Hiring developers and other tech talent doesn’t function like hiring talent in different industries. A widespread practice for hiring managers is to replicate job ads, one after another. Sometimes hiring professionals work with templates from the last job ad they used for a specific engineering position, or even worse, the one that brought the last hire.
Accessing the right tech communities is a longer and more comprehensive path. And it’s common to hear many complaints about faulty job boards that aren’t engaging enough. But sometimes job ads are well put together but fail again. So, what is wrong? This might be a good time to think about why tech communities are the next place to source tech talent.
Engineers love joining tech communities
Engineers love joining tech communities because they are platforms that can groom them into better engineers. Tech communities help software engineers to find peers and mentors and to advance their career paths and code-related goals. It makes tech communities also the next place to source tech talent! Tech communities serve as informers about the latest developments and provide exposure in the area of expertise.
Some companies can hire via job ads in tech - these have already done their 'homework' and are visible within the tech community. For others, there is a great thing, a whole toolkit out there to use in building your tech teams with success.
Companies who are looking for software engineers usually neglect the fact of how hard the journey to becoming a developer is. Community groups and support systems help fill that journey with optimism and friendship. Tech communities are ‘places’ or online platforms where the journey becomes easier for those starting up in coding.
In short, engineers love joining tech communities because:
- Interactions with like-focused people
- Get visible and get heard
- Access to cutting-edge technology and know-how
- Problem-solving in real-time
Inside tech communities, everyone contributes, and you can’t take just what you need and leave. Companies with the sensibility to understand the capacity of tech communities know that it gives an upper hand when attracting open job positions instead of using conventional job ads. Being a part of tech communities helps showcase the potential to a group of people with different needs that correspond to the area of your company’s expertise. Entering the tech communities become the hardest part, as you don’t go only there to hire. Companies need to learn how to join them, giving additional reasons why tech communities are the next place to find talent. It requires investments in time and developing the right strategy, defining yourself as a real contributing factor to further strengthen tech community power and influence.
Taking preps before entering tech community
Posting job ads to hire engineers is just one of many tools at your disposal and certainly not a phenomenal solution. As we said before, it might work, but sometimes you face numerous obstacles. It’s worth considering tech communities as the next place to source talent and go there. Without measurable effects, your company will bring valuable knowledge on improving company culture, values, and employer branding. Be aware of these rules when hiring through tech communities as a helping hand to increase your brand awareness, visibility, and hiring opportunities. So, let’s go through the 3 reasons why the tech communities are the next place to source tech talent.
Getting access
Get access to the right tech community. ‘Right’ doesn’t only mean a community with talents with the right skills. It means a community that is active and engaging regularly. And by regular, we mean daily and hourly. Communities organizing meetings twice yearly don’t contribute to making a community alive, and you should avoid them. You should look for communities that constantly make an exchange, and that happens with a good mix of opportunities brought together – both professionally and personally.
Talk to consultants or career advisors
Don’t jump immediately into the products and services you’ve just been sold. Not all of these will work for you, even though they may meet your budget and expectations. Speak with a consultant with a strong sense of knowing what is good or bad for your company. A good one will co-create the right mix of options based on your needs and never base it just on your budget. A good consultant will try to meet you on a level where you are as a company and make a partnership to take you where you want to be.
Define metrics
Defining your success metrics is essential. Know what your tasks are and what is to be expected when accessing the community. Let’s face it – hiring is something you are responsible for. It’s your metric, as it depends on how attractive you are as an employer. Define measurements for your job offers, how visible and recognizable you are as a brand, how fast you are processing potential candidates, and how restrictive you are with the tech stack or location. These measurements will define the size of your talent pool. But when looking for data on traffic and engagement, you should understand that it doesn’t depend much on you, and hiring managers should address it to a consultant or even to tech community stakeholders (i.e., meetup organizers, the legal entity standing behind the tech community). Delegate it on the partner’s shoulders because this is their job in the end.
Finding yourself in the right place makes success
Being part of a tech community that motivates its candidates to grow can mutually benefit employers and engineers. Tech communities are at the forefront of technology but are also places where engineers express their thoughts, wants, and needs more openly. It gives them various reasons why tech communities are the next place to find tech talent. It’s an environment that enables you to build sustainable relationships, by finding yourself in the right place is what will make you succeed.
