How to Attract the Best Developers

In several posts I have commented on the importance of a good selection process to incorporate the best developers into a team, focusing on the tests and the selection processes themselves. However, recruiting IT professionals is not like the last decade (and even less like the decade before this one). I started working as a programmer in the late 90s, after studying the “Career of the Future”. Well, back then it really was the career of the future because at that time, in that “present”, programmers were not well paid, there was not so much demand, and yet many people studied it.

At that time you would place an ad in the newspaper and dozens of resumes would arrive. Applicants poured in, full of eagerness to work and with relatively low expectations compared to other professions. Even a little-known company with low salaries could get good developers without too many problems. Clearly, this is not the current situation: there is excess demand for developers and developers know it (I had bad luck: when I was a programmer there was an oversupply, and now that I am on the other side, there is excess demand).

Companies fight fiercely over developers. It is already difficult for large and well-known companies, not to mention small or medium ones, which have to juggle to fill a position.

For all these reasons, it is not only a matter of knowing how to choose; first of all you have to be able to attract the best applicants and convince them that working with you is the best option. So how can I attract the best talent to my company?

There is no single formula, and the truth is that in such a competitive market you have to apply a bit of niche marketing. If a company is doing things well, it must have certain unique characteristics that have allowed it to get where it is (or, failing that, a unique strategy that it hopes will take it there). These characteristics have to be reflected in the company's “Recruitment Brand”.

I am going to talk about two very different cases of companies where I worked and was able to build excellent work teams. One was a large, international company, with a solid name, a nice corporate building and good salaries. The other was a small, local company, growing very fast, with average salaries.

There were, however, certain things in common between the two:

• We developed interesting things. In general, if a company wants to differentiate itself technologically, somewhere, someone must be programming something interesting.

• As a software development area, we believed that by doing things very well, we would generate opportunities for everyone, both for the company and for the team members.

• Values of respect, teamwork, excellence and achievement were shared.

• The managers had a clear vision of the team's goals and values, led by example and fostered this culture.

So how was the best talent mainly attracted? Very easily: the people who worked on the team valued what they did and the place where they worked, and therefore wanted to keep doing bigger and more interesting things, and for that the team had to bring in more people like them, so they invited the people they knew who were good. When a friend or someone you respect professionally says to you, “Hey, come work here with me, we are doing very interesting things and it is an excellent place to work”, you listen, and you will surely consider the invitation (especially if you are not happy where you are now).

If someone is good and happy where they are, they will want people who contribute and add value. And guess what: people who have positive values and are good professionals tend to know other people like them.

So, first piece of advice to attract the best talent... Build a culture and way of working where the best professionals want to work. Here again, the matter of selecting well is important, because you have to make sure that the people you hire are really good and fit these values; only then does this virtuous circle work.

Now, why was I talking about niches? Because it is not possible to attract everyone, and not all professionals are attracted by the same thing. Some professionals want to climb the ranks in a large corporation, others will feel more motivated by a startup. Make sure you are clear about everything good that your particular company can offer, so that you can have a consistent and attractive message for your candidates.

Back to my two experiences. At the large company, what we “sold” to applicants was working for a large, international company, with opportunities to work on projects in several countries, a young team with a lot of potential to grow and learn. An environment where very young professionals with relatively little experience, but incredibly capable, did what in another company would be done by more senior professionals 10 years older.

At the smaller company, what we sold was a startup environment, developing an innovative product, where we were David against Goliath, but where, if we worked together and were successful, the possibilities were unlimited for those of us who started in the early phase of this adventure.

If you are doing things right, you must have good things to sell, regardless of size, industry or time in the market. All of this, taking it to a more formal level, has to do with the development of your “Recruitment Brand” (a topic in itself for several posts).

Obviously, creating an attractive and successful work culture, with solid values shared by the group, is not easy; it is something that never ends, but the return on investing in this is very high, and attracting the best talent is just one of its consequences. So I am sorry to disappoint anyone who came looking for a quick formula to attract talent when reading this post, but I sincerely believe that this is the best and most effective one. If you already have this culture, then start using it to attract talent, and if you do not have it, start working on it, since a company can hardly get far without it.