Arpit Mishra

Recruiting top-class talent is challenging in itself and doing it on a low budget can be quite a daunting task!

Startups and mid-sized companies that typically operate on a shoestring (small) budget (before they catch the eye of the big VCs and make it to the big league) are commonly faced with the predicament of how to recruit the right candidate with their limited budget.

At a time when big companies lure top talent with generous salaries and bonuses, VMware, Splunk, and Cadence the top three paying companies in America pay their employees in the range $160k according to Business Insider.

What chance do the smaller players have?

According to a study by Deloitte, employees reported work-life balance as being the most important factor apart from salary.

In another finding, a whopping 42% of those surveyed by Towards Data Science was willing to choose a lesser paying job with fewer working hours than a better-paying one with more working hours!

The attractive perks and benefits offered by tech biggies to their employees to keep them interested in more evidence supporting the finding that salaries aren’t everything.

For instance, Netflix offers its employees unlimited maternity and paternity leaves in their first year of parenthood.

Airbnb, on the other hand, offers its employees an annual stipend of $2000 to travel!

While the latter may not be applicable to a firm with budget constraints, a flexible work schedule can be very attractive to many employees. (Also Read – Employee onboarding: Looking at the bigger picture).

So what should startups do to hire developers and other tech talents on a small budget? While everyone is looking to get that developer worth million dollar bucks, there are few creative recruiting strategies to hire great talents, let’s discuss them below

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9 creative recruitment strategies for hiring top talent

1. Appeal to their emotional side

   While salary and bonuses may be more appealing to the logical side of the brain, there is another way to attract a potential hire – by appealing to their emotional side.

   At the core, all of us are driven towards finding a sense of purpose.

   If you can get candidates invested in your company’s mission, then it can go a long way in shifting their focus from merely looking for a well-paying job to one where he/she could make a difference in the larger scheme of things.

2. Additional perks never hurt

   Maybe you have a fancy cafeteria with unlimited snacks and all your employees are equipped with MacBook Pros. Or maybe not.

   One thing we need to understand is that not all employees seek these fancy perks.

   Quality bonding time with everyone over a piping hot cuppa and some munchies to go around may be just as appealing!

   Most companies tend to overlook certain easy-to-implement and highly effective perks that would appeal to the employees, such as

   1. Flexitime

      A flexible work plan empowers employees to plan their work around their own schedule, which in turn leads to a more productive workforce that is self-motivated and doesn’t need constant reminders or supervision.

      The flexitime can be in the form of late clock-in time or early clock-out time. Since the flexiwork applies to everyone involved, employees are more willing to pitch in for a colleague in case of emergencies.

   2. Healthy meal options

      Promoting a healthy workplace is also in fashion these days, with cafeterias serving all kinds of healthy and nutritious food for the employees.

      By adopting a healthy food policy, not only are you offering your employees a healthier alternative but also positioning yourself as an employer that cares for its employees’ health and well-being.

   3. Convertible or standing desks

      Emerging as one of the fastest growing and in-demand employee benefit across companies, the humble standing desks or sit-to-stand desks can be an inexpensive yet attractive perk to offer to a prospective candidate.

      These desks, apart from making the workspace more robust and dynamic, ensure better collaboration among employees.

   4. Discounted neighborhood membership

      Most startups operating on a tight budget would not be able to afford a fully functional gym in their workplace, however, a group discount at a neighboring gym can be an excellent alternative.

      This would promote a healthier, dynamic work environment.

   5. Travel or holiday allowance

      An excellent benefit to add to your list would be a holiday allowance that can boost the happiness quotient among employees in your office to new levels.

      A dash of creativity coupled with some well-thought out and relevant benefits can empower you to not only retain your current crop of employees but also galvanize them into becoming brand ambassadors for your company.

      Referral hires who are well versed with the dynamics and work culture of your company, thanks to this band of brand ambassadors, would be willing to take a pay cut because they know they would be a good fit here. (Also Read – How employee wellness affects productivity: four fundamental pillars)

3. Work-life balance

   Whether you’re running a bookkeeping side hustle with a team of two or managing an enterprise with a dozen headcounts, you must prioritize the work-life balances of your employees .Employees today do not prefer to be tied down to their desks for long work hours and require time-off to socialize, follow their passions, pursue higher education and lead a fulfilling life.

   It is imperative for employers to understand this need, and offer employees an excellent work-life balance. Such a workforce tends to be more productive and infuses robust energy to the workplace.

   A study by Deloitte reports how employees revealed that work-life balance was one of the most important factors while considering a job.

   There are limited hours in a day and demanding that your employee work for longer hours not only builds resentment but also affects productivity!

   An unhealthy lifestyle with irregular meals of unwholesome food, lack of adequate exercise, and the absence of stress-relieving activities can potentially lead to life-altering or fatal lifestyle diseases!

4. Autonomy, mastery, and purpose

   Experiments in the 1970s by well-renowned psychologist Edward Deci studied how money and motivation derived different results from its subjects.

   In these experiments, a group of people was divided into two sets, one that was asked to solve a puzzle with money as the reward and the other who was asked to solve a similar puzzle without any monetary rewards.

   He found the second group that was simply offered a challenge without any monetary compensation to be more motivated than the one that was offered compensation.

   This example is in no way to suggest you withdraw monetary compensation for your employees from the table! On the contrary, the lesson we could perhaps learn from this is that humans have an intrinsic need to succeed, which can be leveraged by offering them an environment that is conducive to attaining such a goal.

5. Potential for growth

   Some of the best hires are often looking for an excellent opportunity and a challenge as well!

   They are keen to know about the company’s growth prospects and their own professional advancement and career prospects.

   In a poll by Gallup, 87% of the millennials reported career advancement was very important in a job.

   A candidate who understands his current role, as well as the career prospects within the company, is much more likely to take a salary cut in lieu of career advancement.

6. Stock options

   Several companies offer equity or stock options as part of the compensation.

   This would mean that the salary that the employee gets in hand would be much lesser since he gets to have greater skin in the game.

   This is an excellent way to align the company’s interests with that of the employee.

   The employee who chooses to take a lesser salary in lieu of equity believes in the company’s potential and is incentivized to grow the company so that her own shares also increase in value.

   Microsoft is one of the early companies who offered stock options to its employees and created 3 billionaires and over 12,000 millionaires in the process!

7. Sell them on your technology

   A very effective way to attract players to your team is to sell them on the hot technology you are working on.

   People, from entry-level to senior-level employees, would take a smaller paycheck if they get to work on cutting-edge skills. (Also Read – Automation in recruitment and why it is a necessity for HR)

8. Show them you only hire the best

   Compelling stories about your team and their superior industry knowledge would persuade a talented hire to be part of your team.

   The reason?

   An A-player prefers to work with other A-players and would be willing to take home a few dollars less for the opportunity to be in the company of great talent.

9. Job vs. Career

   The best hires are not merely looking for a job to earn money!

   Instead, they are looking for a workplace that has the potential to grow and offers similar growth prospects to its employees.

   In short, a lucrative career is what a top-class talent is looking for.

   To convince a person such as this, you need to play up your company’s mission, its goals, its potential for growth, its team, and its work culture.

   It is imperative to find a dedicated team of talented employees to boost your company’s success and without lucrative paychecks, these above-mentioned ideas can serve you well in attracting great talent.

Conclusion

While finding new ways to retain employees through exciting perks and keep them engaged with new challenges, remember to not tweak the hiring process to such an extent that you have to make do with less than the best talent.

There are other ways to cut costs— employ novel tools to identify talent, streamline the evaluation and interviewing processes, and manage employees— and weed out under-qualified candidates.

Automation can save several man-hours, which means you save lots of pennies too, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your recruitment strategy.

Read how start-ups like GyanMatrix & global NGOs are using Technology Recruitment Software for hiring technical talents on budget.

Take a 14-day FREE trial for HackerEarth Recruit to see if the software is a right fit for your organization.

Technology has been an enabler at workplaces. With the advent of solutions such as the Cloud, employers are now empowered to hire and manage a workforce that is no longer confined to brick-and-mortar offices.

Gone are the days when organizations had to follow an office-based work culture and suffered losses when the employees couldn’t make it to the office.

Technology helps teams stay connected irrespective of their location. This has helped organizations keep their employees happy and productive and has also encouraged diverse hiring policies.

Even though the transformation has many advantages, it has also created new challenges for leaders in Talent Acquisition and Learning & Development. Leaders now find it difficult to ensure training and reskilling sessions for employees working remotely.

The need for remote hiring and talent management tools has increased like never before.

The “Why” of Remote Team

According to a recent survey by Gallup, 43% of the 15,000 employees surveyed claimed that they spent at least some time working remotely in 2016, whereas this number was just 4% in 2012.

There has been a lot of debate over why we need a remote workforce despite various facts and figures being presented in favor.

You can only experience the positive benefits of remote work if you have all your ducks in a row. Here's a useful resource that highlights the 7 Don'ts of remote management, and what to do instead.

Emergency Preparedness

Offices in cities like Mumbai and Chennai had to shut down due to heavy downpour. Organizations with remote work policies continued business operations, while others suffered losses.

Building Independent Critical Thinking Skills

Remote working helps groom employees into critical thinkers by promoting individual accountability and decision-making.

Building Trust

Managers and employees must trust each other. Remote workers often show increased responsibility and productivity.

Diversity and Inclusion

Remote work enables those who can't commute—like new parents or older professionals—to contribute meaningfully. It helps build a multi-generational, inclusive workforce.

“While the thought of working remotely appeals to a lot of people, it’s not for everyone... it takes a certain kind of person.” — Krisha Buehler, HR Head at BELAY

10 Steps to Managing Remote Teams Effectively

1. Invest in the Right Technology

Use AI-driven hiring tools like Recruit or Zapier for better screening and tracking of applicants. Free eBook

2. Chalk Out the Right Processes

Share clear hiring processes and onboarding kits to ensure candidates understand the company culture and expectations.

3. Explain Your Vision Well

Sell your organizational vision with purpose, especially since remote hires don’t experience daily in-office culture.

4. Focus on Transparency

Set honest expectations during hiring. Ensure candidates understand both the flexibility and responsibility of remote work.

5. Set Reasonable Expectations

Define work hours, responsibilities, and deliverables clearly for remote employees.

6. Ensure Data Security

Use encrypted WANs, VPNs, and security protocols to protect sensitive data. Free eBook

7. Deploy Experts Wherever Needed

Consult experts when implementing new tech and strategies for remote workforce management.

8. Build a Sense of Community

Keep remote workers engaged with recognition programs and simple appreciation gestures. Learn more

9. Don’t Ignore Their Learning & Development

Use e-learning and Learning Management Systems (LMS) to offer consistent development opportunities. More info

10. Don’t Forget Face-to-Face Interaction

Organize in-person meetings occasionally to build stronger team relationships.

Challenges of Managing Remote Teams

1. Communication Barriers

• Lack of face-to-face interaction may cause misunderstandings.
• Time zone differences slow down decision-making.

2. Cultural Differences

• Diverse work ethics and communication styles can lead to friction.
• Language nuances impact clarity.

3. Monitoring and Productivity

• It’s difficult to assess remote employee performance directly.
• Balance issues may lead to burnout or disengagement.

4. Team Cohesion and Culture

• It’s harder to create team spirit without regular personal interactions.
• Isolation can affect mental well-being.

5. Technology Dependence and Issues

• Heavy reliance on tech means failures can disrupt work.
• Not all employees may be comfortable with digital tools.

6. Data Security and Privacy

• Remote setups increase risk exposure.
• Privacy protection becomes more complex.

Popular posts like this:

• 6 advantages of using online assessment in education
• 7 Recruiting Trends That Will Continue Into 2019
• 8 ways to hire a developer [Actionable tips]

Hire remote developers effectively, with HackerEarth Assessment

This article has been updated on February 20th, 2023.

To hire a software developer and a talented one at that is akin to winning the lottery, especially in today’s competitive market. It’s like the Hunger Games out there! To quote, “We fight, we dare, we end our hunger for justice.” — but for developers instead 😛

“People are the most important component of almost any business, and attracting the best talent possible is going to make a huge difference,” says Peter Berg, founder of the consulting firm October Three. There is no disputing this, is there?

Finding people with the right skills, meeting salary and benefits expectations, competing with larger brands, and immigration regulations are perhaps the greatest hiring challenges for any tech company. Add recession, a global pandemic, and the fact that you want potential candidates to work for a startup (in this unstable economy) to that mix. Good luck ever finding anybody!

Startups are notoriously known for failing. In fact, studies show 9 out of 10 startups fail. Understandably, tempting talented candidates to apply for open roles at your organization can be difficult. So how do you go about attracting qualified developers to apply to your startup?

We’ve got you covered. In this post, we will:

• Give actionable tips on how to attract software developers
• Bring you some great ways to source, screen, and interview software developers without making a dent in your already stretched budget

What do software developers look for in a job?

And no, the answer is not “competitive salary”. Step 0 is to attract developers before moving on to interviewing or hiring them.

Recruiters, ask yourselves this—what do developers want from their job? Is it a better work-life balance? Personal growth potential? Or flexible schedules? Walk a mile in a developer’s shoes to understand what they look for in an ideal job opportunity and what makes them happy. Then you’ll be one step closer to attracting and hiring the cream of the crop out there!

A few vital benefits to offer include:

Flexible work schedules

Developers crave flexibility. They like to identify their most productive hours and set their work timings accordingly. Offer remote/hybrid working models for your devs with the option to structure their workday around their needs—the 9–5 model is slowly becoming a thing of the past. If their company stood by rigid work schedules and returned to working from an office full-time, people will switch jobs in a heartbeat as seen during the Great Resignation.

Providing good growth opportunities

Findings from our annual Developer Survey show that both beginner devs and experienced software professionals can be wooed by offers of a good career growth curve (~60%)—it’s a must-have requirement when looking for a new job. Offer valuable learning and development opportunities for your software developers to enable them to build their portfolio as well as keep them satisfied enough to stay with your organization. Take HackerEarth’s L&D platform for instance—it helps you identify skills gaps as well as curate customized learning paths for individual employees.

Wellness benefits

In a post-pandemic world, mental health is no longer “a good-to-have perk”. It’s become a priority. Therefore, promote self-care and stress management by providing mental health counseling and diet, exercise, and wellness coaching. Managers are not mental health experts but they can point their developers in the right direction—encourage them to seek help from the resources available. We, at HackerEarth, are pre-registered for 1to1help, an emotional well-being Employee Assistance Program that helps employees prioritize mental health. They conduct regular sessions on achieving work-life balance, managing anxiety, why taking care of mental health is important, and so on.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means. Here are some more employee perks and benefits that can attract developers to apply to your organization. 👇

Link to Abenity’s blog

Whether you are an employer or an employee, you need to think beyond résumés to stay ahead of the game.

From hackathons to automated evaluation tools, semantic analysis to personality tests, social hiring to website scraping, recruiting is being reinvented and how.

A “one-size-fits-all” strategy certainly doesn’t cut it.

Résumés will take you only so far.

Research shows that context-dependent skills and passion for the job will continue to drive hiring more than ever.

Here is a quick overview of the top nine sources when scouting for technical talent.

Even if you are not a programmer yourself, these places should help you build a good talent pipeline.

LinkedIn

How are recruiters using LinkedIn for hiring developers?

Recruiters can post jobs, source talent, and build the company brand easily using LinkedIn Talent Solutions.

LinkedIn has over 400 million people! Follow etiquette before all else for optimal results.

Use your profile and company page

Potential candidates will see your personal brand as a reflection of the employer brand.

A good recruiting profile has a friendly profile picture, an interesting descriptive headline, a summary that showcases your professional story and the company culture, goals, accomplishments, and candidate expectations in the best possible light.

Encourage discussions to build your brand.

Establish yourself as a thought leader by publishing engaging, insightful content, either curated or original.

Create a career page, apart from your company page.

• Read a bit about the publishing platform, LinkedIn Pulse, here.
• Read more on how to share content using this news aggregation feed here.

Use the built-in analytics features to capture valuable insights for data-driven recruiting.

• Read more on how to attract followers here.

Extend your reach via engaging status updates about your company’s activities.

To target relevant candidates, try sponsored updates.

Say, your company is organizing a Swift hackathon, then you can sponsor an update to software professionals and students nearby, expanding your network with new followers.

Use the built-in dashboard to study the impressions, engagement, clicks, shares, likes, and acquisition.

• Read more on some best practices for sponsored content here.

*Note that you can’t publish sponsored updates without a company page and an advertising account.

Use your network

Beef up your existing network through content that might interest programmers. Once again, use sponsored content or company updates to grab attention.

LinkedIn Elevate gives your employees quality shareable content, thereby influencing future recruits in their networks.

People are more likely to believe employees than recruiter spiel. Studies show that people who use this tool,

• share four times more than before
• drive forty percent more followers
• drive three times more job views

Build a referral chain, and run referral contests or referral programs that reward the participants.

*Data suggests that “it takes 29 days to hire a referred candidate, 39 days to hire a candidate through a job posting, and 55 days to hire a candidate through a career site.”

• Go here to see how you can use LinkedIn Referrals to get the most out of your employees’ networks.

• Go here to see different types of referral programs to source the best candidates.

One of the most effective ways to humanize your brand is by adding recommendations or testimonials.

Don’t forget to tag connections.

For example, a recruiter can group Python developers using tags.

Scan the events section for valuable connections in the attendee list. Or, list an event to spread the word.

Use ads

LinkedIn has a minimum daily budget that you have to spend on your ads.

Your ROI is much higher than any other internet advertising mediums.

You can attract the attention of people who are checking out profiles of employees in your organization by using Recruitment Ads beside these employee profiles.

• Go here for some inspirational ads to boost hiring.

Sponsored ads specifically reach the right audience and have proved to be very useful in getting new followers.

Text ads simply display the information you provide under the column “ads you make like” on the right side.

They are also highly-targeted.

• Go to the LinkedIn ads page to create an ad.

Personalized messages can be delivered to a target hire’s inbox.

Use paid options

LinkedIn offers paid services to find passive candidates with access to a wider pool of talent and features to “build a candidate pipeline.”

The advanced search and filter options on offer with a premium account help you source quickly and nurture relationships with top talent easily.

Free (typically done via status updates, job discussions/groups, or creative presentations) and paid job advertising gets you relevant clicks from your target audience.

• Read more about posting jobs on LinkedIn here.
• Read more about job posting prices here.

Use groups and join discussions

Participating in group discussions can be really effective to increase the visibility of your brand among the developers and foster your relationship with them.

Here are a few LinkedIn groups that you as an IT recruiter should join for networking, knowing about the latest trends in tech, engaging with the talent, and posting jobs:

• Technology jobs network
• Software and Technology
• Information Technology: Jobs, Job postings & Job recruiters
• Information technology professionals
• Information technology managers forum

Just check out LinkedIn Recruiter for amazing features such as the Recommendation Engine to source outstanding talent.

Would you like to get updates once a month on our latest articles? We won’t spam, we promise. Subscribe now to The HackerEarth Blog!

Tips

• Try LinkedIn plug-ins such as Klout, Hootsuite, Buffer, TweetDeck, and Bullhorn Reach to help in recruiting the right people.
• To deal with the 100 search limit quota, try Recruitment Geek’s LinkedIn X-ray Search.
• Export LinkedIn connections to your recruitment database.
• Try this link to search better using specific filters.
• Save your searches to get talent emailed directly to you without upgrading to a premium account.

**Watch some helpful videos on LinkedIn Talent Solutions here.

You don’t need to actually join a group such as Austin Digital Jobs to get access to the members.

Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Google+, Instagram

Everything is digital now. Recruitment too. When 30% of all Google searches are related to employment, there’s little need for further introduction.

If you look at Dice Social Recruiting in Tech Survey 2016-17, you’ll see that recruiters are going all out with social tools with a remarkable success rate.

Facebook

Every minute, users update 293,000 statuses and upload 136,000 photos on Facebook (FB).

This is definitely a talent bank you can’t ignore as a recruiter.

Recruiting through Facebook is a quick and cost-effective way to source local talent, especially for small businesses or startups.

• Use creative job postings on your company’s FB page and leverage the customization options for maximum benefit.
• Create a buzz about your company goals and culture in your target market (say, Java developers) through short videos or photos.
• Connect with potential programmers (or have a page manager) and ensure you engage with them via discussions and quick responses to queries.
• Add job tabs on your FB page using your ATS.
• Join relevant groups such as The Facebook Corporate Recruiters Network and Recruiters Online for hiring tips and networking.
• Encourage employee referral activity.
• When your company creates an ad with great visuals, make sure it includes all pertinent job posting details.

• Go here for WordStream’s infographic on ad targeting options FB offers.
• Read about FB ad types, costs/pricing, and guidelines here.

Tips

• Find suitable programmers using the FB Graph Search feature. Organic search can’t help you look beyond employees’ friends.

• • Read how to use the graph search option for recruiting here.
  • Don’t create work and a personal FB account as this is against the Terms of Service. Create a “candidates” list and make employer information and hiring posts available only to that audience. Only you know about the privacy restrictions.

• GitHub

  GitHub is an online project-hosting service site where developers share their open- source projects.

  You can collect contact information from this hotbed of emerging and established technical talent from around the globe.

  Perhaps no other platform has so many programmers in one place. “It is the largest code host in the world.”

  • Once you have a public account up and running, you can get details such as a candidate’s current employer, location, email address, websites she has chosen to display, number of followers (the number telling how good they are at what they do and how respected), GitHub contributions (notice the keywords, for example, Django, Ruby on Rails), and repositories.
  • Your search could be:language: ruby location: San Jose followers: > 15.
  • After filtering your search results (best matches on top), you can reach out to people of interest. Remember to do a bit of research about their work on the site, public activity, and cross-check on other social media sites if possible.
  • You want Code listed as Sources, not Forked.
  

  Tips

  • Use tools such as SourceHub to find candidates easily.
  • Note that GitHub wasn’t designed for sourcing, so people may not respond. Find a less direct way to approach them.
  • Pick a talented programmer from your company, find her on GitHub, and identify similar people from the follower list.

• Stack Overflow

  Stack Overflow is an online community for programmers to learn, share their knowledge, and advance their careers.

  Currently, it’s a community of 6.9 million programmers where sort-out developers post their day-to-day questions seeking help and advice from other developers.

  • Use Google search bar to search for candidates with specific skill-set in a particular location because the Stack Overflow search interface is limited. For example, to find android developers in the “Portland” area, in the Google search bar, you can type: “site:stackoverflow.com/users Android (“location*oregon” │”location*portland” │”location*or”)
  • Add a tag (say, the area of expertise such as Flask) as the keyword to find developers who posted or answered questions from that tag.
  • Use Stack Overflow job listings portal to subscribe to Stack Overflow talent.
  
  • You can find basic details and summary about programmers, answers they have provided, questions they’ve asked, and a rank/reputation based on how the candidates’ questions and answers are perceived by others.

  Tip

  • Use Stack Overflow badges to search for great candidates.
  • Find passive candidates by going to the Careers section; you’ll get an idea about what sort of opportunities they may be looking for.
  • Construct MySQL queries to search data.stackexchange.com.
  • Use properly constructed simple queries on recruitin.net to search Stack Overflow.
  • • Read more about sourcing programmers using GitHub and StackOverflow here.

• Reddit

  Reddit is an online community where users submit content, such as text posts or direct links, in very specific “subreddits” (areas of interest such as news, gaming, music, books, and technology).

  Users can vote submissions up or down.

  As of early 2017, Reddit had 542 million monthly visitors (234 million unique users) and was the seventh most visited website in the US.

  Various developers and thought leaders ask questions and discussion on technology in the Technology section. This can be an amazing place for you to discover highly skilled programmers.

  • Create a personal or company profile after you’ve understood the somewhat complex interface.
  • Use the search bar to find relevant subreddits using keywords like technical hiring, hire, tech jobs etc.
    • Note that Reddit has its own Boolean search terminology. Although it is more limited than some other sites such as LinkedIn, if you are looking for a Python developer who is actively looking to be hired, you can try this: subreddit:forhire selftext:python. If this gets you too many results, use more filters such as time.
  • Once you find your subreddit, you can share your well-defined job description after you read the Rules.
  • You can also contact a Redditor looking for a job in the technical domain.
  

  Tips

  • Go here for a recruitment subreddit.
  • Download this plugin to answer queries from Redditors without having to log in to Reddit.
  • Desktop users should install this enhancement suite.
  • Message the moderators if you find your post has gone to spam.
  • Before all else, learn the “Reddiquettes.”

• Quora

  Quora is a Q&A site which facilitates social interactions and interesting conversations.

  • Just like you would when using any niche community for recruiting, you will need to first establish yourself as a thought leader, for example, by answering questions on hiring. Build your reputation.
  • You can identify domain experts by going through topics of interest. For example, if you are interested in Go, you can find people who consistently provide accurate answers.
  • Initiate conversations with the experts and keep in touch. You may just be the recruiter of choice when they start looking for jobs!
  • • Read more on how to use Quora for hiring here.
  

  Tips

  • If nothing else, listen to what people are saying about your company and hiring process. This will help you design your strategy better.
  • Pick up pointers on better-recruiting processes, developers’ pain points, and general know-how in the tech area.

• Glassdoor

  “Glassdoor is a bit like TripAdvisor for HR, gathering user-generated, anonymous reviews about companies and company life,” says Jonathan Bright in his post on the Business 2 Community website. The candid content prompts potential hires to check out employer ratings before they sign on the dotted lines. A promising tool for recruiting, Glassdoor exerts a huge social influence on job aspirants.

  • Sign up for an Enhanced Employer Profile and make the most of it. Tap into the potential hires’ needs, paint wonderful pictures of the work culture, growth opportunities, work-life balance, and other company policies (which are true, of course).
  • Go here to know more about Glassdoor for Employers.
  • Take pains with your Employee Value Proposition. How you present it and how you promote your company brand makes or breaks a deal.
  

  Tips

  • It is hard to fake content on Glassdoor. So, be genuine and transparent and earn trust.
  • Gather “competitive intelligence” from Glassdoor before you create your employer profile.
  • Use metrics to better identify your target audience and tailor your hiring approach.
  • Glassdoor offers paid advertising options.
  • Go here for a Glassdoor recruiting tutorial.

• Meet-ups and developer events

  Meetup.com is an amazing networking site which unites people with shared professional interests.

  With 30.3 million members and more than 0.25 million groups, it’s one of the largest networks of developers all around the world.

  Meetup allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest. It’s designed so that organizers can manage events associated with in-person meetings.

  For individuals, it can help them find groups that fit their interests and attend events in their preferred location.

  But you can use meetup to find potential candidates without having to go to any events as many of meetup’s groups and attendee lists are public.

  • Find groups of interest (according to location, skills, etc.) using specific keywords. For example, you can find tech meetups within 25 miles of Melbourne, you can browse by country, state, city and the topic of your interest (in our case, it’s tech).
  • Look at the meetup members’ profile and evaluate them through their introduction, interests, and answers to group questions. (Highlight “members” in the image.)
  • Get a list of other groups they’ve joined. This would help demarcate serious ones from the others. Also, you’ll get to know about their interest areas. (Highlight Members of 11 other meetups.)
  • Once you’ve made your interest list, for reference, check their Twitter, Google+, blogs, or sites (if any) to know more about them. Once you’ve filtered your candidates, you can send them a personalized email through meetup which goes to their personal e-mail address as that’s the same address where their meetup updates are sent to.

  In this era of digitalization, we daily come across innumerable ads, emails, offers, sales pitches and a lot of other things.

  So as a recruiter, how can you differentiate yourself and your company from others?

  Personal relationships not only can enable you and your organization to stand out but can create an image of an outstanding brand for which people would want to work.

  And to develop these relationships, as a recruiter, developer events can provide you with an opportunity to network with the most sort-out technical experts.

  You can make connections and build mutually beneficial relationships with them.

  These events happen around the year globally and your colleagues and you can be part of it.

  Over coffee, lunch, or cocktails, you can make connections and spread awareness about how awesome your company is for the developers.

  Maybe at a breakout session, you may find your next tech star.

  

  Tips

  • There are various sites which provide you with information about these events. Search on Google will give you these on top:
  • www.developerevents.org
  • https://developers.google.com/events/
  • https://www.developer-tech.com/events/
  • https://dev.twitter.com/events

• Hackathons

  Companies conduct hackathons to foster innovation and get out-of-the-box ideas to create efficient and highly effective products.

  Irrespective of the format or theme of a hackathon, participants are expected to build something from scratch and typically complete the challenge with a working prototype.

  Hackathons are one of their favorite talent-discovery activities, say recruiters.

  External hackathons are amazing places to network with exceptional talent and industry experts.

  You can skillfully build a talent pipeline of hardworking, smart, and passionate programmers by attending the right events.

  The participants will need to work collaboratively and competitively against time and resource constraints; this gives a recruiter a complete picture of the programmers in their “natural habitat.”

  Companies also conduct internal hackathons to crowdsource ideas and identify untapped exceptional talent in their workforce.

  • Read more about how hackathons can be leveraged by HR here.
  

  Tips

  • Go here for some pointers on how to successfully recruit at hackathons.
    • Companies such as HackerEarth and Hackfest offer platforms to conduct, manage, or organize hackathons easily.

Conclusion

Recruiters can use these ideas to rope in the best programmers looking for a challenging and rewarding opportunities. Admittedly, finding them can be overwhelming.

No matter which source you turn to, remember to hire a programmer who fits into your work environment in terms of vision and commitment.

To ensure better chances of success, you can give them audition projects or bring them on board as consultants initially.

Take your time.

There’s more to a programmer than knowing how to code. “It’s really just about logical thinking and analysis,” says Zack Haehn, Bloomberg’s Software Engineering Head.

So, hire for proven capability.

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Recruiting new people is exciting. But, the additional costs that come along with it? Not so exciting.

In fact, these costs can be dreadful if you have not planned a recruiting budget to keep a bull’s eye on your overall costs.

Recruitment Budget Template

That’s what we have:

• put a detailed guide on the 6-step process to create detailed recruiting budget sheet
• created a free recruiting budget template downloadable for you to get started

What is a recruitment budget?

A recruiting budget is the financial plan adopted by businesses and human resources teams to manage all the expenses related to hiring processes. This includes:

• posting jobs
• investing in tools and services like ATS, assessments, video meeting software
• using external recruitment agencies
• doling out bonuses for referral programs.

For example, if your organization invests in job posting platforms, and recruitment tools like skills assessment and video interview software, and conducts employer branding events, then you need to calculate the overall costs for these activities.

These activities are handles by the HR department. A specific amount of money is allocated to each HR manager for these activities. They need to inform the HR department before making these investments so they can approve them and keep in the records.

Essential components of a recruiting budget

Drafting a recruitment budget goes beyond just looking at how much you want to spend on job ads. Consider the following critical components:

Job advertising: Allocate funds for platforms like LinkedIn, job boards, and niche industry sites.

Recruitment technology: Include costs for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), AI recruiting tools, and other software that streamlines the process.

Talent sourcing: Set aside funds for strategies such as headhunting, talent pools, and referral programs.

Candidate experience: This encompasses costs related to improving the interviewing experience, like travel reimbursements, meals, or gifts for candidates.

Training and onboarding: Consider the resources needed for onboarding new hires, including training programs, workshops, and materials.

Background checks: Budget for third-party services that conduct background verifications, drug tests, etc.

Recruitment events: Whether it’s hosting job fairs, attending university recruitment drives, or setting up booths at industry conferences, there are associated costs.

Agency fees: If you’re using a recruitment agency or external consultants, their fees need to be accounted for.

Internal costs: Think of HR salaries, office supplies specific to recruitment, and other overheads.

Miscellaneous and contingency: Always set aside a portion of your budget for unforeseen costs or opportunities that might arise.

How to create a recruitment budget

Step #1: Calculate the number of hires

The primary expense for any organization: its employees. Before starting with the math, get on board all the managers to understand their requirements in terms of new hires in the coming year.

Circulate a sheet similar to the following one and ask all stakeholders to fill it. This will help you understand how many new hires they may need in the coming year.

Based on this data, the recruitment cost analysis can be done more accurately.

Along with these number, you will need

• Expected designation: Knowing if the roles are for interns, managers, senior managers, etc. will help estimate what the likely expenses, both quarterly and annual, are for specific teams.
• Skills: In case you need to collaborate with external agencies, having a good idea about the niche skill sets your organization is looking for help; also, you might have to start this process early.

According to Sharon Jautz, Head of HR, WGSN

Not accounting for the length of time role will stay open. I have a rule: If you have met with at least 10 candidates and the role is still open, you need to reevaluate the role, decide if you need it and reevaluate your interviewing criteria.

Along with these numbers, what is needed to be taken into account is the turnover rate for each team and for the organization. The HR team needs to have a good understanding of how many employees would be leaving the organization in a particular year.

So, if the turnover rate is 10% and your total employee count is 2000, it means that 200 employees would be quitting the company next year. Hence, if you are looking to hire 160 new employees (from the above table), your actual count increases to 360. 200 for employees who have quit and 160 new employees.

Going back to past few years number and calculating turnover (If you do not have the number refer to average turnover over rate for industries from the web) for each team, give you an exact measure of the number of hires you would be hunting for in the coming year.

Step #2: Estimate basic recruitment costs

Recruitment costs refer to basic expenses associated with the hiring and recruitment process. These expenses are mostly recurring and often billed early in the year.

This cost may vary for each organization, but you have to consider common expenses across boards to have rough estimates.

• Job boards: They are a great starting point to draw attention from candidates, and are frequently used by major corporations. For example, Cutshort, Indeed, LinkedIn and Stack Overflow.
• Salaries: Occasionally, teams collaborate with contract-based recruiters and agencies on yearly basis. Don’t forget to add their salaries too.
• Employee branding: Branding campaigns, career page optimization, and video campaigns—these are just a few ways you can amplify your employer brand and educate employees about why they should work in your organization.

Look at the following sheet to understand better.

Also read: Nirvana Solutions uses HackerEarth Assessments to Reduce Cost Per Hire by 25%

Steps #3: Calculate the fixed cost

Fixed cost are costs associated with your recruitment process happens yearly and is usually processed in an orderly manner like salaries, partnerships, recruitment agencies, etc.

• Internal Salaries: Calculate internal salaries for existing employees. Make sure to add your HR team. The rules say for every 50 employees you should have 1 HR. Budget your internal salaries accordingly. Also, take into account the expenses if you are looking for new team members.
• Partnerships: Calculate the cost of any yearly partnerships which you plan to commit to. These partnerships can include an external recruitment agency, event agencies, social media promoters, and others.
• Recruiting events: Make a list of all upcoming virtual recruiting events like conferences you plan to take part in, in the near future and budget them in your sheet.

As Neil Williams from AVI-SPL says

I found that fees associated with events such as job fairs including air travel and lodging can be easily missed. Remember to think of each event from start to finish and all the necessary logistics involved.

• External recruiting agencies: Most of the companies tie up with external recruiters agencies or independent recruiters who help them hire candidates, especially for niche skills. Think of the approximate number of hires you plan to make for the year. Factor in the cost associated with each hire (paid to the external recruiter) when you prepare the budget.

Step #4: Estimate recruiting technology costs

Technology is a great enabler. As HR evolves with enabling technologies like talent assessment software and video interviews, companies can expect better recruitment and overall management.

Coding assessment software

While candidate sourcing is managed by multiple agencies, job portals, and social channels, it is imperative you evaluate candidates on the right parameters. Coding assessment tools like HackerEarth Assessments helps reduce hiring costs by 10X.

Companies have also been using HackerEarth talent assessment software for university hiring by evaluating candidates remotely—reducing large cost (travel, stay, man-hours, etc.) associated with campus placement.

Also read: 5 Best Practices for an Effective Hybrid Campus Hiring Strategy

Video interview software

While assessing candidates can be managed by technical interview software, an organization should evaluate the candidate in person before selection. However, candidates are often scattered across the globe and the cost associated with their travel becomes too high. This is where video interview software like EasyHire and Kira Talent comes in.

HackerEarth’s coding assessment software is accompanied by video interview software called FaceCode, which helps you assess candidates on their real-time coding skills while interviewing them. Since these features are bundled, there are more savings to be had!

Background check service

A background check is an essential service used by organizations to verify a candidate’s credibility. Major global organization work in this field and charge relatively high fees in verifying all the relevant information.

With the increasing usage of social media and networking, referral hiring is a good way to save on the background check service. Calculate the cost accordingly.

Pre-boarding software

Candidate pre-boarding has evolved a lot over the last few years. With multiple options in hand, candidate ghosting has been a major menace for the recruiters. It is extremely essentials to keep your candidates way before joining, helping them understand their role, responsibility, and progression.

Companies using pre-boarding software have seen reduction in drop-off by more than 45%. Some of the top pre-boarding software available are Beamfox, BoardOn, Talmundo.

Application tracking system (ATS)

Application tracking systems have not evolved much since their inception in the mid-90s. But due to high dependency on them, most of the organizations still prefer to have a good part of their expenses dedicated to ATS.

Application tracking systems help follow the entire journey of a candidate, from sourcing, interviewing, joining, to exit. Some of the top ATS across the globe are Taleo, Greenhouse software, iCIMS, JobVite.

Also read: Remote Work and Recruitment: An ATS Story

Step #5: Estimate your miscellaneous hiring costs

Tying in the ROI on the unexpected expense with the broader strategic HR and/or organizational plan helps get stronger buy-in for unexpected added costs

Ensure you make allowances for miscellaneous expenses that pop up frequently in your hiring cycle. A few expenses relate closely to the internal campaigns you decide to run with referral bonuses taking up the major chunk.

Next, average out all incentives paid in the last two years to have an approximate idea about the budgeting for incentives to be rolled out in the appraisal cycle. It is essential to keep a check on inflation and the industry-standard before zeroing in on a certain amount.

Some companies regularly offer bonuses to their employees, sometimes in the festive season or when the business has had a great year. Discuss with the leadership on the target goals, and any bonus roll-out in case targets are achieved.

Step #6: Calculate cost per hire

And the most important step, calculate the cost per hire before finalizing the budget. If you have a previous budget to refer to the cost per hire for earlier years, then calculate expected expenses for the coming year.

According to Neil Williams, HRBP, AVI-SPL

Calculate it by adding the actual recruiting expenses from last year and divide by the number of hires you made. Then, multiply your average cost per hire by the number of hires you plan to make this year. Add all projected internal and external costs.

The basic formula for cost per hire is

Cost per hire = Internal Cost + External Cost / Total Number of Hire

Make sure that your cost per hire should not increase exponentially for any given year and should be in sync with inflation, revenue growth, and a number of hires.

Tips for managing tech recruitment budget

Here are some tips for managing your tech recruitment budget effectively throughout the year:

1. Plan ahead: At the beginning of the year, take some time to plan out your hiring needs for the year. This will help you to estimate how much money you will need to spend on recruitment.
2. Set a budget and stick to it: Once you have a good understanding of your hiring needs, set a budget for recruitment. Be sure to include all of the relevant costs, such as job postings, advertising, recruiter fees, and background checks.
3. Track your spending: It is important to track your spending so that you can stay within your budget. This will also help you to identify areas where you can save money.
4. Use free and low-cost recruitment tools: There are a number of free and low-cost recruitment tools available. For example, you can use social media to post job openings and to connect with potential candidates. You can also use free job boards, such as Indeed and LinkedIn.
5. Partner with recruiters: If you have a lot of open positions, you may want to consider partnering with a recruiter. Recruiters can help you to find qualified candidates and to manage the hiring process. However, it is important to note that recruiters typically charge a fee for their services.
6. Invest in employee referrals: Employee referrals are a great way to find qualified candidates. Encourage your employees to refer their friends and colleagues for open positions. You can also offer incentives for employee referrals.
7. Hire for soft skills: Soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, are just as important as hard skills in the tech industry. When hiring, be sure to assess candidates’ soft skills in addition to their hard skills.
8. Negotiate salaries: When negotiating salaries, be sure to factor in the cost of living in the area where the candidate will be working. You should also consider the candidate’s experience and skills.
9. Offer competitive benefits: In order to attract and retain top talent, you need to offer competitive benefits. This includes benefits such as health insurance, paid time off, and retirement savings plans.
10. Review your budget regularly: It is important to review your recruitment budget regularly to make sure that you are on track. You may need to adjust your budget based on changes in your hiring needs or the market conditions.

Plan your recruiting budget effortlessly

Make sure that your cost per hire should not increase exponentially for any given year and should be in sync with inflation, revenue growth, and a number of hires. Download a sample budgeting sheet for the coming recruiting year.

HACKEREARTH – TECHNICAL RECRUITING SAMPLE BUDGET SHEET

“Companies that transform their learning and development organizations are not only able to accelerate skills development but also can dramatically improve employee engagement and retention—one of the biggest challenges cited by this year’s respondents.”- Deloitte University Press’s Human Capital Trends 2015 Survey

In 2015, McLean & company trends survey, Learning & Development topped the list of project spending.

On average, top organizations spend up to 25% of their revenue on Learning & Development (L&D) campaigns.

It is extremely clear that organizations should focus on L&D.

Workshops, training sessions, and other programs in one or the other form are vital for a growing organization.

Learning and development activities help in acquiring new skills, sharpening existing ones, performing better, boosting teamwork, and finding new leaders in the face of the changing technologies.

L&D, when done correctly, can deeply impact an organization’s productivity, helping improve employee performance and thereby moving north toward the company goals.

Benefits of having an employee development programs in an organization

1. For new hires

Learning and development programs are especially important for a new recruit. It should be conducted by existing employees from relevant teams.

This process helps in quick onboarding of the candidate with respect to understanding the work.

It also brings in a sense of inclusion and speeds up the workflow.

2. Tackle shortcomings

Every individual has “areas of improvement” and L&D programs help to overcome these.

An ongoing L&D program helps identify where employees need to put in more effort. With the detailed report, gaps could be mended.

Addressing these shortcomings also helps improve employee performance by amplifying employees’ skills.

3. Become self-driven and more productive

Employees who have been part of learning and development campaign tend to perform better and are more result oriented if given directional training to enhance their productivity.

Learning and development go a long way in improving employees’ existing skills and acquainting them with new technologies.

This brings a sense of independence, and they are driven to understand new skills.

Considering that more than 68% of employees prefer to learn at work, Learning experience platforms help employees learn at their own pace by providing them customized learning paths based on their interest.

Despite all the benefits of L&D, many organizations struggle to convince their employees to take up these programs.

“People inherently do not like taking tests or being assessed unless there is a reward attached to it.”

Unless individuals are self-driven and moderately competitive, they do not take up learning and development drives very sportingly.

Though companies try to attach rewards to these initiatives to lure them, this, in our experience, is not a great motivator for employees to take a test over a weekend or during work hours!

Since we aim to make digital assessments a part of the learning programs in the future, at this point, we should aim at making employees more accepting of tests and the idea behind them.

Organizations which have been using employee development programs effectively

• CyberCoder – Through Associate Recruiter Incubator Program, Cybercoders takes highly driven, educated, and competitive employees and teach them to use technology across various marketplaces.

What you can do – Like many other major organizations, start an incubator program for employees who want to excel. Many companies also collaborate with third-party incubators to facilitate learning and development.

• AT&T – AT&T in collaboration with Georgia Tech and Udacity developed Online Master of Science in Computer Science degree and launched several fast-paced and nano degrees offering across web development, data analytics, and technology entrepreneurship.

What you can do – Companies across the globe in collaboration with top universities are providing diploma and degrees to their employees.

A tie-up with one such university for executive courses which could be a full-time or evening course. Such courses bring a sense of confidence and trust among employees for the company.

• Amazon -Amazon conducts an intensive month-long training before an employee is hired on skills which they would be using for their role. A ‘virtual contact center’ enables employees to work from home. Amazon prepays 95% of the fees for any specific course taken.

What you can do – Collaborate with one of many online course providers.

Create a role-specific course which can help candidates have a better understanding of the work they are expected to do.

Ensure it is industry-friendly and helpful in the future.

So, how do other organizations scale their learning and development campaigns and make it a success?

Here are a few pointers to help:

5 points to help your organizations in Learning & Development programs

• Choose Learning Ambassadors (LAs)

  • Consider nominating LAs.
    • Should be at the same level of seniority as the employees who will be taking these tests
    • Must be top scorers/champs
    • Will act as catalysts for driving it top-down and communicating the pulse of employees from each team

Note: From a psychological perspective, this cannot be driven by HR or business/tech leaders because this creates a barrier in the minds of new learners and a sense of trust might not prevail.

• Correct and strategic broadcasting

  • These initiatives take quite some time to gain momentum if only an organic method of adoption is used; to counter this, it is advised to broadcast the drives on organization communication channels, create groups, pages
  • Can also be broadcast on big screens in common areas like cafeterias, reception, conference rooms, etc.

• Make it event-based participation rather than individual participation

  • Organizations implement event-oriented drives rather than individual-oriented drives when it comes to employees at an executive level.
  • It has been observed that this boosts the visibility of any initiative especially if it is test-based.
  • This creates a buzz around helping employees get familiar with new concepts and, also, the perspective is spread by word-of-mouth.
  • For example, a TGIF campaign can be launched for developers where they participate in activity halls and coding bays together. Scores of this campaign can be tied to their main score sheets as usual.

• Top scorers to be recognized

  • Employees who score top marks in each test or event should be recognized on a public visibility platform or forum.
  • Recognition emails should be sent from top leaders like VPs, CXOs, etc. This boosts the morale and the participation spirit of employees radically over and above getting a fantastic learning score on their appraisal sheet.

How organizations are using HackerEarth for Learning & employee development programs?

In a recent learning and development campaign, a Fortune 500 organization decided to use HackerEarth as a platform to make it a success.

The organization, using the features of the platform, gamified the entire campaign by introducing a multi-player coding test.

The campaign was divided into 4 levels, where each team had to compete with all others on various types of problem statements.

Each problem statement when solved gave a clue to the next stage.

With features support like 35+ programming languages, multilingual support of 4+ spoken languages, plagiarism test, and auto-evaluation, HackerEarth technical recruitment software helps in automating the entire process involved in learning and development.

The dependency on manual intervention reduced, giving participants the freedom to be working in a familiar environment.

The detailed report feature on HackerEarth’s technical recruitment software helped the management access on-the-go information of the progress of each candidate.

The campaign was a major success due to its gamified version and more than 74% of the employees participated with interest.

This is one of many successful L&D campaigns run by top Fortune 500 companies who use HackerEarth software for training and development.

These are a few suggestions to help you give this initiative a good degree of reinforcement.

I understand there may be a need to further review and discuss each of these internally.

But a quick call with the HackerEarth team would help you understand the product better and how best to use it.