Finding seniors in Covid
“Nick we’re looking for an awesome senior developer around the $140k-$150k + Super level that doesn’t need any help and can help mentor some of my juniors”
Of course, this is what everyone wants right now. Finding the experienced people is tough in a normal economy but with the borders having been shut for 18 months and no sign of that changing, this isnt going to change.
So what can you do as a business to keep growing, get products out the door and keep your customers happy?
Firstly I think accepting the fact that the next 18 months is going to be hard is step 1. Below are some points ive spoken to people about;
– Whilst they don’t help the immediate problem of securing experienced senior permanent staff now, they might help you from a tech standpoint and also internally from a cultural perspective
– Hire a mid level developer. A lot of businesses are holding out for that star senior or tech lead candidate and its taking 6+ months. You could have hired someone with 4-5 years experience from the get-go, they could be engrained within the team and well on their way to adding real value.
– Hire a contractor. If you want someone local, now, who’ll still work remotely but do what you need, talking to your CFO and getting sign off for that $1000 – $1500 per day budget could really help you..
– Get back on the tools yourself? If you’re a hands-off CTO / Engineering Manager with 15+ years experience and you’ve been looking for seniors for over a year, roll up your sleeves and show everyone else how it done
– Promote internally? Is there someone in your team that’s been with you for 2+ years thats proven themselves over time and nows maybe the time to promote them and see if they can mentor someone more junior?
– Use an overseas consulting business for small pockets of work? Ive heard really good things about software consulting companies in Israel, Poland and the Ukraine. I don’t know any specifically but if you want some info on this – message me and I’ll be able to find out
– Allow more budget for training? A lot of companies say ‘we don’t have anything set in stone in terms of budget for training but its never knocked back if people ask”… with that mindset I think people will feel awkward to ask. Why not get more allocation for budget for your tech team for AWS / Azure certs / training course / courses on soft skills & management that could help developer step up and manage people?
These are just a few ideas. I’m keen to hear what other companies are doing right now to help attract the talent they want?
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