Developer Hiring Blog

When I was a recruiter, I often made the mistake of thinking that my only goal was to find candidates for roles assigned to me. Sure, that approach yielded some hires that I’m still very proud of, but it also left me scrambling whenever a hiring manager suddenly needed to hire someone for a role that wasn’t in our original plan. In the case of developer hiring, it’s especially important to think about your company’s current and future hiring needs. Read on to learn more about why you should always recruit developers, especially when you don’t have any job openings.

Remote working options don’t always speak for themselves, especially when it comes to writing job listings that resonate with developers. Sure, you could include a line or two about how you’ll consider candidates located beyond your city limits, but it takes much more than that to attract the right developers. Remote developers want to be sure that they’ll have the tools and support they need to get their jobs done, regardless of the fact that they work from home. To help you tell a more compelling story to candidates who can’t commute to your headquarters, use these tips to write tech job listings that remote developers want to read.  

The phrase “candidate experience” might not be the first thing you consider when you’re interviewing a remote developer. It would be easy to assume that all you need is a working phone, a computer, and an Internet connection. Even though most of the interview process won’t happen in person, your candidate experience is still not lost on remote developers, for better or for worse. To help you make a positive first impression on remote developers, here are a few tips for creating a best-in-class virtual candidate experience.

The goal of an interview is to determine if a candidate is going to increase the productivity and happiness of a team. For developers, two criteria are particularly important: an exemplary ability to communicate both technically and non-technically, and demonstrated technical skill in areas important to the team. Allowing a candidate to speak openly about a project they’ve worked on covers both of these criteria thoroughly. It’s my go-to interviewing strategy.

I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve made the assumption that if you told every developer in the world they could work remotely, they’d all jump at the opportunity. And sure, to some developers, the thought of having no commute and no formal dress code sounds like an incredible arrangement. While a growing number of developers are choosing to work remotely, it’s important to remember that writing code from a home office still has its own unique challenges. We reached out to a few developers to hear what they wish more employers knew about what it’s like to work remotely. Here’s what they had to say.

If you’re anything like I was when I was a recruiter, you probably have a list of qualifications that you feel that you need to see on a developer’s resume. There’s a lot of pressure to find candidates that your hiring managers would be excited to interview, so it makes perfect sense to be selective. However, it’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming that a developer is an ideal candidate for the job because of a long list of tech languages on his or her resume. Evaluating developer applications requires a different approach than the other open roles on your plate. Here are a few things to look for whenever you gear up to kick off the resume screening stage of your developer hiring process.

Unlike many other software development roles, embedded software development isn’t quite as straightforward. In fact, it’s extremely challenging to understand what an embedded software developer does on a daily basis without any basic knowledge of embedded software. In the simplest terms, embedded software controls devices that the typical consumer doesn’t think of as a computer. Things like light bulbs and touchscreen refrigerators are possible because of the work of embedded software developers. Considering how popular the Internet of Things has become over the last five years, it’s no surprise that embedded software developers are in high demand. To help you stand out from the competition, here are a few things you should know about embedded software engineers.

While Arun Umapathy’s current title is CEO, it’s his background as a developer that gives him a unique edge leading a NYC-based development shop. Over the course of his career he’s started four companies, providing him with the expertise needed to make those important hires that are critical to business. Read on to learn more about Umapathy’s thoughts on everything from code reviews to the unlikely place he interviewed his first employee.

As a tech recruiter at Stack Overflow, I’ve learned some important lessons when it comes to finding developers to work here. After all, as a company that is aiming to teach the rest of the world the best practices for hiring developers, I have to make sure that we’re practicing what we preach. Here are the four most important lessons I’ve learned about tech recruitment here at Stack Overflow.

It’s hard to find something that Ann Gaffigan doesn’t do. Between growing her own web and systems development business, working as a CTO for the fastest-growing land brokerage firm in the nation, and serving on the USA Track and Field Athletes Advisory Committee, it’s inspiring to see a woman who can truly do it all.

We chatted with Gaffigan about her early programming days and what a typical day looks like as a CTO.