databases.
4. How long do you need the Developers for?
The length of time you need to hire Developers for depends entirely on the scale of the project/s you have planned.
If you are hiring for a series of big, ongoing projects and need a Developer for a long period of time, then it could be worth considering hiring for a 3 month temp-to-perm placement.
This will help to ensure the individual is right for the job, before passing their probation period and becoming a full-time employee. Find more information about how these work on our recruitment services page.
Do you have a one-off development project, which requires some extra hands for one year or two? Perhaps you need to hire Developers for a startup? Or maybe you are looking to hire an experienced Developer with niche skills, for the purpose of sharing their experiences and training Junior Developers or other employees? This is where short term contract hiring can be very beneficial.
Hiring contractors can work well for both parties, the best Developers for hire, who are ambitious and driven, will often be looking for their next career opportunity. Whether that is the possibility of a promotion within the company they are in, or a career move, short-term contracts are appealing for those who like to be kept on their toes and enjoy a new challenge.
5. Speak to a top IT recruitment agency
Once you have an idea of who you need to hire, you should start thinking about how to attract the right Developer for your role.
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As the UK's leading graduate employment agency, at Give A Grad A Go we have a vast network made up of students, recent graduates, and those in their 2nd or 3rd roles after university. The moment students graduate and begin to look for their perfect job, we can help you with your staff recruitment needs by connecting you with the very best graduate talent pool.
Our approach to hiring graduates is proven to succeed. With a huge 96% candidate probation pass rate and over 90% of companies using us on a repeat basis, our staff hiring process works time and time again.
6. Write a compelling job description for Developers
Your job description needs to attract the best candidates. This is likely to be their first introduction to the role and your company, so it's important to make a good first impression. Explain the aspects of the role and why it is a great opportunity, but ensure that you don't 'oversell' the role, it's important not to over promise things that cannot be delivered. Read on to find out exactly how to write a job description for Developers.
If you want to attract the best Developers, or if you are recruiting graduates for a development project, then we would recommend investing in additional training programs. This will offer Junior Developers the chance to improve their skills and learn which will be appealing. Offering training programs for your employees is also a good way to market your business and increase employee satisfaction and morale.
Speak to your employees and find out what they are interested in. Offer opportunities for staff to get involved in different areas of the business, or different projects which aren't necessarily under the remit of the job. Not only can this help to bridge the gap in the workplace for digital skills, by allowing individuals to build upon their current experience, but it will also help to increase job satisfaction.
It is a good idea to lay out your job specification for Developers with 5 key sections:
1. Company profile
This is your opportunity to show off! Demonstrate why a candidate would want to be a part of your company. Include any other vital or exciting information; try to paint a clear picture of who you are. Consider these points:
2. Job description
This section should be a brief summary of the role. Be clear about which type of Developer you are looking to hire. List examples of the coding knowledge you will require the Developer to have, for example 'experience with coding languages such as Java, JavaScript or C++'.
Using lots of keywords throughout will not only be useful for potential candidates to understand the role, but key phrases and terms are also good for SEO, ensuring the job description is visible online and seen by as many great candidates as possible. Is this a full time position? Or a paid placement? Is it a remote working role? Will there be shift work?
3. Key responsibilities
Here you can provide a bit more detail about what they can expect be doing. Give a breakdown about the day-to-day tasks of the job and use bullet points to outline the main responsibilities of the role. Try and be as transparent as possible and include the following information:
4. Job requirements
This is where you list what applicants will need to be considered for this role, helping to streamline your search. It's important to be specific about what is required of the candidate, whilst also being open minded at the same time. As well as candidates needing to understand what the job entails when they apply, they also need to be confident that they are the right individual for the role.
5. Benefits of the job
This is the juicy bit and gives you the chance to paint a cohesive and positive image of the role. Whilst it can be tempting to oversell your role, it is important to be honest from the early stages as this will help you discover who will be the best person to get the job done.
This section can be bullet points to outline advantages and perks of working at the company. Key areas to think about include:
7. Interview stages - have some Developer specific interview questions
When you are interviewing Developers, you need to ensure that you are asking the right questions in order to find out the right information about the candidate. Before you begin the interview process, create an interview strategy and plan interview questions that hiring managers should ask.
Before any interview begins, it is a good idea to read and learn about elements of the applicant's CV. Find the candidate's LinkedIn profile and use the opportunity to analyse candidate's attention to detail or any additional skills or interests that haven't been included on the CV.
Engage in a more casual chat at the beginning to assess the personality of the candidate and get an idea of how they might come across to other professionals. Ask them questions about their hobbies and interest outside of work to get an idea of if they'd be a good fit within the company, before you move on to the professional questions.
Open Ended Questions: When you ask the interviewee why they want to work for your company specifically, ask it as an open ended question. This will make it easier to gauge how much research they are actually doing and get a genuine opinion from them without asking leading questions.
Focus on Algorithms: Software development tools and new programming languages are being developed constantly. Therefore, being an expert on one type of code has a limited benefit. However, if someone has a natural ability to understand algorithms and concepts then they will be able to adapt to new advances in technology. You can implement this into the face-to-face interview by asking problem solving questions which require them to think outside the box.
Portfolio Passion: Ask the Developer to send in a portfolio of their projects and then use this as a focus point in your interviews. Find out what parts of the project the candidate is passionate about and then relate it to your company's project/s.
More than one interviewer: Having more than one person conducting the face-to-face interview will help to reduce any individual bias on the candidate chosen. Having more than one opinion on who should be the best fit for your organisation will usually result in hiring a highly talented Developer who will fit in well with the rest of the team.
Include unexpected questions: This is a great way to see how fast thinking the candidate is. With interviewees researching your company and planning model answers for potential interview questions, it could be worthwhile to include unexpected questions or tasks to find out how they perform on the spot.
Test the ability: Many Developers will be able to learn a new technological language and get to grips with design patterns with ease. So, it might be a good idea to focus your interview task on understanding their technical strengths and ability.
Moral Dilemma: The qualities of a good employee will surpass good coding experience. Having employees with integrity, honesty and a moral compass will reflect the values of your company. Posing a moral question during the interview process will help you understand the thought process of the individual and help you decide if they will fit in with your company culture.
Change the Language: Whilst most Developers will be able to understand programming languages, they might be unable to tackle a programming challenge unconstrained by language. Present a problem to the candidate where the solution can be in a code language of their choosing. This will evaluate the candidate's knowledge of computer science, coding style and ability to solve problems on the spot. A bonus for the hiring manager in this scenario is that you are focusing on the quick thinking approach, adaptability and general awareness of the candidate and thus being familiar with their code of choice is not a necessity.
8. Choosing the right Developers to hire
9. Onboarding Developers
Now we've established how to recruit web developers, the final stage when you are hiring Developers is the onboarding process, but how do you onboard Developers? Ensuring that your new employee is comfortable with the project and your company is imperative from the first day. This guide will focus on onboarding Developers specifically, but it is worth taking a look at our employee onboarding tips for virtual and face to face onboarding advice, which can be applicable to any role.
Implementing a systematic approach to properly identifying the best candidates will help you to streamline your recruitment process. As the UK's leading specialist graduate recruitment agency, our services help companies employ staff as quickly as they need to grow and succeed.
Wondering where to hire developers? We are the best recruiters and the best site to hire developers online. Upon project commencement we work quickly and efficiently to source and recruit software developers or recruit web developers for your business. You will receive a shortlist of vetted candidates usually within 48 hours; you can trust us to find talent, whatever your deadline.
Our graduate recruitment services are the most cost-effective you will find; with no upfront costs involved, you’ll only pay a fee once we have found the candidate you’ve been looking for. If you’re looking to hire remote Developers, find out more about our remote hiring services or get in touch to find out how to recruit Web Developers.
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