I started my career as an administrative and shortly afterwards I was recruiting people for an outsourcing IT agency. It wasn’t an easy job and my degree didn’t give me all the tools I needed to do it seamlessly. At the time I didn’t know how to properly interview people, manage their expectations or how to face the lack of qualified people in the market. But, as always, it was a question of time and experience to get better every day.
Few months later, I was delivering profiles like a pro. But this is all did. Match my client’s needs to candidates’ profiles.
A year passed, and I accepted a new challenge. I began working as an Internal IT Recruiter for Near Partner and I didn’t know how much different the job was. I was in charge of recruiting all the team from scratch. This included searching, matching needs, interviewing, referring to technical validation and ensuring that all this process ran smoothly. Welcoming newbies also became a task and a privilege!
Suddenly, it wasn’t a staffing job – like previously – I was interviewing and hiring the most qualified developers in the market at the time. I discovered a world apart.
As you can see, I bumped into a lot more differences between agency and in-house recruiting than I expected. That’s why I decided to share some thoughts on what developers can expect from us – recruiters, and what we recruiters expect from you – developers. Curious? Follow me!
What developers expect from an IT Recruiter
To be totally honest, I’m not 100% certain about what developers expect! I’m not inside your heads but let me share with you my experience.
Developers have expectations. Nowadays, being a developer (or working in the IT industry) is like a super power and you all know that. So, developers have a big leverage when they are looking to embrace a new challenge. They’re looking for innovative projects, flexible hours, companies with smart people and a good work environment.
From my experience, developers expect more than just another place to work: they want a cauldron of good humor, technical challenges and, obviously, a competitive salary package. People look for innovative projects because we all want to see the impact of our work. At the same time, developers want a good work-life balance, which is why we run the extra mile to make sure we provide the tools and conditions needed to achieve that.
The big “I”: the interview
In the early years of my career I felt confident interviewing: I followed a technical guide with questions about architecture, differences between programming languages and other foolish questions.
Let me say… I’ve learned many things, but I quickly understood that it was silly. Developers didn’t expect that a HR manager, without any engineering knowledge, would be able to validate their technical skills.
That is why developers, architects or analysts must only expect from an IT recruiter to tell them what the company does, what its needs are and how they can work together.
So, my job is to understand their journeys and what are their soft skills, letting the hard ones for the big guns! My mission is to deliver a candidate with principles and all technical requirements. Leading the recruitment process smoothly with honesty and transparency from both sides is, for me, a basic principle.
At the end of the recruitment process, whatever the end, you must feel that you’ve learned something.
That’s why you should always assume you’ll receive some feedback from the company you interviewed for – it doesn’t mean sending a standard “Thank you” message! And, if you felt the urge, share your thoughts and feelings about the company or projects you have applied. We have received many interesting feedbacks along the way!
What recruiters expect from a developer
Working in HR takes a special type of person: a people’s person. This means that they must be lovable, patient and very available.
However, this is a two-way street. We recruiters expect nothing but respect and sincerity from the candidates. In a time when the supply of talent is so much lower than the needs, we encounter a lot of candidates who take advantage of this situation. Not in a good way.
So, let’s start for the basic of expectations:
- Honesty and respect in every interaction;
On the other hand, we hope we can get:
- Some availability to talk and eventually for an interview;
- Someone with an interesting story;
- Someone who fulfills all the technical requirements;
- Some other introductions that will help me find new suitable candidates;
- Acknowledgment that the interaction was fruitful;
Summing up… what can developers expect from “me”?
- Proactive attitude and smart questions;
- Follow-up during the process;
- And always an honest feedback;
So far, I have been very successful with this approach. I guess most of the developers I talk to agree with me. This also means that what we value as a company is aligned with what the people we talk to think is important.
What about you? Do you agree with me? What do you expect from an IT recruiter? Share your opinion with us.
