Trying to find developers -- Is it possible?!
Discussion
I'm trying to recuit a couple of graduates in computing and at the moment it's proving nigh on impossible.
I've tried a few graduate websites, some of the bigger sites (Monster and JobSite), but I'm getting maybe 1 or 2 pretty much useless applications.
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what I can try as apposed to recruitment consultants as I don't really have the budget to pay them as well...
I've tried a few graduate websites, some of the bigger sites (Monster and JobSite), but I'm getting maybe 1 or 2 pretty much useless applications.
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what I can try as apposed to recruitment consultants as I don't really have the budget to pay them as well...
Yes of course it is. I'm a developer myself.
Drop the graduate bit. Talented developers are self-taught, all you are doing is narrowing down the eligable pool.
Also depends on what skills you are expecting and what you are offering in return.
Make the job sound interesting. Give some indication of the projects they'll be working on...
ETA: This comes from my point of view as a developer, not an employer.
Drop the graduate bit. Talented developers are self-taught, all you are doing is narrowing down the eligable pool.
Also depends on what skills you are expecting and what you are offering in return.
Make the job sound interesting. Give some indication of the projects they'll be working on...
ETA: This comes from my point of view as a developer, not an employer.
So, I was using the term graduate as that's the sort of age I'd be looking for, but of course I'm not allowed to suggest an age we are looking for!
So somebody with a couple of years experience, so we're thinking in the range of £25k which is what I've been told to expect by consultatnts I've spoken to.
Job wise, I don't think it gets much more exciting. We can promise world wide travel, we're a startup so we can offer being the part of a new and successful company.
So somebody with a couple of years experience, so we're thinking in the range of £25k which is what I've been told to expect by consultatnts I've spoken to.
Job wise, I don't think it gets much more exciting. We can promise world wide travel, we're a startup so we can offer being the part of a new and successful company.
In my experience roles that have trouble being filled are too stringent in the requirements. They'll ask for a knowledge of a specific database or language, or even a specific version, when any proven experience of a RDB or 3GL (or whatever) is what's needed (together with the more important aspects of ability to learn, organisation, creativity, hard work, etc). Unfortunately when management write spec sheets they often don't understand how to optimally broaden their requirements - "Oh, we use Oracle 11 so let's advertise for someone with experience of Oracle 11". Nope.
I would question your need for graduates too (but I'm a non-grad too 
).
Working (and recruiting) in IT, I'm finding it's really hard to find anyone good at the moment (maybe everyone's sitting tight fearing the job market or maybe the market's really buoyant and there are too many jobs for too few people). The time of year's not a great help either, who wants to be bothering with interviews with Christmas (and parties and bonuses, if you're lucky) almost here?
Have you tried any of the forums that cater for the technologies you're looking for skills in? Lots of recruiters are pretty rubbish frankly...
M.
).Working (and recruiting) in IT, I'm finding it's really hard to find anyone good at the moment (maybe everyone's sitting tight fearing the job market or maybe the market's really buoyant and there are too many jobs for too few people). The time of year's not a great help either, who wants to be bothering with interviews with Christmas (and parties and bonuses, if you're lucky) almost here?
Have you tried any of the forums that cater for the technologies you're looking for skills in? Lots of recruiters are pretty rubbish frankly...
M.
marcosgt said:
I would question your need for graduates too (but I'm a non-grad too ).
Working (and recruiting) in IT, I'm finding it's really hard to find anyone good at the moment (maybe everyone's sitting tight fearing the job market or maybe the market's really buoyant and there are too many jobs for too few people). The time of year's not a great help either, who wants to be bothering with interviews with Christmas (and parties and bonuses, if you're lucky) almost here?
Have you tried any of the forums that cater for the technologies you're looking for skills in? Lots of recruiters are pretty rubbish frankly...
M.
I don't care for university degrees to be honest, like I said it's a term I used to suggest an age we are after. I'm not sure if you are allowed to say '20 something developer!!'. ).Working (and recruiting) in IT, I'm finding it's really hard to find anyone good at the moment (maybe everyone's sitting tight fearing the job market or maybe the market's really buoyant and there are too many jobs for too few people). The time of year's not a great help either, who wants to be bothering with interviews with Christmas (and parties and bonuses, if you're lucky) almost here?
Have you tried any of the forums that cater for the technologies you're looking for skills in? Lots of recruiters are pretty rubbish frankly...
M.
The advert I wrote was very open, saying how we don't care for degrees or experience, just looking for people with the rough right skills and the right sort of attitude.
How does the pay stack up against other jobs in the area ? Do you have a link to the advert?
I forget the name of it, there is a "budget" recruitment agency that do cursory checks on your advert and post it to various sites, they then make sure any application is vaguely sensible and pass on the details to you to deal with, maybe that would be an option to get you some more exposure.
I have seen monster used in the past for recruitment, wasn't that successful. Have you looked at posting ads directly - CWJobs, reed etc?
I forget the name of it, there is a "budget" recruitment agency that do cursory checks on your advert and post it to various sites, they then make sure any application is vaguely sensible and pass on the details to you to deal with, maybe that would be an option to get you some more exposure.
I have seen monster used in the past for recruitment, wasn't that successful. Have you looked at posting ads directly - CWJobs, reed etc?
I'd replace 'graduate' with 'junior'. Graduates will still apply for junior dev roles, especially with the salary you're offering. I'd say up to £25k is a very reasonable salary for a junior dev! This depends on the region you're based in of course. I'm in Berks and that's a very good salary for a new graduate. It's usually around £22k here.
Regarding skills, perhaps instead state which technologies you use. You'll get people applying who want to learn these technologies, and you can assess the candidates based on the experience in their CVs and subsequent interviews.
Regarding skills, perhaps instead state which technologies you use. You'll get people applying who want to learn these technologies, and you can assess the candidates based on the experience in their CVs and subsequent interviews.
Simbu said:
I'd replace 'graduate' with 'junior'. Graduates will still apply for junior dev roles, especially with the salary you're offering. I'd say up to £25k is a very reasonable salary for a junior dev! This depends on the region you're based in of course.
This. Rather than ask for a graduate, state you're looking for a junior developer with 1-2 years experience in JavaScript, etc. Sounds like you're after a front end web developer rather than a "proper" Java programmer, given the skills you've mentioned?Might be worth seeing if someone with experience in developing JEE web applications would be interested, as they should have what you need and more...
Thanks for the last couple of comments, both helpful.
I'll change it to junior developer for the next ad.
The skills we are looking for are similar to a web developer, but we're actually based in broadcast, so the tech we use will mean little or nothing to 99.99%. I'll have to keep it quite generic in that regard.
I'll change it to junior developer for the next ad.
The skills we are looking for are similar to a web developer, but we're actually based in broadcast, so the tech we use will mean little or nothing to 99.99%. I'll have to keep it quite generic in that regard.
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