In today's job market, qualified, experienced tech talent is getting harder to find. The cream of the crop are often happily employed, and it takes a great employer brand and a strong recruiting strategy to convince someone to jump ship.
This is especially true of programmers with highly specialized skill sets. In fact, Bloomberg reports that the 2017 unemployment rate for software developers was just 1.9%, compared to the overall U.S. average unemployment rate of 4%. So how do you attract the top talent, despite the competition? Here’s what members of the Forbes Technology Council had to say.
1. Difficult, New Challenges
Assuming their compensation is commensurate with their experience and market conditions, the best programmers are drawn to hard problems. Speaking as an engineer, we’re tool agnostic and relish the chance to pick up new skills. We like working with other great engineers to meet the challenges that no one else has tackled yet. - Matthew Barlocker, Blue Matador
2. A Larger Sense Of Purpose
The one main secret to attract the best programmers — or any employee for that matter — is to really explain the purpose and the vision of the company. When everyone can actually connect to that mission, they will work with you towards the same goal. - Dr. Karin Lachmi, Bioz
3. The Feeling That They're Valued
There's no silver bullet to this question. First, the obvious: A vibrant and enjoyable environment and teams built on trust and cooperation. Aside from that, programmers are used to being treated as expendable employees. In that sense, building some closeness and investing in them not only as employees but as human beings can do wonders for their motivation and the reputation of your company. - Nacho De Marco, BairesDev
4. Autonomy And Ownership
For engineering culture, it's giving engineers flexibility in what they work on. Giving engineers autonomy and ownership with a clear career path that includes learning and mastery opportunities and access to modern tools, all backed by a strong mission and eagerness to celebrate wins, is how you ultimately attract and keep engineering talent. - Zvi Band, Contactually
5. A Flexible Schedule
The best programmers know how to manage their time effectively and don't need to be micromanaged. This is why we let our employees work remotely and on their time. For example, some programmers actually prefer to work at night. It's when they do their best work. Let them decide their schedule to get the best results. - Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
6. Open Source Contribution
Programmers love clean and well-documented code. When you contribute to the open source community you have to stick to strict guidelines, and your code is being reviewed by millions of other developers. Having a forum for open-source contribution in your company shows that you follow those guidelines seriously and work with the clean code. Developers appreciate it more than anything. - Amit Ojha, Diamond Foundry
7. A Competitive Total Compensation Package
The secret to attracting the best programmers isn’t really a secret: Pay them well and provide flexible work arrangements. Robust employee engagement programs and an inclusive company culture are imperative for the majority of your staff, but when it comes to talent in the tech space, compensation and remote opportunities will always come out on top. Their specialized skills are worth the cost. - Tammy Cohen, InfoMart Inc
8. Growth Opportunities
The best programmers want to keep learning and growing. Show them how they can grow with your company. Tell them how you encourage learning new skills. Be generous with spending on hardware and software. Organize fun activities. Be flexible with office timing and work from home policies. Have some challenging projects for them. Organize hackathons or similar events. Finally, pay them well. - Vikram Joshi, pulsd
9. The Chance To Build Something Exciting
First, give them the promise of getting to build something interesting. Helping to build something new, to create and to innovate is inspiring and exciting. Second, be flexible. Often, talent resides in remote locations or with the desire for flexible schedules. Being able to offer some or both helps you attract great and often very loyal talent. - Kerry Bianchi, Visto
10. An Inclusive Culture
The key to attracting the best programmers is the same as the key to attracting the best employees. Have a great company culture with values that allow technologists to do their best work. Engage your employees to present and share innovative ideas and ensure that collaboration and team building are available in ways that allow for different lifestyles and stages so everyone feels included and validated. - Marlyne Pierce, Modern Mogul Ventures
11. An Exploring Mindset
We've found the most success with developers that have a tinkering spirit. They always want to work with new technology, which fits well with our clients who cross a variety of industries. Find people that aren't afraid of trying new things and those that explore on their own time, even if it's not technology. Then give them room to delve into the fields that your business needs. - Luke Wallace, Bottle Rocket
12. Community And Diversity Of Projects
We work in inclusive communities of talent called guilds. It's how we grow talent, allowing our programmers to join the communities of talent they want and work on projects that get them excited. This network philosophy, built into the culture, enables them to learn and play with multiple technologies, get training and also cross-pollinate across multiple industries in a myriad of cool projects. - Andres Angelani, Softvision
13. Personal And Professional Alignment
Make the effort to match the best interests of the company with their personal objectives and goals. Programmers don't work for you, they work on things they care about or that they want to learn. Most importantly, they work to further their life goals, challenge themselves and continue to learn. You want to make that happen. - Anushk Mittal, Memeois
