Tips for hiring best tier 2 (technical) talent?
*edit* based on feedback (thanks) clarifying we are NOT looking for top 1% of devs in the world, but strong tier 2 / talented up-and-coming younger devs. — Howdy - I’m now leading talent acquisition for an under-the-radar bootstrapped startup and have a few hires to make. I’m non technical and would like to better understand how to find / build relationships with top engineers. What are the do’s/don’ts in your experience with being approached for a role? Any niche communities to hang out in online? Short term tactics vs long term strategy? Would appreciate hearing any feedback. Context - business intelligence niche. It’s basically a “swat” team from all around the world of some of the best specialists in the space. We work directly with the c-suite of F500’s. So, bar is set high and very selective. Looking for 1) full-stack web dev (2-3 YOE) 2) mid level java dev for IAM role and 3) technically- minded Change Management specialist from 5-7 YOE. Mostly remote, super flexible. Incredible network. Solving unique problems using (often creating) best tech in the space. Ps you’d like the know more would love to chat. There’s also a referral fee if you know someone.
If you're non-technical, and you manage to reach a seasoned candidate who might be a good fit for a role but just isn't interested, ask what certifications, professional orgs, programming languages, etc might be the most relevant to the role? What "things" would a good candidate have in their background? Anything to help you more quickly/efficiently find candidates with the right background... if you can get that insight from someone in the industry, keep asking and comparing responses, you will over time develop search profiles and techniques that will evolve over time just as the industry does.
...for example, i'm not a specialist in software security. I am familiar enough with the discipline though to tell you that among the things candidates should list in their background might include some mention of OWASP. Not common knowledge, but just that bit of info right there drastically increases the likely quality of candidates.
Great tip. Thank you
Don’t want to be rude or tacky, but are you willing to pay like the best if you want the best? If you really want the best, you either need to pay a lot or really sell the potentials and dreams.
We can do both :-). If you’re interesting in chatting for the above roles, or can think of up-and-coming friends who could benefit from great mentorship earlier in their careers, let’s connect.
No, I didn’t ask for myself. Just wanted to understand the clarification for the “best talent” and what your strategy is to get them. “Best” can mean many things like any average joe at any top tier company or the rockstars at Fb/G, or other things. Every company likes to have the absolute best, but you will get what you can offer (money, benefits, potentials). For example, for a top %5 L5 software engineer, there are opportunities with upward of $500k annual compensation. Are you willing to compete with these numbers? If not, you need to work on selling the potentials, or you may not need such a talent at all.
That's the key right there: you are non technical. How can you hire engineers if you don't know how they work? One time a recruiter who contacted me didn't know the difference between C and C++ and she was hiring a C++ developer.
Yikes. Fortunately while I’m not a developer (hence my asking for help), my technical team will be the first folks candidates speak with. I’m wondering how to best get the meeting. Any thoughts?
Are you willing to pay them 400k? 🌲fiddy is the going rate on blind, and you'll have to do one better.
None of the roles we’re hiring for merit that TC, but we will pay for the best talent. That said the best teammates tend to be folks not most motivated solely by the $, but also by the vision / team, etc.
Ok, I'll be honest. Best piece of advice I can give. If none of the roles merit that TC, then those roles either do not need top talent, or you won't be able to afford top talent who'll build your product. I did work with startups (successful ones) in the past. But my compensation was similar. If not in cash, then some portion in equity (with equity valued at one third that of cash). Oh and did I tell you that I'm one of those cheap H1B workers you keep hearing about. If you really still need top talent, your best best is to look for extremely smart people with not much years of experience, looking to change careers into software engineering from other fields - who will usually do a better job than a seasoned mediocre dev. You just need one or two seasoned mediocre devs, so the inexperienced smart people can learn the tools from them. Otherwise, experience is sometimes overrated in a startup, where there isn't a ginormous codebase to inherit when you join, with complexity which had accrued over the years.
Thanks for that advice. Appreciate it 🙏
I see a lot of folks complaining about a non technical person hiring technical talent. Isn’t that the case everywhere ? Recruiters are not rockstar developers and it doesn’t take rocket science to judge resumes. In most places they are the first filters before forwarding it to teams right ?
There’s a diff between a tech recruiter with zero years technical recruiting experience vs one with 10 yrs. Both don’t code but one understands the stack and the diff between C, C++, vs Java! Being good at identifying, engaging, vetting, and selling to talent in these buckets also require many years in the trenches.
Because they will throw out resumes of highly talented engineers without a degree because their reality consists of a worthless social sciences degree and a job with a little power to dictate who’s qualified and who’s not without really understanding engineers
Also I am interested, but no DMs left ✌️
Sent you a message. Otherwise, how best to reach you?
This sounds like a wannabe consulting company looking to profit from their engineers, akin to Deloitte billing their consultants who are paid $55/hour at $250/hour to clients
Why is your startup having a non technical person recruit technical talent this early in the company? You sound like a team of 40yo trying to sound hip and cool but have no clue what they’re doing
I assure you we’re neither cool nor hip (nor am I 40). We’re a small team and are swamped with clients from referrals. They recently brought me on as the first non-tech hire to focus on building. I’m taking on everything else. My background is in sales/marketing, and taking on the initial stages of filling the funnel for talent, then passing along for technical interviews. It’s not perfect, but it’s startup life.
Engineers will want to know why they should quit their cushy corporate job for a risky startup so a sales person talking to them and trying to get them to join is a bad bad bad idea. We automatically will be put off if you do that. You have to have us talk to your technical founder as first point of contact so we know what the problem being solved is and the technical leadership we’ll be under.